Author Topic: Landlords: Do you allow pets?  (Read 3932 times)

Guizmo

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Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« on: April 26, 2019, 08:18:27 AM »
If so, what's your criteria.

I have a rental close to a medical campus and have been getting lots of interest for a unit. These folks seem great on paper, but many of them have pets. I'm wondering it if is worth it to start to allow pets.

GuitarStv

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #1 on: April 26, 2019, 08:21:55 AM »
Here in Ontario you're not legally allowed to have a 'no pets' clause in a rental agreement.

Stachetastic

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #2 on: April 26, 2019, 09:15:12 AM »
We allow pets. We found that in our area, pet-friendly rentals are hard to come by, so tenants are thrilled to find places that allow them. We charge an additional deposit plus monthly pet rent. If the pet is a dog, we require a meet and greet prior to signing the lease.

Enigma

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #3 on: April 26, 2019, 10:11:33 AM »
Depends, sometimes yes and sometimes no.  My rental properties usually are a no but there has been more and more individuals just getting them documented as emotional support animals.  It is as easy as jumping online and filling out a few forms.  Other units I have set aside as allowing pets with a $400 pet fee (non-refundable).

The rental company I have has a pet restriction.  Certain breeds are not allowed (8 of them) because they are aggressive breeds.  Other times they may have a weight restriction 40lbs full grown.  Some charge a pet rent ($25/month).

Pets do a lot of damage by the way.  If the pet tears up the door, carpets, etc...  You may not see that money back from a college student.

sammybiker

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #4 on: April 26, 2019, 11:48:05 AM »
Yes, with either a non-refundable deposit or $25-50/mo increase in rent.  No dangerous breeds.

I have single family homes and I want families to stay as long as possible.  Families often include a cat or a dog or both and it would be counter-intuitive in my market to not allow them.

YttriumNitrate

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #5 on: April 26, 2019, 11:54:18 AM »
Yes, I do. Also, I assume people will have pets so rather than charging a separate pet rent I just bump up the base rent. This avoids any problems with people trying to sneak in pets, or claiming their pet is an "emotional support animal" and exempt from the extra rent.

Another Reader

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #6 on: April 26, 2019, 11:55:35 AM »
Yes, small dogs and cats.  A substantial deposit and additional pet rent apply.  The emotional support thing is out of hand, as it's used to bring in dogs that would otherwise not be allowed.

Guizmo

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #7 on: April 26, 2019, 12:55:57 PM »
Thanks all for the replies.

@sammybiker What do you consider dangerous breeds?

@Enigma Yes, I am worried about the damage that pets will do. I already charge a full months rent for deposit. I think maybe an extra $300 for pet deposit. Luckily, these are med students so I  hope they would be better at taking care of the unit than  your typical undergrad.

zygote

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #8 on: April 27, 2019, 10:04:14 AM »
I just wanted to chime in from the renter side. It is a huge bonus for us to be able to have pets in our apartment. I honestly think it's crucial if you want tenants long term. People's situations are going to change over time, and renters that don't have pets when they first move in may want them in the future. Do you really want to lose a good tenant just because they decide they want a pet?

We had a cat when we moved in, but she has since passed away. So now I suppose we would be no-pet renters again if we moved. We might want another cat in the future, though, so I would only look for apartments that allowed pets. Cats especially don't do much damage. The worst she did was using our couch as a scratching post, but that's not our landlord's problem. I suppose dogs might be more likely to scratch up a floor? I do think an additional pet deposit is reasonable just in case, though.

I think it matters more whether the tenant is high quality and will be conscientious with the space. People who are going to let their dog tear up the unit probably don't respect the space much to begin with.


Enigma

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #9 on: April 27, 2019, 11:13:34 AM »
@sammybiker What do you consider dangerous breeds?

