North Florida Nesties
mon.petit.chou
member
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
renting with pets
For those who have pets and have rented a house/apartment - what were the rules?
Were you limited on number or size or type of pets?
Did you pay a pet deposit? a monthly pet fee? both? was any of it refundable?
I'm working on my lease for my next tenants and trying to figure out what to do about pets. These people don't have any right now, but I want something in writing so if they decide to get one later everything will already be spelled out.
(I guess I should mention that I am ok with pets, to an extent. Just not entirely sure how to handle it as a landlord.)
Thanks!
Re: renting with pets
Depended on the place.. one place didn't care at all and didn't charge us any additional deposit/fee. I feel like we could've had a pet lion and she wouldn't have cared. She was also kind of insane.
The other place had a size/weight limit, certain breed prohibitions, and a nonrefundable pet fee (which I found to be ridiculous since my 15lb boston terrier didn't do any damage, and we shampooed the rugs before we left after living there all of 10 months... tell me how he did an additional $250 of damage?).
We were limited to two pets. Some places we looked at rented the size of the dogs... which I think its kind of silly. I know they were trying to keep out certain breeds of large "vicious" breeds due to liability, but let's be honest: small dogs can cause just as much damage to an apartment as a big dog.
Typically, it was no pets over 50lbs (our Golden Retriever is about 100lbs). Another apartment complex limited at 75lbs, but let Cosmo slide since he was a Golden Retreiver.
We paid a non-refundable pet deposit at both of our apartments. I can't remember how much though.
I personally think a monthly pet fee is excessive but I definitely think you should do a non-refundable deposit even just to cover additional wear and tear that an animal does even if it's not "damage." we don't have any breed/weight restrictions but we do charge more or less for the deposit depending on the pet.
ETA: We only lived in apartments with a deposit and no monthly fee by choice. We weren't willing to pay a monthly fee. For the cats the fee ranged from $150 - $250.
We allow certain pets at the townhouse we rent. We require a $400 (i think that is the amount) non-refundable pet depost and the lease states that you are limited to 2 pets. We also find out what type of pet it is. As far as dogs we like them to be medium sized dogs or smaller and will not rent to people with dogs that are considered "dangerous breeds" (pitbulls, rotties, etc).
**Just to make it clear, I don't have any issue with any certain breed and don't automatically think any one breed is "bad". To me, any breed of dog can be bad or dangerous if it is owned by the wrong person and not properly trained. The exclusion of certain breeds is more to do with the homeowners policy we have than with our own beliefs.
Do you have a list or something in your lease that tells how much the deposit would be for each different type of animal? Or is it just based on what they have when signing the lease? I guess since these people don't have any animals right now, I don't know what kind they would get in the future. (And they've asked about getting a dog in the future so I know I need to plan for something.)
I agree about the damage thing. The girl that was there that I am kicking out has had a dog for about 8 months now, and he already chewed through one of the screens on the back porch. She also mentioned something about him putting a hole in the (wooden) wall of the porch too, although I haven't seen the damage yet in person. I know I'll have to get the carpets cleaned too. I didn't have a lease with this girl which has made stuff like this difficult and awkward. I really want to avoid that as much as possible in the future.
My Ovulation Chart
That's a good point. I need to call about something else so I will ask about that too.
My Ovulation Chart
Totally agree! The only dog issue we ever had with a renter was a girl who had a chihuahua and let the d@mn thing piss in the house on the pergo floor, repeatedly in the same spot. It ruined the floor and had to be replaced and the deposit did not even begin to cover the replacement of the floor since the whole livingroom/dining room area was one big space that needed to be redone.
Do you take it out of the regular deposit, or just go straight to sending them a bill? I didn't even know you were allowed to do that.
My Ovulation Chart
We don't have a list but we do have a stipulation in the lease that states any pets they get must be approved and that a deposit will be required. If they ask how much, you can tell them it depends on the pet and then determine what you think is reasonable. It's also appropriate to put that list in the lease, we just haven't. We do have a two pet limit (forgot about that), but we don't currently have breed restrictions. You should check what the restrictions are for your insurance and HOA if you have one.
Also remember that pet deposits are considered to be for additional wear and tear by pets. If the damage costs more than the pet deposit to fix, you can withhold part of the security deposit to cover the rest of the damage. I just suggest making this clear in the lease.
Then again, I'm sure my rental property isn't completely on the up and up legally. BUT I haven't had any problems and my current renters are freaking amazing so I haven't really had to think about it.
We rent through a property management company. We're moving to a new house this weekend, and with that homeowner it's just a $200 one time nonrefundable deposit. We had to give them a picture of the dog and list his breed, but that was it.
Our current landlord would only allow dogs under 20 lbs. We didn't have the dog when we moved in, so we had to request permission on the specific dog before we actually got him. That part was difficult since he was at the Humane Society and she was taking a long time to get back to us about it.
You might want to talk to a collections agency. They might be able to find her. Generally they don't charge but will keep 50% or so of whatever they collect. It's better than nothing and hopefully will give her some aggravation at the least for being a shady azzhole.
This was almost 4 years ago (our 1st renter) so I don't know if there is a statute of limitations on going after someone for past expenses, but I will mention it to DH to see if it is something he would want to persue.
My Ovulation Chart
I was limited to 2 pets and did have a deposit. However, as my landlords got to know me, they simply returned the deposit. Personally, though, I still would have insisted on one. You never know when a well-trained cat/dog is going to have a pee fit or ralf up something that stains or tear up a corner nobody looks at or scratch up the hardwood with their nails. Actually my second lease specified no aquariums in case one exploded and warped the floors, although that was a standard clause from the HOA and my landlords ok'd my small tank for my betta.
It's just best to have it and return it after. $300 seems like a reasonable one to me.