3 Problems With Pet Owners in Your Multifamily

As an Investor, have you considered opening your multifamily property to pet-owners? If you have, you must prepare for a few potential problems.

Most multifamily properties aren’t usually open to pet owners for such reasons, so they would rather not confront these problems and keep pet-owners far away.

But if you’re willing to take risks, then here are three big concerns with tenants who bring in pets in your multifamily:

Property damage

Pets such as dogs can run amok and tear up the unit by scratching up the walls and floors, as well as marking their territory or leaving accidents in their wake.

Pet owners can potentially leave their pets free to mess up your property, leaving scratch marks, chewed-up carpets, and stains on the floors of your building. Not to mention terrible odors if they don’t even put in the time to clean up their pet’s messes themselves.

In such cases, the best thing you can do is to orient your tenants about the strict rules you will have to follow. For current tenants, you might want to consider paying them a visit.

Noise complaints

Pets can be noisy! Not just dogs but also cats and even birds can cause other tenants to file a complaint.

Barking, mewling, and squawking can really grate on the ears after a while. One way to mitigate this issue is soundproofing your multifamily property walls early on or convincing the pet-owner to do the same if they can.

Pet bites

Definitely more of a hazard than a problem, if a pet owner's pet bites anyone in your multifamily property, it could mean serious business that could end up in a lawsuit.

The last thing you want is to be in court because one of your tenant’s pets chomped on another tenant’s arm. Ask the pet-owner to take safety measures if the pet is especially fiery. And if no compromises can be made, then it’s best to have strict rules.

Pets can be wonderful companions for any tenant. However, responsibilities should be taken when it comes to bringing a pet and their owner into a household where they’ll live.