Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Missouri

My family and I have only lived in this duplex for just over two months, but we're already having major issues with a neighbor. In the lease agreement that we signed with the landlord (we are renting) it states that "no animals are allowed on the premises". That is the major reason why we moved here. I am majorly allergic to cats and have chronic asthma attacks if I come into contact with one. Well... the lady that lives next to us in the next duplex over has several cats. The major issue here is that they keep coming onto our property, sitting in front of our doors, underneath our cars, on TOP of my car, and has already scratched up my windshield. One has even regurgitated its food onto our driveway! To make matters worse, our other next door neighbor that lives in the duplex attached to us, is the boyfriend of the cat lady and the son of the landlord, and the cats love to go back and forth between the two places, crossing my yard! My husband has already gone and talked to her four times and nothing got better. We called the landlord and he proceeded to tell us that there is a "special fee" for having pets (which is nowhere listed on the lease agreements or paperwork) and that if it's a problem to call animal control. So when the cats appeared again, we called animal control. They set up a trap and it provided no results. After animal control left, the lady that owns the cats proceeded to yell profanities at me, while I was holding my 11 month old baby!! I was furious, but my husband and I just went back inside. About a week later, I was getting my things into my car because I was heading to school, and she decided to continue yelling profanities at me, calling me a bitch, an asshole, and further, and even said "are you happy you haven't croaked yet?". I was just letting it go and was going to sit in my car when she decided to start saying things about my children and that is when I had had enough! I told her I was going to call the police. They arrived and had quite a conversation with her about everything (which she completely denied everything!). She was told to never say a word to us and to keep her cats away. The ordinance in Belton is that dogs and cats are to be kept on a lease if there is a possibility of them leaving the property. Since then, I have still caught her cats crawling on top of my car, underneath my husband's car, and then last night when I got home two of them were sitting right in front of my front door!!! Just from them sitting there and me walking inside, I had terrible asthma and breathing problems the rest of the night and still today, and I have no health insurance.

I want to know what my rights are in this situation because I feel like my family and I (especially me with my condition) are not being treated with any respect whatsoever. What options do I have to take in this matter because this cannot keep continuing and my husband cannot afford to move out of here.

I would appreciate any help anyone has to offer! Thank you!


Asked on 9/12/10, 8:21 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Anthony Smith LawSmith

Unfortunately, unless the landlord agreed to keep stray animals off the property, this is not their problem to solve. t sounds like you might need to have an atotnrey write aletter to the cat lady and the animal control office. If you try to "interact" with this woman, it will only escalate into a regrettable incident. You might try talking calmly with the boyfriend next door. Let him know, that you cannot just "let this go" because of health concerns, and that his girlfriend's behavior has gotten beyond the boundaries of decency. Perhaps he can help solve the problem. Keep calling animal control, if the problem persists. If your husband is nto allergice, maybe he can retrieve the cat next time it is on your car or porch, and take it to animal control. They might even come pick up the cat.

Good luck

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Answered on 9/17/10, 9:33 am


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