I know this wasn't directed at me.  But the dangerous breeds that are not allowed by our rental company are:
Akita, American Staffordshire Terriers, Chow, Doberman, Perro De Presa Canarios, Pit Bull, Rottweiler, and Wolf-hybrids

They come from a requirement put down by the insurance company.

BicycleB

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #10 on: April 28, 2019, 09:54:56 AM »
Not any more, but I only rent out rooms in my home, so I have latitude.

Long ago when I was a young enough man to feel that a female roommate was a specially Good Thing, Lady Applicant swore up and down that Kitty Cat would stay in her room. Once Lady Applicant became Lady Tenant, Kitty Cat did stay in the room most of the time when I was home, but somehow the fabric of my couch gradually got shredded.

Lady Tenant provided entertainment of a sort by regaling the rest of us with tales of her dating life, which involved a mixture of lightning fast hookups (offsite) and the ongoing search for a Wealthy Man. After a failed liaison with the owner of a thriving tech consultancy, she met an early stage porn king. There was a brief phase in which his rings and motorcycle were discussed, along with intimations that his aggregating of porn content paid 3x his daytime tech salary. Then she moved out, ending the pet era.

Back to your regularly scheduled sober discussion of pets.

SunnyDays

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #11 on: April 28, 2019, 07:54:50 PM »
My current roommate has a dog (Golden Retriever) which I knew and permitted when she moved in, but frankly, I wouldn't do it again.  (And I also have a dog and 2 cats.)  The dog itself is lovely, but I end up doing most of it's care, because I'm home more, and the owner is just not as conscientious as I am.  I won't let the dog suffer because of it's owner.  It also does some damage to the carpet, just by virtue of being a dog, and the lawn is getting pretty wrecked.  If the rental is not your own home, you also need to consider future renters, in that they may have allergies, and it's hard to totally "undo" a previous pet.  You may then need to keep renting to other pet owners.

Villanelle

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #12 on: April 28, 2019, 08:09:14 PM »
Nope.  When our property manager asked us about it, I told her that I might be open to it, depending on what we could legally do as far as deposits and pet rent.  She said she actually recommended against it, and since the place is in high demand, we haven't needed to consider it.  If she had any trouble at all renting, I'd probably open it up to dogs, not cats (and would explore what is legal as far as pet rent and additional deposits).

If a current tenant who was otherwise ideal asked if they could get a pet, I'd probably consider it, but I'd want an additional security deposit *and* monthly pet rent.  Why both?  Because CA laws are insane WRT the supposed life of carpet.  I can't recall what it is but something like 2 or three years, after which you can't charge anything even if they torch holes in the carpet and draw penises on it with sharpie.  So a security deposit doesn't do much good. 

afox

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #13 on: April 29, 2019, 02:33:35 PM »
Nope.  When our property manager asked us about it, I told her that I might be open to it, depending on what we could legally do as far as deposits and pet rent.  She said she actually recommended against it, and since the place is in high demand, we haven't needed to consider it.  If she had any trouble at all renting, I'd probably open it up to dogs, not cats (and would explore what is legal as far as pet rent and additional deposits).

If a current tenant who was otherwise ideal asked if they could get a pet, I'd probably consider it, but I'd want an additional security deposit *and* monthly pet rent.  Why both?  Because CA laws are insane WRT the supposed life of carpet.  I can't recall what it is but something like 2 or three years, after which you can't charge anything even if they torch holes in the carpet and draw penises on it with sharpie.  So a security deposit doesn't do much good.

Really no way, why dogs but not cats?  Seems like dogs can really wreck a place (eat the walls, scratch the cabinets, floors, destroy the landscaping) and cats can at most piss on the carpet. I allow a cat but no dogs. Pretty common to charge more and a pet deposit in my area to allow pets. In the US we are allowed to discriminate on anything except race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability. Familial status does not mean kids, its okay to discriminate against renters with kids. I only discriminate based on financials (income, employment, credit score, etc).




