Cat owner sues roommates after they kick her off the lease for having cats, judge sides with her and awards $880 in court: 'I was so nervous but felt that I could win'

Author image for Isabella Penn
Isabella Penn
Jul 26, 2025 6:00 PM EDT

Renting with pets is already a challenge between pet deposits, monthly pet rent, and strict lease clauses that treat your four-legged friend like a criminal, it can feel like you're asking for permission to harbor a fugitive. And when you toss roommates into the mix, things can go south pretty fast.

Sometimes you luck out and your roommates treat your dog like their own personal therapy animal, or they let your cat curl up in their laundry basket like it's no big deal. But other times, you might be dealing with people who act like your pet is a biohazard because it walked within 10 feet of their bedroom. And when tensions rise, it's rarely the animals who are the problem, it's obviously the humans.

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  • One cat owner learned this the hard way when her roommates suddenly decided they couldn’t live with her two cats, despite previously agreeing to it. This led to a pretty messy fallout, withholding money, and a small claims court battle that ended with a satisfying $880 win for the cat-loving tenant.

  • "My roommates hated my cats and crashed out on me. I sued them…and won!"

    Alrighty I f23 had roommates Fern f23 and Eric m23. Fern was an ex coworker and reached out to me, we talked and were both trying to move out. She and Eric are
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  • engaged, and have two large dogs one being a puppy. They wanted to rent a house that had a yard but couldn't afford it. without a roommate and asked me to become a roommate. I have two cats and we all agreed all animals were okay.
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  • Meet Vito, one of the cats in question.

    山
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  • In October we all moved into a nice house, three bedrooms upstairs and one larger one downstairs with a wall connected to the living room. I had the downstairs bedroom, fern took one bedroom as an office, fern and Eric took one bedroom as a bedroom, and then they
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  • took the other upstairs bedroom as a getting ready area? Idk. One of my cats Mario took very well to the change, he was cautious for about a week but then did great. Luigi my other kitty had a tougher time,
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  • he only stayed in my room and rarely came out(the dogs mainly stayed in the living room). Luigi began to come out occasionally after a month but would run away when approached outside of my bedroom. I bought gates for
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  • doorways that allow cats through to that when needed we could keep the dogs away from the cats. Essentially Luigi finally became comfortable in the house and explored upstairs. Fern saw him in her office and lost it.
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  • Since the whole upstairs is their space I offered to buy a gate for the stairs that way that cats won't go upstairs, that seemed fair to me. Well she said no because she'd fall? That honestly made no sense but okay. So I then
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  • offer another solution, they close the doors to the rooms upstairs, that way the cats cant go in and there is no gate. Fern said that is not possible because it gets to cold upstairs. The "solution" she offered was my cats
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  • only stay in my room and the living room (which they didn't love become the dogs). Before they had been allowed in the kitchen which is the pathway to the cat tree which Fern refused to allow in the living room.
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  • My cats were trapped while her messy and untrained dogs went everywhere. I told her she was being ridiculous and unreasonable and I had. offered two great solutions and would pay for the one the required it. She said those were
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  • not solutions and if I didn't like her rules then I could get out. I started tearing up because honestly she and Eric had been so nice before, I was just shocked that they switched up so quickly. She then then
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  • said "what your going to cry about it now?" Like bitchhhh I losing my housing situation yes I am. Any way mid December is when the argument went down and I took my cats to my parents cause I didn't know if they were safe
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  • there because of ferns unexpected behavior. I packed all my stuff up and moved into my parents. Mid January we amended the lease to remove me from it. It actually cost $300 to do that and since they wanted me out I said they
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  • should pay it, they refused but I said I would pay the $300 fee if they give me the $700 portion I paid to the security deposit that I would never see again. They agreed to that and said they would pay me on the specific date I signed off the lease. Those were the
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  • only conditions and all over text message. Come the day I sign off the lease in January, they text me that I will not be receiving any money from them because I lever the room a mess. Ok that's fine, I took a video/ photos of the room the
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  • day I vacated. I had vacuumed and taken all of my stuff. I texted them that I would see them in court and they laughed and said their was no way I could afford court and that I would have ZERO case.
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  • I proceeded to take them to small claims court. They avoided certified mail service which cost $90. I then had to pay $90 for process servers(people that will testify they served fern and Eric).
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  • Today came the day and I was so nervous but felt that I would win. I got to the courtroom early, watched the people before me act all catty disrespectful to each other and honestly saw the magistrate react so I decided I would do my
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  • best to remain calm and on the facts when i spoke. Fern and Eric show up two minutes late, and we begin. I share that when I asked if I payed the $300 vacating fee would they pay me back $700 they texted me and I quote "of course that is your money". I told the
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  • magistrate that the lease and my states law dictate that a landlord has 30 days after a tenant vacates to create an itemized list of damages that I was responsible for, and I had never received any such list and therefore cause no damage. I mention I have
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  • photos of the room as I left it and then have to show fern and Eric the photos before I show the magistrate. They get their turn, fern says "well I changed my mind because she left the room in disarray, it smelt
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  • like cat urine and had stains all over". She then referenced my photos to the magistrate and said you could see stains in the photos. The magistrate analyzed the photos and the texts confirmation that I would be paid under the specific
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  • conditions. He said in the photos a landlord would not see any damage and the only thing he sees on the carpet is vacuum lines. That was amazing. Towards the end the magistrate asks if we have any else to add before he
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  • makes a verdict. Fern popped up and mentioned that I had not been kicked out and that I left in December all of a sudden? Hmm weird, the magistrate said i wasnt claiming to be kicked out. confirmed that was not my claim and reaffirmed
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  • my claim and mentioned I left in December because I did not know if my cats would be safe with people who didn't like/want them around so I just took them to my parents just in case. That did not matter lol. Either
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  • way he makes his verdict and states I have the burden of prof and they owe me the $700 PLUS the $180 court fees. So I typed this in my notes because I couldn't share until after the appeal period.. good
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  • thing I waited because they decided to appeal. Before we went before a magistrate, this time we go in front of a judge. Fun facts about their puppy: they did not let it out enough and it would inside a lot and
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  • often outside my bedroom door. They didn't like them going out in bad weather bc it made the carpets and white furniture dirty, overall they just didn't seem like the best puppy owners. Once both dogs ran
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  • away(because they let them off lease in the front yard) and luckily they weren't hit because we are near busy roads, but they did go to a greenhouse and roll around in manure. The dog always jumped which I was fine with but it was
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  • annoying since they lost it. over my cats existing. The other dog was super friendly and generally listened. After the appeal: today was the appeal, I showed up and waited and waited. Apparently they
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  • canceled the appeal so I win, yay! And very surprisingly they paid me today as well.im very happy to say this period of life where they are apart of mine is completely done and had a happy ending :))
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sue dogs judge pets house kicked out court bad roommates rent happy ending renting Cats animals karma entitled people
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