pets policy/but pet damages in Cali

[Mary D.]

I own a small multi units project. I have a no pets policy. However, many of my tenants end up bringing pets. I start eviction process because of a breach of contract between us. They leave and now I have pet damages. What can I do about this and how do I collect for my damages in the state of California.

[Katrina Edwards]

One should be very careful about deposits and pet rent in California. 

Here's what I do:

Never make a deposit non-refundable - not legal in CA.

Call ALL deposits "security deposit".  This gives the property owner the greatest flexibility on deductions for damages or other monies owed.

Don't charge "pet rent" in your rental agreement for approved/authorized pets.  There is some controversy on whether or not "pet rent" assumes a higher level of wear and tear.  I don't go there.  Up the rent if you're going to accept pets and if you rent to someone without pets, then call it a win.

I do charge "pet rent" for unauthorized pets.  It's $25/pet per day.  That's $750 per month.  For an additional $750 per month, I'm usually OK with a non-authorized pet, but what this really does is put a monetary cost on them for breaking the rules.  Is it enforcable?  I've charged and collected it.  Never had it contested in court, but  a tenant's rights legal group has their attorneys reviewed my lease documents and addenda during a negotiation and said NOTHING about the unauthorized pets or unauthorized people rent of $25/day/person/pet.  They did take issue with the late fee amount but we explained our costs and it stayed in. Net result was NO CHANGES to our lease/addenda and we signed the folks for a year. 

I've also had a situation where the property owner agreed to allow a resident to keep a cat but ONLY if she agreed to pay for carpet replacement at the end of the lease term.  We collected that replacement cost for the carpet when we did an addendum to add the cat as approved and documented the agreement.

Maybe stronger language in your lease regarding the consequences of having an unauthorized pet on the premises will be a good deterrent.  I make sure to carefully explain the consequences to the residents who lease "no pet" properties.  Sometimes we send a bill for the additional rent for unauthorized pets and negotiate it down.  What we are usually seeking is compliance, not the additional rent. 

I hope this is helpful.