YttriumNitrate

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #14 on: April 29, 2019, 03:17:50 PM »
In the US we are allowed to discriminate on anything except race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability. Familial status does not mean kids, its okay to discriminate against renters with kids.
Say what?!?!

https://www.rentprep.com/legal/landlords-refuse-rent-families-children/
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/free-books/renters-rights-book/chapter5-2.html
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/got-kids-find-another-place-to-live-1.3233761
https://www.thespruce.com/landlord-unfairly-discriminating-children-156045

Unless you're running a senior center (or live in the unit yourself) discriminating against people with kids is a no-no.

afox

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #15 on: April 29, 2019, 04:09:19 PM »
Well that's good to know and nothing ive ever had to worry about since I only discriminate based on financials and employment status. 
I know plenty of landlords who wont rent to families with children though, its very common and noone is enforcing this stuff (at least where I live) and for a tenant to take action would cost them a lot of time and money so its virtually unheard of for a tenant to take any sort of action against this type of discrimination. This is one of the reasons I own my own home, I do have kids  and I don't trust or want to deal with landlords which is sort of ironic since I am one!

Villanelle

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #16 on: April 29, 2019, 04:32:47 PM »
Nope.  When our property manager asked us about it, I told her that I might be open to it, depending on what we could legally do as far as deposits and pet rent.  She said she actually recommended against it, and since the place is in high demand, we haven't needed to consider it.  If she had any trouble at all renting, I'd probably open it up to dogs, not cats (and would explore what is legal as far as pet rent and additional deposits).

If a current tenant who was otherwise ideal asked if they could get a pet, I'd probably consider it, but I'd want an additional security deposit *and* monthly pet rent.  Why both?  Because CA laws are insane WRT the supposed life of carpet.  I can't recall what it is but something like 2 or three years, after which you can't charge anything even if they torch holes in the carpet and draw penises on it with sharpie.  So a security deposit doesn't do much good.

Really no way, why dogs but not cats?  Seems like dogs can really wreck a place (eat the walls, scratch the cabinets, floors, destroy the landscaping) and cats can at most piss on the carpet. I allow a cat but no dogs. Pretty common to charge more and a pet deposit in my area to allow pets. In the US we are allowed to discriminate on anything except race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability. Familial status does not mean kids, its okay to discriminate against renters with kids. I only discriminate based on financials (income, employment, credit score, etc).

I think cats are far more destructive on average.  You don't think cats can scratch cabinets and doors?  Our place is built into the side of a hill and has basically no yard, so that's not really a concern.  And I think cats can destroy everything you mentioned.  They won't eat the walls, but they can certainly piss on them and scratch them, as well as scratching wood cabinets, trim, etc.  I'd agree that the worst dog can probably do more damage than the worst cat, but I think cats are far more likely to scratch and have issues with marking.  Some family members have eleventy pets and the cats have pissed all over and scratched the wood built-ins so they they are destroyed and would need to be completely torn out and replaced.  They pissed all over the laundry room and even with a thorough clean that involved pulling out the washer and dryer to clean everything, the smell lingers. So yes, they can do much more than just piss on carpet. 

And yeah, you definitely can't legally discriminate against kids, and it's kind of scary that as a landlord you thought you could!  I believe there are a couple loopholes--I *think* you can legally limit the number of people in the home based on the number of beds and baths, but that's regardless of whether they are kids or not.  And while yes, suing is a pain and most won't bother, all it takes is someone who will and you are screwed.  Of course, there are those who do it and find ways to explain it away using an excuse that doesn't cover a protected class, just as there are companies that fire women for getting pregnant or won't hire someone who is old.  But it's definitely not legal. 

afox

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #17 on: April 29, 2019, 04:52:42 PM »
Like I said initially I only discriminate based on financials (credit score, employment status, income, etc). But yes, I should have known that it is illegal to discriminate against children. It is so common among friends that are landlords that I thought it was legal.

