One of the biggest Landlord and Tenant issues I deal with daily is the subject of pets. About 7 out of 10 potential tenants that call me have a pet. The size and the type of pet vary. The face-off comes in the fact that 8 out of 10 Landlords tell me they do not want renters with pets and maybe one or two are open to pets but only small pets.
Legal issues aside, this is a huge problem.
1) Landlords are not open to 70% of the rental market by telling me this.
2) It is a renter's market but tenants have to realize the problem pets create for Landlords.
Let's look at both sides and a possible solution for both Landlord and Tenant.
Background. I have seen, smelled and cleaned many apartments and houses that the renter's pet(s) caused thousands in damage and in some cases created severe allergy problems for future tenants. In some cases, it has taken 2 years to get the smell out of the floors because of a neglectful pet owner.
Background. I have seen, smelled and cleaned many apartments and houses that the renter's pet(s) caused thousands in damage and in some cases created severe allergy problems for future tenants. In some cases, it has taken 2 years to get the smell out of the floors because of a neglectful pet owner.
Each potential tenant tells me that their pet is liter trained, just a small dog, quiet, etc. This maybe the case but again think from the Landlord side. If they let a small dog in for example and it does destroy a door or ruin a carpet, what recourse do they have? They cannot take it from the last month's rental deposit. They can try to collect it from the tenant but this sometimes creates bad blood.
My suggestion and one I am going to recommend to Landlords from now on is to take a "PET DEPOSIT" of something on the order of a few hundred dollars to cover potential expenses.
This is certainly a fair deal for pet owners and Landlords alike.
Current Pet Statitics and Issues:
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