Unintended Consequences

I think I'm going to get my neighbour evicted, whether I meant to or not.

The story thus far: the house I'm renting now is by no stretch of the imagination a palace. It's an inexpensive older place that's quiet and (mostly) doesn't leak, so good enough for right now. As any of my fellow renters out there will know, your top priority in renting is to make sure you're not on the hook for any damage that isn't your fault. Your second priority is to make sure you're not on the hook for any damage that is your fault, but that's a story for another day. :)

Anyway, the fence between the place I rent and my neighbour's backyard was rickety from the first day I moved in, but the neighbour's dogs are helping it die all that much sooner. If I'm in my backyard, the dogs act like every other dog in the universe-they bark their heads off at the stranger and they push and claw and jump at the fence. Fast forward a year or so, and the dogs have managed to make a few holes in the fence and pull the pickets out in a couple of places.

Remembering the Renter's Top Priority, I let my landlords know about the fence-don't know if the fence is theirs, don't really care if they fix it or not, just want to be on the record as saying that I didn't break the fence. Just to ensure I'm not hit with a massive bill for damages when I try to move-like I said, longterm renters will know what I'm talking about. It's all about getting that damage deposit back and/or not getting a surprise bill in the mail.

The landlords ask for photos. No problem, I figure-just more "on the record" evidence to make sure I'm ok when I move.

The landlords note that I said "the dogs next door," and ask how many dogs are actually over there. Now I'm a little concerned, but it's not like I can't say anything now, so I let them know I think it's two.

You can probably see where I'm going with this. The neighbour house is also a rental, so I suspect that the landlords own that place as well (they own several houses on that block), and the tenant(s) didn't mention that they had two dogs. I think my neighbours are probably going to get evicted and/or hit with a big bill because of me.

I hope this doesn't happen, because it's not at all what I set out to do. I suppose the way to look at things is that if I didn't mention the fence, I might have been stuck with paying for what amounts to their responsibility, and that it's really their own fault if things pan out that way. I'm not trying to get anyone in trouble, I'm trying to stay out of trouble. Still, I can't help but feel bad about the whole situation.