Posted by
jflooking
15 yrs ago
I wonder if anyone can advise me:
I would love to get a cat, the problem is I live in an estate that's not pet-friendly.
It seems my landlord would be sort of ok with me keeping a pet, so I wonder what could the management possibly do if they somehow find out I have a cat if I have the owner permission?
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No need to preach about commitment, I am not a silly teenager.
If I had to move, I wouldn't be getting rid of a cat only because I like living here.
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That's why I'm here, asking this question - because I HAD thought of it.
Need to know the worst case scenario, before I get a kitten.
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Would they evict you or would they simply threaten breach of lease (failure to comply with management building rules) and make you get rid of the cat? That is what I was concerned about and as a result had a break clause added to my lease that we could break the lease if management complained about our cats. The landlord can consent (and if they do, then all the more likely that you'd be able to negotiate a break clause as above) but if management have a "no pets" rule then I'd be more concerned about wanting to keep my cat and being made to pay out the balance of the no break period of my lease.
This is the worse case scenario of course. Provided that your cat doesn't yowl all the time and annoy the neighbours and you don't flaunt your cat through the reception area then cats are usually don't upset people (barking dogs are quite another thing) but it is still a risk.
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My partner and I are in the same situation. Not sure what to do at the moment. I'll write back once we have taken a closer look at our lease agreement...
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Totally agree with Cara. My point about making you get rid of the cat was simply that it would be option A - stay in the apartment without the cat or option B - move out with the cat (but with the risk that the landlord pursues you for breaking the lease). That is why I think the OP needs to get something put in the lease. Otherwise worst case scenario, you want to keep the cat, you get kicked out of your apartment by managment and the landlord makes you pay out the balance of your lease (or more usually - up to the 14 month break point) for moving out early.
Having said all this, I know heaps of people who have cats and dogs in their apartments either with the landlords consent but without managements consent or without telling the landlord or management. Less of a risk with a cat as they don't bark all day and annoy the neighbours which leads to complaints to management but it is still a risk.
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I'd ask your landlord to talk to the estate managers and go from there.
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Ok, imagine I owned the apartment - or that is was my landlord living here and they decided to get a cat. What could possibly management do to the owner who paid millions for the apartment? Confiscate the apartment?
I guess that's my real question here.
If they can't do much, then I guess if I get my landlord's permission, they can't do much to me either?
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hi jflooking
my friends had a similar situation where their crazy downstairs neighbour complained about their dogs walking around on the tiles (long story)...
my friends own their apartment so it was an issue with the building management
there is no clause that says they CAN'T have animals...but there isn't one that says they CAN have them either.... this is what became the issue....
in the end it fizzled out because they are not actually breaking any agreement, even though the management argued that it didn't say they COULD have pets...
makes absolutely no sense at all. in order for that clause to come into effect they would need to have all property owners majority vote for this.
so - long story short.... if your building management rules don't say you're NOT
allowed pets....then you pretty much are allowed them...
come on, it's hong kong for goodness sake, everyone has pets,you're talking in some cases hundreds of people living in the one building - chances are there will be pets in there!
if your landlord says it's okay, then i don't think there should be major problems
also - cat's are pretty quiet, they sleep all day so just make sure there are plenty of toys left out for him or her to play with during the day and maybe consider adopting two together as they can keep each other company
hope this helps
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I am a pet/animal lover. Always had cats and if possible other animals. Back in Canada, I moved many times when I got caught having a cat. For me,my pets our family, If I move they move weith me and vise versa. Many people treat there pets poorly, and will just give them up because they can't have them in the apartment.
Our flat now in HK, does not allow pets, but we have 2 cats. they are 11 and 13 years old, and are my"other babies". I would move if I got evicted. They came all the way from Canada with me 7 years ago.
Cats are much easier to get away with in apartments/flats.
Please think about it hard, before you decide.
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All, firstly anyone who would give up their pet rather than move should not have pets... Totally agree...Jflooking I too would be offended with the condesceding comments received... Most moral people treat their pets as family and those who don't make me sick.
So... I wanna know ...If u own the flat... Can they really take ur pet or kick you out and ask u to sell? Legally??? Or does someone(s) to complain to management??
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Front page of City Section of today's South China Morning Post (March 15, 2010), has article on this.
Dog owners have been fighting successfully against management trying to kick their pets out. They argue in court that by asking them to get rid of their pets will affect their enjoyment of living in the flat, which is apparently protected in the Mutual Covenant.
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Ok, but what does this exactly mean - "many dog owners" (fought successfully) or "all dog owners who were taken to court"???
Was this at so called "pet friendly" estate or not?
Can this be used as a precedent - so now nobody can kick me out from the flat if I decide to get a pet despite the estate not being "pet friendly"?
(I assume I will need a permisson from my landlord in my tenant agreement first anyway.)
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Assuming you read the article - I did so, only quickly?
It was referring to people living in HOS flats (Home Ownership Scheme). So it's not public housing - but these are cheap flats that people with a very tiny income are allowed to buy.
They are not pet-friendly estates.
So, if the landlord (as the owner) has the Deed of Mutual Covenant (??) in which it says that the flat that he's bought is for his own enjoyment, then he can argue that by asking him to get rid of his pet would affect his enjoyment of his flat, which is protected in this Covenant.
HOWEVER, you make a good point. Can you argue the same point if you are a tenant? Whether or not you keep a pet in the flat will have no bearing on the landlord's "enjoyment" of the flat that he bought.
Of course, your lease agreement with the landlord could say something similar, that the flat is for your enjoyment and he allows you to keep pets. But I haven't heard of any court cases brought by tenants so I have no idea what your success would be with that one.
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If you tried to go to court over it, as a tenant, you could risk having the case dismissed. The article today also cited one court case that was dismissed because the plaintiff was the owner's son, not the owner.
If you wanted more advice, you could try to find that guy from the article. He has the only pet shop at Mei Foo Sun Chuen (Mei Foo New Estate)...
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MT_cj
11 yrs ago
Very interested in this thread as we are moving to HK from UK with 2 cats. We have been shown around a couple of specifically pet friendly buildings (Grand Promenade in Sai Wan Ho and the Merton, Kennedy Town), but have aso been told by numerous estate agents that you can have cats in other buildings as no-one will know. In particular, I've noticed that estate agents tend to ask the landlord, and if that's OK, they advise you to hide your pet from the building staff when moving in. Several brokers have given us this advice now.
We don't know what to think, as we would not be prepared to abandon our cats, but we would be in difficulty if we were asked to move out and cover the remainder of the rent on the lease.
Perhaps building staff just turn a blind eye as long as your pet isn't a nuisance? Or is that wishful thinking on my part?
The Merton and Grand Promenade are quite expensive and I am worried about the high balconies - not really a good idea with cats. We would not let them on the balcony, but I'm scared of one of them sneaking out or something. It would be so much easier to have the freedom to cast our net a bit wider than just those 2 places.
The break clause is a good idea.
Are there any other experiences of cats in buildings that aren't pet friendly?
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Every one here has a habit of putting in hear say or straying from the main subject, the Main subject is, "What can a Management company do", in steps, and final result, if you had a Pet, Say its a Cat, and the Rule is no Pets, and you have been there for 5 years, and because 1 guy had a Dog that Bit someone, and had his Dog taken from him, who filed a complaint to the Management office about other people with pets, Dogs and Cats alike as a revenge, Spiteful as it is, My Friend is in this situation, with a legal letter asking to comply within 14 Days, and they own the flat, so if you don't know, then be quite, and let someone in the knowledge answer the question.
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