The Illinois Landlord’s Responsibility For Dog Bites

You can’t go anywhere in the City of Chicago without seeing a dog.  The Chicago Park District lists no fewer than eighteen dog parks in the City of Chicago.  Whether or not allow pets, especially dogs, is a question that regularly confronts landlords.  On the plus side, allowing pets usually expands a landlord’s pool of available renters making marketing time shorter and less expensive.  On one hand, pets can cause lots of damage to rental units, drive away “allergic” tenants, and cause noise problems for neighbors.  A landlord also needs to consider what would happen if a pet in the landlord’s building attacked another person.  Is a landlord responsible for damage to third parties caused by a tenant’s pet?

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