Landlord walking in

I live in New York, and our lease stipulates that our landlord can only enter during the last month of the lease to show the house. Last week however, I emailed him telling him about problems with the house. He came in one day unanounced, fixed the problems, but told us we had to get rid of our dog, (that we are allowed to have as stated in the lease) because he had peed on the doggy pad. The lease contract states "The owner agrees that the dog must be removed if it is found to be damaging property." However, the dog was not damaging property, and he came in unanounced, can he really make us get rid of the dog?

[OHlandlord]

If you requested repairs, he did not arrive unannounced. The act of requesting repairs generally gives him permission to come in and make those requested repairs. (You did expect him to come make those repairs, right?) That is exactly what he did, fix the problems you complained about. If you want to be notified prior, ask him to please give you 24 hours prior notice before he comes to fix the problems.

Your lease says he can ask you to remove the pet if he damages property. The pet is peeing on the floor. Most judges will consider that damage. The fact that he went on a pad is nice, but the fact that he is peeing in the unit will override it. Next time he may miss the pad, and even with the pad, the smell is in the unit. Either cage the animal when you are away so he won't pee in the house, or get rid of it before you get a bill for damages and deodorization. You should not be allowing this animal to go in the house, pad or not.