Do you allow pets in apartments?

Question

Dogs are too likely to bark, owners don't clean up after them, and an off-leash dog creates a lot of problems. Then there's scratches on doors, chewed up trim, or torn up carpet to worry about.

Cats are quiet, but the odor can impact the neighbors and destroy an apartment if the Tenant doesn't take care of them properly.

If you allow them, what do you do to mitigate your risk? Does it work?

Patrick M. · Answer

I do not allow pets- I have now renovated 5 of my past pet-friendly apartments and they leave a lot of damage and some that you do not see on first blush or that can be temporarily masked with a good cleaning.

I am a minority in my market and it significantly reduces my  applicant pool. That being said, the vast majority of people in my area are purchasing and keeping rat-dogs and half-a-dogs. Shitzu's and the like. I think they can be managed, but they have a higher propensity to bite.

When I get ready to sell I may allow pets to drive up my bottom line... but doubtful.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

@Erik Whiting those are some great tips!

I'm surprised how low your increases are. We charge $25 for a cat or dog under 40 pounds. Dogs above 40 pounds are $50 a month. Dogs on the "dangerous breeds" list are $50 a month and require the tenant to carry additional insurance with the Landlord and Property Management company listed as additional interest.

Good stuff!

Bjorn Ahlblad · Answer

@Nathan G. we do not allow pets in our apartments-it could become chaotic too many tenants in close contact. In our duplexes we had really unfortunate results causing a huge rehab; so for now pets are banned there too.

The pet is an unfortunate victim here because it is not the pet; it is the owner. People don't realize they can train the dog to behave in almost any manner. It just takes time, knowledge and patience and they are capable of just about anything you can describe. Cats too can be made to master the basics enough to not cause damage and odors-if you don't keep the litter box clean the cat will find a new place to go. Unfortunately many pet owners are ill informed, and as renters they may not care as much as they should about their living quarters.

Erik W. · Answer

I don't have apartments (yet), but both of the problems you mention (noise, odors) potentially affect plexes also.  We have 3 duplexes and a quad plex, and I not only allow pets, I actively SEEK OUT pet owners.

How to mititage noise and odor?   Get responsible pet owners.

How to get responsible pet owners?  Visit the place they currently live.  Listen.  Sniff.  The ears and the nose will tell you all you need.

But what if they live out of town/out of state?  Call a local Real Estate Broker's office and offer the floor agent on duty $50 to be your listener/sniffer proxy.  PayPal, Zelle, and Venmo make such payments easy.  Once they drop by the applicant's home and snap some pictures and fill out your checklist, you send the payment.  Easy cheesy.  $50 is chump change to spend on verifying your property will not be destroyed.  I do this on ALL new applicants, not just pet owners.  I have avoided a hoarder and a person who was trashing their current rental.  Both looked great on paper, but their current home told a different story.  I only check them after they pass all of our standard screening for background, credit, income, and LL references.

I charge $150 up front per animal as a registration fee (non-refundable) and add $15/month to the rent.  We're pretty cheap as far as what we charge for critters compared to our competition, but this helps offset the extra cleaning required for pets and profits us for being flexible.  It also helps us find people who are serious about wanting their pets.  The people who balk at paying extra are the same ones who will tear up a rental and pick up every stray they find.

We also allow smokers....but that's for another post!

Michael Ablan · Answer

@Nathan G.  -  We allow the following

Max 2 pets.  No dogs over 50 lbs.  No aggressive breeds (deemed by insurance carrier).  I'm sure I'm going to get push back eventually on the aggressive breed and 50lb restriction being discrimination, but luckily our area is much slower to catch up to these ridiculous trends.

I obviously prefer tenants without animals, but it's to the point where everyone has something, so now we just turn it into a revenue source

$25/month per pet + $200-$300 non refundable fee.

We enforce quiet enjoyment pretty aggressively.  Everyone is entitled to peace and quiet in their house and if you're incessantly barking dog is disrupting that then it must stop or you'll be asked to leave.   Having this conversation up front seems to help and so far we haven't had to enforce eviction or removal of the dog.

Chris R. · Answer

We are happy to have pets in the apartments as others have in this post because of the extra revenue. Our apartments are a little on the expensive side because they’re renovated to a nicer level which has seemed to attract more responsible pet owners. We upgraded all of our floors to LifeProof plank and that seemed to cut down on damage with dogs. We take a $200 pet deposit and charge $25/mo per pet. I like the idea of upcharging to $50 for dogs over 40 lbs as well as the additional insurance on aggressive breeds. Very good practices to protect yourself.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

@Erik Whiting it has been slowly growing since 2010 but it is now out of control. You hear the same complaints from the airlines. I flew two months ago and a guy had a large German Shepherd that was very nervous in the terminal, obviously not a trained service animal. It got diarrhea and crapped all over the floor, as well as the guys boot and pant leg. Fortunately, it was tile floor and not the carpet ten feet away!

There's no regulation and the majority of the claims I see are fraudulent. HUD is trying to get a grip on it but we may be stuck with this for another 10 years.

I highly recommend owners allow pets and charge a fee because animals are going into rentals whether you like it or not!

Kenny Dahill · Answer

@Nathan G., I too seek out pet owners like @Erik Whiting.  Although I only own SFR.

Pets are another opportunity to generate income.  I don't allow cats though because of their remaining effect.  I can repaint or replace dog damage in a day, next tenants would never know.  I can't remove cat scent easily.

I do not rent to smokers, but weed smokers are alright.  Same as above.  Dogs:Cats.  Weed:Cigarettes.  Weed odors go away fairly quick.

Erik W. · Answer

@Nathan G., yeah, folks keep telling me I should raise the pet fees.  I should listen to them (and you)!

Curious, have you ever had someone claim ESA or service animal to side-step your fees?  Used to be no one said anything about ESAs or service animal, but in 2019 I saw the ESA trend explode.

Do you allow pets in apartments?

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