Yeah, I agree cats can scratch stuff up too. Now that you mention all the damage a cat can do I dont know which is worse. Makes me think that I should re-think my policy towards allowing cat in my rental.

Lady Stash

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #18 on: April 29, 2019, 05:47:53 PM »
I rented to a military couple with two large older dogs (50+ pounds).  They had good rental references.   They obviously loved their pets enough to move with them and pay a rental premium for them, which made me feel like they were probably pretty decent people.  I was betting that responsible pet owners would also train their pets to behave well.   I don't know if that was a foolish bet or not but in this case it worked out great.  No pet damage and they kept the house and front yard meticulous.   

I would have said no to a puppy or young dog.  I would have said no to a first time pet owner or a young pet owner.  I felt pretty safe betting on long time pet owners with older dogs with good references.  I have a soft spot for military families that have to move so often.  It can be really hard to find a rental with large dogs.

tralfamadorian

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #19 on: April 29, 2019, 05:53:47 PM »
I think it is much more common for cats to have issues with marking than dogs. Pet urine in general is noxious and can be difficult to eradicate- hell, I've seen a house where the concrete had to be jack hammered out of the basement due to cat urine.

But, yes, I do allow pets with a non-refundable pet fee and monthly pet rent with a relatively low weight limit to screen out the aggressive breeds outlined above.

leland

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #20 on: April 29, 2019, 06:54:51 PM »
Really no way, why dogs but not cats?  Seems like dogs can really wreck a place (eat the walls, scratch the cabinets, floors, destroy the landscaping) and cats can at most piss on the carpet. I allow a cat but no dogs. Pretty common to charge more and a pet deposit in my area to allow pets. In the US we are allowed to discriminate on anything except race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability. Familial status does not mean kids, its okay to discriminate against renters with kids. I only discriminate based on financials (income, employment, credit score, etc).

Allergies and bias? Note that I have both so two thumbs up on that policy as a renter with a dog (paying my LL an extra $25/mo for the privilege of the 4-legged friend per joint agreement).

Papa bear

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #21 on: April 29, 2019, 08:57:49 PM »
Nope.  When our property manager asked us about it, I told her that I might be open to it, depending on what we could legally do as far as deposits and pet rent.  She said she actually recommended against it, and since the place is in high demand, we haven't needed to consider it.  If she had any trouble at all renting, I'd probably open it up to dogs, not cats (and would explore what is legal as far as pet rent and additional deposits).

If a current tenant who was otherwise ideal asked if they could get a pet, I'd probably consider it, but I'd want an additional security deposit *and* monthly pet rent.  Why both?  Because CA laws are insane WRT the supposed life of carpet.  I can't recall what it is but something like 2 or three years, after which you can't charge anything even if they torch holes in the carpet and draw penises on it with sharpie.  So a security deposit doesn't do much good.

Really no way, why dogs but not cats?  Seems like dogs can really wreck a place (eat the walls, scratch the cabinets, floors, destroy the landscaping) and cats can at most piss on the carpet. I allow a cat but no dogs. Pretty common to charge more and a pet deposit in my area to allow pets. In the US we are allowed to discriminate on anything except race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability. Familial status does not mean kids, its okay to discriminate against renters with kids. I only discriminate based on financials (income, employment, credit score, etc).
I allow pets but really try to stay away from cats. Usually a refundable deposit and then small monthly fee.  But I’m flexible on that.

Dogs can chew on molding, scratch up some stuff, chew on doors, ruin carpet.  But a cat? A cat can make me gut an entire house. I could be tearing out subfloors and drywall and replacing damn near everything because of cat piss spray or whatever.  It’s literally the worst.  It can ruin an entire house. 

I had some issues in my primary residence from prior owners.  I was close to tearing out subfloors, I tried chemicals, baking soda, bleach, vinegar, anything. No luck. Ended up painting the floors with primer and that made the difference. 


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ematicic

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #22 on: April 30, 2019, 07:09:38 AM »
If so, what's your criteria.

