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I am very fortunate where I live I suppose. My landlord charges $100 per pet and no monthly fee. I got off on $100 for my two cats because my landlord is so nice to me, very cheap here.
As little as 10 to 15 years ago most places where I live didn't have these pet charges. They either allowed pets or they didn't.
Didn't she have Ins? I wish I had gotten it before renting the "like new" mobile home to that young couple.
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Originally Posted by =^..^=
What ever happened to Ins? Landlords can't afford Ins anymore? $600 plus $40 a month is a lot of money for a lot of people, especially college students.
I'll bet most landlord insurance policies don't cover pet damage because it's much more expensive to buy a policy that does. Insurance companies might be the very reason landlords are not allowing pets. This would be similar to the reason zero tolerance policies exist in school districts---the insurance companies require it for a lower premium.
This isn't a new development for renters. It has always been hard to find a rental that accepts pets in my region The few landlords that did accept pets have always required pet deposits and extra monthly payments. It was like this in the early 80s when I first became a renter. I couldn't take my dog with me (left her to live with my parents). I took my cat undercover because she was easy to hide for quite a few landlords for over 10 years until I was finally caught and had to return her to my parent's house a few years later.
This is why I taught my children to not become pet owners until they were homeowners. I feel very strongly that pets shouldn't be at risk of becoming homeless due to taking on pet ownership prior to being able to truly afford a pet in every aspect. I had my pets prior to becoming an adult, and I was lucky to have parents who kept them and took them back. I wish all parents would teach their children about this aspect of pet owner responsibility. I didn't get my first pet as an adult until I was 35 because I waited until I was a homeowner due to my experiences as a renter with pets.
I'm afraid most pet owners only think about pet damages. Liability is a huge factor for landlords. if a renters pet bites or injures somebody guess who will be sued?
I had a friend who was sued because a renter slipped in dog poop, fell and broke her back. Her insurance wouldn't cover the damages or medical bills and it was a long drawn out ordeal for everybody involved.
Anybody remember the case a few years ago about the college athletic coach-was it track or tennis?- who was killed when a neighbors' huge dogs attacked and killed her right in front of her roommate/partner. The couple who owned the dogs was charged with manslaughter-convicted- but it was the apartment complex which was sued for allowing the dogs in the first place. As I remember the case the dogs were being trained to be guard dogs and somehow a prison inmate was involved in the business. Big mess.
But it's not just renters who sometimes let their pets ruin their property. Many years ago somebody on our street lost their house to foreclosure. I struck up a conversation with a construction worker hired by the bank to fix up the place for resale. he wanted me show me the damage. The window sills throughout the entire 2 story house were chewed to splinters, some doors were gnawed on the bottom and the carpets were soaked in urine. Seems that when the husband left the wife she went off the rails and started staying out all night leaving 3 black labs locked up inside for days at a time. I've never seen such horrible living conditions. She ended up committing suicide after her family took her home to Miami.
This place gets more and more like the Soviet Union every day.
Please tell me, where in the USSR did someone charge pet deposits and extra rent for a pet? And show me the buildings that also restricted pets?
Despite the oppressive government, at an individual level, there were not many restrictions like this. On the contrary, and especially after the break-up, you could do what you wanted with your property, and seldom (I never heard of actually) if you were renting a place, they would have extra restrictions due to you being a renter. WHich is one of the things that really irk me living in the US.
As little as 10 to 15 years ago most places where I live didn't have these pet charges. They either allowed pets or they didn't.
I never heard of this stuff until recently, now it seems popping up every where. I say this as a renter for the last 20 years.
You are correct, it was either they allowed or did not allow. The first thing I saw was the non-refundable pet deposit, now the extra rent per month is the trend.
A $600 deposit and an extra $40 per month doesn't even begin to cover the expenses of pet damage that may occur. A landlord in the Pittsburgh forum recently shared pictures of the damage done by her tenant's pets. All of the carpeting needs to be replaced. The hardwood floors need to be refinished. Wood doors and trim need to be refinished too. It was disgusting. The damage done to her house is over $10,000.
Please, human damage can exceed a security deposit, and it is not uncommon that it does. An owner who allows a pet to do this has mental issues; there is no way a properly raised pet can do this much damage unless the owner is a neglegent nutcase, who them self (and kids if they have) destroyed the place.
Also, there are wonder landlord's and tenents who love placing all damage blame on pets, when in fact it was people. Some landlord's purposely rent out pet friendly places in roder to blame damages on pets, not normal wear and tear, so they have a better chance on collecting.
Also, this is a trend that has become more popular as landlords look for ways to squeeze money out of people. The demand for rentals has increased a lot since the housing crisis, and in many areas, landlords are looking for ways to capitalize off of it.
In areas with not a high occupancy rate, you will not come across these type of fees for pets.
This is jsut part of the supply and demand cycle for rentals. All of the "pet damages" and "liability" is BS (if it was not BS, why not have refundable deposits if no damage and why allow pets at all if liability was an issue). It is perfectly ok to state you are wanting to make more money off of people, and since many people are attached to tehir pets, making money off of pets is a good way to do it. I have no problem with it at all, people are landlords to make money, not be a charity.
I never heard of this stuff until recently, now it seems popping up every where. I say this as a renter for the last 20 years.
You are correct, it was either they allowed or did not allow. The first thing I saw was the non-refundable pet deposit, now the extra rent per month is the trend.
I haven't rented since the late 80s, but I definitely recall pet deposits back in the 70s and 80s.
I haven't rented since the late 80s, but I definitely recall pet deposits back in the 70s and 80s.
There were deposits, I am talking about the unrefundable deposits, and now the pet fee per month which are recnt. I have rented for 20 years now, and I find it more and more difficult to find a place that does not have a non-refundable pet fee and a monthly fee. My current place did not ask for any deposit luckily (Miami), but now non-refundable deposits are everwhere (no extra rent yet). When I was in DC years ago, the non-refundable thing and extra rent was rare, now it is all voer the place, with some palces even requiring cats to be declawed, and official pics of the pets to be placed on file.
As soon as the rent demand goes down in these places, you will see the reduction of such fees in an effort to attract tenents, right now, it is a landlords market.
I avoid renting in these places out of spite, nothing to do with money or anything. Private landlords seem to not do this as often as the managed places (I only rent from private landlords).
As a note, I am all for landlords doing what they want to do with their property.
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