Pet fee and deposits (cat?)

[Stephanie T.]

Hi all!

Our tenants are asking if they can get a cat. They would keep the cat stuff (litter box, scratch post etc) on the first floor where we have engineered hardwood floor. The second floor has really nice, plush carpet.

1) Should we allow that? I know there are people who may be allergic in the future

2) We plan to collect a $250-500 pet deposit apart from the $4K security deposit (this would definitely cover cost of carpet replacement though probably not that AND the engineered hardwood floor. However, our engineered hardwood already has some water damage so I doubt we'd actually replace..). Is this amount sufficient?

3) What should a pet fee be? Thinking $50-75 but not sure.

4) If the cat clawed at the carpet, is there a way to repair without replacing? 

Thank you!

[Richard Queen]

I have a strict no cats policy.  I allow small dogs at $50 extra monthly but I don't do cats.  No matter how clean people keep their homes, I can always immediately identify a home I walk into that has cats.  You just can't over up the smell.  And cat urine is almost impossible to get out without extensively replacing floors.