I have a rental close to a medical campus and have been getting lots of interest for a unit. These folks seem great on paper, but many of them have pets. I'm wondering it if is worth it to start to allow pets.

Depends on the property also, do you have hardwoord floors? Consider the cost to replace carpet. A non-Pet owner will likely complain of pet odor after.
Does the property have a yard? Consider the pet urine and brown stains on the grass, as well as the likelihood of the pet tracking in mud and dirt. Medium to large dogs can wreck nice grass. Their pee turns large patches of green grass into brown dying grass.

On a one year lease, we typically regretted allowing pets and the deposit was not sufficient to replace the carpets. Also, it will take awhile to replenish the grass in the yard where they wore down paths and killed the grass.

We are currently getting rid of our investment properties though, as they are former houses less suitable for rental properties. I would have certainly chose different if I bought with the intent to rent from the start.

Lady Stash

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #23 on: April 30, 2019, 11:06:50 AM »
Something else to consider is that cats who are altered young are less likely to spray.  You can add a note that pets are considered on a case by case basis and then screen out any that aren't spayed or neutered.  It's not full proof but it might help your odds.

Nords

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #24 on: May 04, 2019, 02:20:25 AM »
If so, what's your criteria.

I have a rental close to a medical campus and have been getting lots of interest for a unit. These folks seem great on paper, but many of them have pets. I'm wondering it if is worth it to start to allow pets.
Landlord pro tip:  all of your tenants have pets, even when you don’t allow pets.

We advertise as pet-friendly, which has brought us an endless stream of quality tenants.  (At least one rental-property website, AHRN.com, lets landlords include a “pet-friendly” icon as one of the sorting criteria.)  Pet owners are incredibly grateful to find a pet-friendly landlord, and they’re much more respectful of the place because they don’t want to go through that search again.  You can charge a higher market rent and be more stringent about tenant finances.

We just have a clause in the lease that tenants are responsible for pet damage.  We also include a note in the tenant handbook that the tenants will be responsible for infestations caused by leaving out food (rodents) or fleas.

Another advantage of pet-friendly is that we can stretch the life of the carpets for another 2-3 years and have a low-maintenance yard of mulch & gravel.  Neither we nor they have to worry about new carpeting, and there’s less yard maintenance.

We’ve been pet-friendly landlords for nearly two decades.  Last year when we raised our umbrella liability coverage, the insurer asked us to add a clause to the lease which required our tenants to have personal liability insurance.  Nobody is inspecting anyone for compliance with this requirement, but I guess if there was an incident then that clause would enable the insurer to go after our tenants for the limit of their personal liability insurance.
« Last Edit: May 04, 2019, 02:23:43 AM by Nords »

Dicey

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #25 on: May 13, 2019, 11:22:39 PM »
All of our rentals are in a Senior Community. Most of our tenants have pets eventually, even if they don't have them when they move in. We only allow small pets, and we collect a pet deposit. We made an exception for a larger Service Dog, but alas, he died suddenly. We refunded the pet deposit and the tenant stayed on. If he gets another Service Dog (he's legit), we'll figure it out again. It helps that our rentals have tile floors in most of the house. We always say pets are negotiable when we have a vacancy. We always, always meet the potential pet before making a decision.

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #26 on: May 14, 2019, 09:46:05 AM »
My SO and I rent an apartment in an owner-occupied building. The owner's daughter had a dog in our unit before we moved in, but our first year we weren't allowed to have pets. When negotiating our next lease, we asked and he said we could have one dog. He didn't include any restrictions on breed or weight, which we really appreciated. (The owner had two dogs himself, so he was clearly dog people.) His only ask was that we clean up the yard in a timely fashion. No pet deposit or extra monthly fee. We know we're really lucky.

