Real Music & Real Estate . . .

Yiddishe Cup’s bandleader, Bert Stratton, is Klezmer Guy.
 

He knows about the band biz and – check this out – the real estate biz, too.
 

You may not care about the real estate biz. Hey, you may not care about the band biz. (See you.)
 

This is a blog with a gamy twist. It features tenants with snakes and skunks, and musicians with smoked fish in their pockets.
 

Stratton has written op-eds for the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Washington Post.


 
 

WHO LET THE DOGS IN?

by Bert Stratton

 

(This op-ed, below, was in the Wall Street Journal last week.The op-ed generated 880 comments. Struck a chord.)

I have a no-dogs policy. I’m a landlord. When I bought the building in Lakewood, Ohio, decades ago, a gigantic Doberman lived in apartment 400. It bounded down the stairs and almost ran me over. Also, the dog stained the oak floors by regularly urinating in the living room.

So I kicked the dog out, and the tenant, and instituted a new policy. (Cats are OK at an additional $20 a month.)

Yet I do have dogs in the building—“emotional support animals.” These aren’t trained service animals like those that help the blind. Tenants find a licensed social worker or psychologist to write a letter saying the animal is needed for their mental health. The Fair Housing Amendments Act obligates the landlord to offer “reasonable accommodations” to tenants with disabilities, emotional and otherwise.

Last month a new tenant informed me she has two emotional-support dogs. She brought this up after she had already moved in. She described the dogs as “mixed-breeds, about 20 pounds each.” I immediately fantasized about changing my no-dog policy to “second dogs are OK—at $500 a month.” That would slow the pooch parade. But it would be illegal.

The tenant texted me that Daisy and Miu “are bonded and separating them would cause distress that would negatively impact my condition.” The dogs’ owner also pointed out: “My apartment is approximately 700 square feet, which is sufficient space for their size and needs.” My tenant had done her homework. More than I had. I didn’t know you could have two emotional-support dogs in a one-bedroom. How about three dogs?

The tenant said each dog has a unique function: “One assists me with daily functioning and provides support when I leave home, whereas the other helps reduce anxiety and provides a sense of safety and stability within my home environment, particularly following a past traumatic experience.”

The tenant works in a restaurant, but everybody is a lawyer on the side, courtesy of AI.

If the dogs aren’t quiet, I’ll have to file an eviction for “disrupting the neighbors’ peaceful enjoyment of the premises.” What a hassle.

I’m hoping the dogs are reasonable. The tenant isn’t.

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The link (no paywall) to the actual WSJ article, with comments, is here.

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Yiddishe Cup plays a free concert 7 pm Sunday, June 28, at the Alma Theater, Cain Park, Cleveland Heights, Ohio.

Steven Greenman & His Violin, plus some sidemen, 1992

1 comment

1 Mark Schilling { 06.03.26 at 10:35 am }

The emotional support animal thing is non-existent in Japan, as are dogs in restaurants, supermarkets, etc. And the number of dogs running around off-leash is zero. But nearly all rental apartments ban dogs. After reading the WSJ comments I understand why. You can train dogs; owners are harder.

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