Q: My husband and I live in Oregon and have been renting out our home in Minneapolis to a young family for the past seven years. We have visited and walked through every few years, but the family is very messy, and it was hard to know if there was damage or just stuff all over. During the term of their lease they had a second child, and also acquired several pets that they didn't tell us about. Pets were not permitted under the lease.
Our Realtor determined that because of their messy lifestyle, we would not be able to sell the house while it was occupied. We waited until the family moved out to put our house on the market, which put the weight of the mortgage on us until it sells. Unfortunately, once the tenants moved out, we realized that they had caused far more damage than their deposit covered, and we are now seeking payment from them.
Additionally, there is an overwhelming pet odor that we cannot eliminate — and that is hindering the sale of the house. The tenants moved out June 1, but we spent three weeks longer than planned fixing up the house to get it ready to put on the market. We have received no offers.
In addition to the cost of the obvious repairs, can we ask the former tenants to pay the mortgage for the past two months, since it seems that the damage they caused has led to our house not selling?
A: Under Minnesota law, both the landlord and tenant have covenants or promises to keep the rental property in reasonable repair and to prevent unlawful activity from occurring on the premises. If your lease prohibits pets, and your renters violated their lease terms, then you could determine what those pet-related monetary damages are and ask that they cover those expenses.
Minnesota law also allows an action to be brought against tenants for willful and malicious destruction of leased residential rental property, but that will be harder for you to prove if you walked through the place, knew they had pets, and said or did nothing to prevent the damage. If there is no mention in the lease about pets, and you walked through and noticed the pets but didn't request a pet deposit or state that the tenants couldn't have pets in the house, then it may be more difficult to collect those damages.
Requesting that your tenants pay the mortgage for the past two months because of their pet damage is a long shot, since it can be difficult to prove that is why the house hasn't sold. There may be other factors to blame such as the state of the market, location, timing or something else. However, you should request that your tenants cover all the damages involved in cleaning the place and removing the odor caused by their pets.
Kelly Klein is a Minneapolis attorney. Participation in this column does not create an attorney/client relationship with Klein. Do not rely on advice in this column for legal opinions. Consult an attorney regarding your particular issues. E-mail renting questions to kklein@kleinpa.com, or write to Kelly Klein c/o Star Tribune, 650 3rd Av. S., Minneapolis, MN 55488. Information provided by readers is not confidential.