And as it turns out, our dog refuses to use the backyard as a bathroom, so we take him on lots of daily walks (always cleaning up after him). As a teething puppy he did chew on molding some and pull up some carpet loops. The carpet is really, really old, so I don't feel too bad about it, but it's a fact. (We got a large outdoor rug and covered as much of it as we could until he grew out of that phase.)

My SO and I have talked about being landlords and would really want to rent a pet-friendly place if so, assuming of course that we get to meet the pets beforehand. We know what an upward hill we'd face in finding another rental for our sweet 90 lb dog, even though he doesn't shed. I think you'd get lots of grateful tenants if you vet them carefully before signing the lease.   

srad

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #27 on: May 14, 2019, 10:47:32 AM »
I've had to replace 2 subfloors, you want to guess what the common denominator was for those??   For me, its a hard no, but my rentals are in areas with very low vacancy rates right now, so i can find quality tenants that do not have pets. 

This one was expensive...

Le Poisson

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #28 on: May 14, 2019, 01:58:41 PM »
I've had to replace 2 subfloors, you want to guess what the common denominator was for those??   For me, its a hard no, but my rentals are in areas with very low vacancy rates right now, so i can find quality tenants that do not have pets. 

This one was expensive...

Laminate laid over VB and sealed seams might be a good option on your units.

As LWTG pointed out, around here you can't discriminate based on pets, so we allow them and try to make our units as pet-proof as possible. I do ask to meet dogs and interview them as part of the family, preferably in the owner's current housing. All I need is to take a quick look and a sniff and I know whether this "family" is eligible for my unit or not. If I feel any family member is easily incited to violence or likely to damage my unit, I will move on to another application.

srad

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #29 on: May 14, 2019, 02:35:04 PM »
I've got 2 higher end rentals (this is one of them) I'm using real wood floors.  For the rest of my units, its LVP all the way... 

In my defense, both rentals i have had to replace the sub floor on came with pets.  The one pictured, came with a tenant who had a dog and two cats.  All floors were covered with carpet so i couldn't see whats below (yes i peeked by pulling up a few corners and they looked fine),  when they moved out i was like i can get another year or two with this carpet so i'll accept an animal.  I put in a new tenant with a chihuahua.  So who did the damage i have no idea, I ate the cost.

Stachetastic

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #30 on: May 15, 2019, 05:42:22 AM »
My worst pet damage in 13 years of landlording came from chihuahuas that I inherited when I bought a property. When they moved out, I had to replace everything including the subfloor. That was it, I was done with accepting pets. And then I sat on the vacant unit for 5 months, as everyone who was interested either had a pet or intended to get one (despite my clear posting that stated no pets). I did the math, and realized I could have replaced the flooring several times over with the rent I'd lost out on. So I've allowed pets ever since, and have had very few issues.

Enigma

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #31 on: May 15, 2019, 08:03:31 AM »
My dad recently evicted a family and they were pretty much locking the dogs in the house all day while they were gone.  There was a layer of dog feces over all of the wooden floors throughout the house.  The house smelled like urine and trying to get the dog feces up just turned into nasty muck.

The floors after being cleaned up had to be professional redone and then sealed, the walls were painted, and an ozone machine was bought to get rid of the lingering smell.  My father ended up selling the house instead of keeping it as an investment property.

GuitarStv

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #32 on: May 15, 2019, 09:51:07 AM »
My dad recently evicted a family and they were pretty much locking the dogs in the house all day while they were gone.  There was a layer of dog feces over all of the wooden floors throughout the house.  The house smelled like urine and trying to get the dog feces up just turned into nasty muck.

The floors after being cleaned up had to be professional redone and then sealed, the walls were painted, and an ozone machine was bought to get rid of the lingering smell.  My father ended up selling the house instead of keeping it as an investment property.

My mom's best friend owned an apartment building and rented to a number of people.  One of them was OK for a few months, then refused to pay rent, took up drugs, and eventually (over a multiple month period) was evicted.  Before he left, he smeared his own shit all over most of the walls of most of the rooms in the apartment.

