Pet Rent & Security Deposit in Pennsylvania

[Mahesh P.]

Hello,

New to BP. Thanks for the wealth of information found here.

I had a question about security deposit in Pennsylvania when it involves pets. I understand that under PA law, the maximum deposit a landlord can charge is 2 months. However, after the 1st year, the landlord can hold only a month's deposit. Does it mean that after a year, even if I allow a pet on the property, I cannot hold more than 1 month's of deposit? 

To offset this, I'm thinking of doing a non-refundable upfront and a pet rent each month. Very standard from what I have seen here on BP. However, my agent advises going with just the upfront non-refundable deposit. The downside with this is that the longer the tenants stays, the worse off I'm with only an upfront and not an additional monthly pet rent.

Any thought on how to structure this? Thanks.

MP.