We are canine crazy in Truckee-Tahoe. Dogs at home. Dogs at work. Dogs in stores. Dogs on trails. Dogs on slopes. The mountains are calling, and I must go…with my dog. Doggonit, dogs are everywhere.
Don’t get me wrong, dogs are great, except when they aren’t. Dog attacks are not uncommon, and when they happen serious injuries and lawsuits often follow. In Fraser v. Farvid, a recent case from the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, the court examined a landlord’s liability for injuries caused by a tenant’s dog.

The facts of the case are disturbing. Joni Fraser was walking her dog in a Los Angeles County neighborhood when two pit bulls escaped from the patio of a neighborhood home through an inadvertently unlatched gate. The dogs charged and attacked Fraser, leaving her severely injured. Apologies to pit pull apologists, but those are the facts.

Fraser sued the owner of the dogs, Hebe Crocker, and the landlords, Ali Farvid and Lilyana Amezcua, who leased their home to Crocker. Fraser settled with Crocker and obtained a $600,000 jury verdict against the landlords. Unfortunately for Fraser, the trial court overturned the jury verdict against the landlords, awarding Fraser nothing. Fraser appealed the decision, and – again, unfortunately for Fraser – the court of appeal found the landlords were not liable for the attack.

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In California, pursuant to California Civil Code section 3342, a dog owner is strictly liable for the injuries “suffered by any person who is bitten by the dog while in a public place or lawfully in a private place, including the property of the owner of the dog, regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner’s knowledge of such viciousness.” California is thus known as a “no free bite” state. If your dog bites or attacks someone, you are on the hook. It doesn’t matter if your pup is Lassie, you’re still liable.
Not so for landlords who lease to tenants with dogs. Under California law, “a landlord who does not have actual knowledge of a tenant’s dog’s vicious nature cannot be held liable when the dog attacks a third person. . . Without knowledge of a dog’s propensities a landlord will not be able to foresee the animal poses a danger and thus will not have a duty to take measures to prevent the attack.”

In Fraser’s case, the appellate court held “there is no evidence at all of defendants’ knowledge of the dogs’ vicious propensities.” The court reached the finding despite evidence establishing the landlords knew two large pit bull “guard dogs” were living at residence, and after landlords facetiously denied such knowledge. But what the landlords were unaware of – or at least what couldn’t be proven – was prior incidents of dangerous behavior, including a similar attack that occurred a year prior. Because Fraser could not prove the landlords “actually knew” or “must have known” of the dogs’ vicious nature, the court of appeal determined the landlords were not legally at fault for the attack.

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The landlord “knowledge” standard is bad for victims of dog bites, but good for landlords. Tenant dog owners typically do not have significant assets or insurance to cover the medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering damages caused by dog attacks. Landlords, on the other hand, typically have assets or insurance policies to cover claims made by dog bite victims.

Got a bad dog in the neighborhood? If the dog owner doesn’t own the home, send the landlord a letter documenting the vicious behavior. Got a bad dog in your rental house? Hopefully your lease gives you the right to force the tenant to remove the dog or face eviction. Got a bad dog? Keep it on a leash. Leave it to us lawyers to litigate dogs out of existence.

Ravn R. Whitington is a partner at Porter Simon licensed to practice law in California and Nevada. Ravn heads up the firm’s personal injury practice – Porter Simon Sierra Injury Lawyers – and is a member of the firm’s Trial Practice Group where he focuses on all aspects of civil litigation. He may be reached at whitington@portersimon.com, http://www.portersimon.com, or http://www.sierrainjurylawyers.com. ©2023