My point being . . . some people suck.  While some of them own pets, some of them don't.  I think it's going to be luck of the draw either way.  Fortunately there aren't many of the worst kind of sucky people.

jinga nation

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #33 on: May 15, 2019, 11:07:57 AM »
Yes. Non-refundable fee between $300-400, depending on cat or dog, with a breed and size/weight limitation in accordance with condo association rules.

Fees go towards early flooring replacement due to increased wear-n-tear.

Tenants are required to have floors and carpets professionally cleaned with the pet option when they vacate. Proof required.
Otherwise property manager gets it cleaned by our preferred operator and deducts from security deposit.
« Last Edit: May 15, 2019, 11:11:07 AM by jinga nation »

Villanelle

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #34 on: May 15, 2019, 11:22:26 AM »
My worst pet damage in 13 years of landlording came from chihuahuas that I inherited when I bought a property. When they moved out, I had to replace everything including the subfloor. That was it, I was done with accepting pets. And then I sat on the vacant unit for 5 months, as everyone who was interested either had a pet or intended to get one (despite my clear posting that stated no pets). I did the math, and realized I could have replaced the flooring several times over with the rent I'd lost out on. So I've allowed pets ever since, and have had very few issues.

I think this touches on the real heart of the issue.  The location, type of property, and rental market make so much difference in the decision for a landlord.  A 4 bedroom SFH in the 'burbs is likely going to go to families, who are far more likely to have a dog.  A high rise studio apartment, not so much.  So disallowing pets isn't going to narrow the pool nearly as much as it would for that family home in suburbia.  "No pets" makes one much harder to rent, but not the other.

Our place has never been empty and available for more than 2 weeks (actually, I think the longest was 8 days, other than when we were replacing carpet and doing repairs and didn't have it available).  We don't have to do things to make the property more desirable, mostly because it is a solid location in a red hot rental market.  Any good landlord is going to take all that into account when weighing the risks of allowing a pet.  Sometimes, it might be necessary to get the place full or attract otherwise top-quality tenants paying top-of-the-market rents.

M5

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #35 on: May 15, 2019, 11:43:35 AM »
We advertise our rental as "no pets" but allow them on a case-by-case basis. This keeps most of the riff-raff from calling you in the first place and once you find a quality tenant then they'll likely be responsible pet owners. Our house is also in a high demand market that warrants being very selective - most of the time we have a new lease signed within a week of advertising the vacancy.

LiveLean

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #36 on: May 15, 2019, 01:54:05 PM »
We're no-pets at our weekly beach house rental, but it's pretty clear our management agency can't or won't enforce it. I get emails from guests saying, "Loved your place but it smells liked dog when we arrived." And I see clear dog damage to furniture, blankets, etc.

I guess it's part of the mentality people have today that they can bring their pets wherever they want. The management company encourages owners to be pet-friendly since you'll rent better. What they're really saying is "we can't really enforce it, so you might as well raise your rates and let them come."

Very frustrating. My next-door neighbor there, who previously rented his home, recently moved in full time. He's a wonderfully nosy neighbor - we live several states away - and this season he'll be calling me if he sees or hears a dog so I can call the management agency to deal with it.

monarda

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #37 on: May 16, 2019, 09:35:11 AM »
We have a refundable pet deposit.
We have had to withhold $100-150 of it once or twice for dogs chewing woodwork (easily replaced) or freezer gasket (also easily replaced). He pulled a pizza out of the bottom freezer. Pretty amusing actually.

Almost all of our tenants have pets.

pudding

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Re: Landlords: Do you allow pets?
« Reply #38 on: May 18, 2019, 01:25:03 PM »
Much as I love dogs and cats I don't allow them.

They can just wreck a place in a month.

Last pet to live in my rental was my daughters dog, great dog! Such a fun animal to have around. But it shredded the garden to bits, somehow manages to chew the vinyl tiles off the kitchen floor and ate parts of the baseboards.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!