Lease Violation or no?

[Pcrane06]

I live in Lorain OH and recently got 2 hens for laying eggs. I've had them for about 1 month. I upcycled a cabinet for a coop and built an attached enclosed run (with no footers) that is about 2.5x5.5' in size. I am at a rental property and have a pet, so I put down the pet deposit for my cat when I moved in a while ago. The lease does not say anything about permitted # of pets or type of pets. The coop and run are technically not on the property- they are on the easement/alley right on the fence line. My county has very loose/in flux ordinances about chickens. Basically, they're fine as long as there is no rooster and not too close to a building (based on what people have said). 2 properties on my street have backyard chickens too. My property manager just messaged me saying "the owner stopped by and was disappointed to see chickens. Are they yours?" I responded with some of the above information and stated I did not think I was in violation of the lease. In effort to be forward thinking, does the owner have any say about the hens being considered pets, or anything else in violation of the lease, especially since they are just off the property line?

 

[saysfaa]

I would also consider that a violation of the lease. Not because chickens are usually considered livestock but because paying a pet deposit for one cat means the tenant can have one cat. It doesn't mean they can get more pets (without at least notice) whether they are chickens or dogs/cats/pigs/ferrets/etc.

Also property owners own the property under easement. An easement gives another person (or other people) a right to use a part of a person's property in a designated way (usually crossing it or running utility lines or pipes across it); it doesn't take the ownership away.

 

[Geena]

As a landlady I would consider that a violation of the lease. As much as we love our chickens they are still considered to be livestock, not pets. It's always best to ask first, they might have given you permission.
One of my tenants in town had a pet rooster, I didn't mind but the city got on him PDQ.

 

[Brooks_]

If not a violation, it sounds like it has put you on the radar for any violation. Also, not being on the property, a call to county animal control could have them removed pretty easily.

In addition, the coop/run is too small.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

Chickens are not in the lease, so it is a violation.

 

[Brooks_]

Fortunately I always maintain multiple records, both with the bank and post office, so as soon as the land"lord" lied to me I was able to threaten him with a lawyer and he immediately "found" my check in the mail

Unless the check was processed, you had no proof that it was received.

 

[Brooks_]

I mailed it with tracking at the post office, and my bank has a record of the cashier's check

You must be a landlord yourself. I hope you don't also try to make your renters homeless when you think the market value has risen

Point was that processing of payment is the only true proof. I conduct honest business.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

That is horrible advice, if I had a tenant tell me that I would not renew their lease.

I agree, when I had rental property, before hurricane Katrina, everything had to be in writing. Sorry to say but that tenant would have been evicted. Under Louisiana all I would have had to do was notify the tenant that he was in violation of the lease, not accept the next month's rent and go get paperwork stamped by a judge. Sorry, I think if you had asked first you may have had a better outcome.

 

[Saveria]

I've had one honest landlord in the past and one dishonest. I have no idea what would hold up in court as legal evidence because I'm not a judge or lawyer. I'm just a humble chicken farmer

All that matters is that as soon as I mentioned my mail was tracked and to direct all further inquiries to my attorney he "found" my mail

My experience with a landlord years ago is not a personal attack on you

It is hard for both people that rent and people who own that rental at different times. My father and law got cheated out of a couple thousand dollars by a tenant who was using rent money to buy drugs instead of pay him (even stealing their roommates money, too). We didn't catch on, because he is getting so far up there in age, he was just confused about the whole thing.

My husband had to politely ask her to leave, and threaten repercussions. We were going to press charges, but my father in law said not to bother. I don't know why, but the point of the story is that in a business relationship both parties are vulnerable to the other party's misgivings.

 

[NatJ]

I am at a rental property and have a pet, so I put down the pet deposit for my cat when I moved in a while ago. The lease does not say anything about permitted # of pets or type of pets.

Does the lease list the cat you have? Or does it just have a spot that says you paid a pet deposit, without stating what pet you paid the deposit for? The exact details can be important in situations like this.

My property manager just messaged me saying "the owner stopped by and was disappointed to see chickens. Are they yours?" I responded with some of the above information and stated I did not think I was in violation of the lease. In effort to be forward thinking, does the owner have any say about the hens being considered pets, or anything else in violation of the lease, especially since they are just off the property line?

Depending on the exact terms of the lease, the owner might have a say in the matter.

And any piece of property belongs to someone. In this case, the easement/alley where you have the chickens might belong to the person who owns the house, or it might belong to the city, or something like that. Whoever does own that bit of land will have the right to make you move the chickens off, if that is what they choose to do.