Can the landlord prohibit the tenant from having animals in his home? Details from Charlie Cailloux, legal counsel for Particular to particular and the PAP.fr website.
franceinfo: Is having a pet a right for the tenant?
Charlie Pebbles: Yes absolutely, it is a right that is protected by law: any clause in the rental agreement that prohibits the tenant from keeping a pet in his home is deemed unwritten. It is considered that the clause does not exist and the owner cannot therefore rely on it.
There is an exception to this principle, attack dogs of the Pitbull, Boerbull or Tosa type may be prohibited by the landlord in the lease; the co-ownership regulations may also prohibit them.
Often the problem with animals is neighborhood disturbances!
Yes, and neighborhood disturbances may justify the termination of the rental agreement, if they are intense and repetitive. If it’s a few barks, that’s obviously not a problem; if, on the other hand, the dog howls to death all day, the owner can accumulate testimonies from neighbors to initiate this procedure.
Another important point, the tenant has the right to have a pet but he must assume all damage that his dog or cat commits in the accommodation and in the common areas of the building.
And a rat? Does the tenant have the right to have a rat?
This is the question of new pets! And yes, some rat breeds are considered domestic, the Ministries of Agriculture and Environment published a list of domestic animals in 2006: some rats, some rabbits, some ducks, some frogs are considered domestic!
Of course, we can not prohibit the keeping of these new pets insofar as they do not disturb the neighborhood. On the other hand, a snake is no, it is not a pet, the courts have already terminated the lease of a tenant for this reason even though there was no nuisance. And there is another limit to the adoption of animals: it is animal welfare, the accommodation must be suitable!
We see that the tenant is quite free to have pets, as long as it does not disturb the neighborhood. Do all these rules also apply to vacation rentals?
No, in vacation rental, the owner has the right to prohibit the keeping of a pet, even a dog or a cat. It is therefore a question that must be addressed at the time of booking to avoid a bad surprise from the first day of the holiday.