am i being cheated by my landlord? (Kansas City, Topeka: 2014, renter)

[SteelCity1237]

My wife and I are currently in the process of renewing a lease. We've been in our current house for a year now paying $1300/month and the newly proposed rent has gone up $20 if we want to renew...no big deal. My issue is with the $600 NON-REFUNDABLE pet "deposit" they want us to pay AGAIN just like we did when we first moved in a year ago. I've done a lot of research and understand there is nothing wrong with the dollar amounts themselves; totally legal.

However, I am wondering if the state of Kansas allows for "non-refundable" deposits of any kind whatsoever? Also, is it right for the landlord to ask for this pet "deposit" for the SECOND year in a row? And no, our dog has not damaged anything in the house, which also means the $600 has not gone towards anything pet related in the house. I have read through the Kansas Residential Landlord & Tenant Act, but could not find the answers to these questions. Please help! I am overseas right now serving in Iraq and am trying to help my wife deal with the renewal process. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
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[Samantha S]

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer.

I don't believe there is anything illegal about the requirement of a nonrefundable deposit in KS. We have property in MO and it's not illegal there.

I also think it's possible that you were given a standard set of forms for lease/renewal and that perhaps the landlord would not actually make you pay the second deposit.

Have you talked to him/her? I would start by just making a friendly call and reminding him that you are renewing and have already paid a pet deposit and asking if it really is required a second time. If so, I'd ask why, but ultimately, I think they can require whatever they want.

[Bob from down south]

I think the idea of a non-refundable deposit is a foul--if it's non refundable it's NOT a deposit. If he insists on getting paid again, he's ripping you off. Find yourself a new place, and get your $600 worth on the way out.

[Samantha S]

Originally Posted by Bob from down south

I think the idea of a non-refundable deposit is a foul--if it's non refundable it's NOT a deposit. If he insists on getting paid again, he's ripping you off. Find yourself a new place, and get your $600 worth on the way out.

It IS a deposit. If you own a dog or a cat, then when you move out, the landlord is going to have to spend additional money having the carpets treated or possibly even replaced. So it's money taken up front, to pay for things later. If you want to call it a "fee" fine, but there is a reason for it.

As you have aptly demonstrated, people who are renting don't often take care of properties and are sometimes even willfully destructive or negligent. The property owner has to take some precautions against this.

Back to the OP: It's possible that the landlord feels that the longer the pet stays, the more likely he will have to replace the carpeting when you leave and so accumulates "pet deposits" in anticipation of this. But I'm willing to bet that a friendly call could go a long way towards an easy solution.

[WyoNewk]

I should preface this by saying that I am a landlord and have had as many as 20 properties for the past 30 years but am now down to one. I've also been a pet owner much of that time, and I've had properties where I allowed pets.

Almost all pets are hard on a home, even those that are well-trained, from tiny teacup size to small horse size, whether cats or dogs. I've had to replace my own carpeting because of one dog I had. Cats can be worse. $50 per month is not too much extra to charge on a $1300 rental. Just a year ago I had to spend over $5000 because of pet damage -- carpet, sub-floor, screen door, and woodwork.

Even the best of dogs carry in dirt on their paws and work it into the carpet, making it wear out much faster. Most damage yards, screen doors and trim. No, $600 per year is not too much extra to ask.

But it bothers me that the landlord calls it a "deposit". I've asked for extra deposits and I've asked for extra fees, but there's a difference. One is to be held for repairs if needed and one is a fee to cover extra wear and tear. If he's treating it like a fee, why call it a deposit? I can only guess because that's an easy way to get the money up front, so if you don't stay the full year he still gets to keep it for cleaning and repairs -- or beer money.

I don't really think he's cheating you, but if he's calling it a deposit rather than a fee, I don't think you should be expected to pay an additional deposit for each year. That's not what a deposit is!

[Boxerlady]

Just from one pet owner and renter to another, it depends on where you live. When I lived in Salina, KS. It was like pulling teeth to get anyone to allow my dogs, so I paid high deposits. In Kansas City? Way more options. I didnt even pay a deposit on my current house for my dogs. Average deposits I have paid in the past have averaged from 200-300 (one time fee) I have always impressed my landlords with how clean I have left my house when I moved so my dogs have EXCELLANT references that I use often get landlords to lower (or even waive!!) their deposits.
It may be legal but I don't think its right, espically if your pet has done NO DAMAGE!!! I think its a way of cheating you, espically seeing as its NON-REFUNDABLE!!
If there are no other options I would probably stay, if you are in a bigger city, I would move on. Craigslist is an awesome place to find houses.

[scorpfem1970]

I have never heard of repaying the non-refundable pet deposit with a renewal lease. Renewing a lease is just signing on for another year, the security deposit and the pet deposits are carried forward...

[CavwifeyCarly]

Wow a $600 pet deposit and he wants you to pay that every year and its non refundable, I think I would go somewhere else.

I rent currently and I'm shocked that our landlord allowed us to rent since we have a pet and we saw what the renter before us allowed their dog to do to the property. It was as if the animals were allowed to do whatever they wanted and the basement was like their bathroom area. My dog isn't destructive but she does dig, so what we did was put her on a 20 ft tether and this allows her to stay in a certain area of the yard vs digging all over our huge back yard. Unfortunately us good dog owners have to deal with previous pet owners mistakes. I think our deposit was $150-250, plus our dog is a great pyrenees which usually weigh a minimum of 75 lbs so we did get turned down by a lot of landlords because she was either to young or would weigh to much. Sorry for getting off topic but I think having to pay $600 non refundable pet fee is unacceptable, maybe you should let the landlord come see the house. If the landlord can see the house then he might see that your dog is not destructive and that the extra fee is unnecessary

[Cinderfnrella_In_Oz]

It's been awhile since anyone has posted on this topic but I'm dealing with it now so...maybe someone has some new info.

We live in Kansas. I've always been a renter with a pet. I've always paid a security deposit and usually an additional $10 or $20 per month for "pet rent." In our current situation - although we weren't required to pay a pet security deposit - our landlord wants us to pay a non-refundable $750 "pet rent" each year at renewal time.

First, to be clear about verbiage: a pet security deposit is refundable, but a pet fee or pet rent isn't.

I checked the "Kansas Tenants Handbook" (a publication by the Housing & Credit Counseling, Inc. in Topeka) and it said the maximum refundable pet security DEPOSIT a landlord could charge was one half-month’s rent. Next, I checked the Kansas Statute (2014 – 58-2550) which stated the same thing. Last, I contacted Kansas Legal Services. They read me the Kansas statute (above) and said since it didn't mention anything about "pet fees" or "pet rent" that (after moving out) I could take my landlord to small claims court and (due to the ambiguity of the statute) try to get all the pet rent back. Lovely.

So the conundrum is - because the statute only mentions guidelines for a refundable pet security deposit - there's no way for us to know if what she's doing is legal or not.

Since I couldn't find out if this was legal, I DID insist that (because she called this $750 "pet rent") that she had to allow us to pay it monthly (and she agreed.) Now, since I have 2 cats and 1 dog...most wouldn't complain about paying $62.50 each month; however, if the max, one-time, refundable pet security deposit she can legally charge us is $447.50 YET she's charging us $750 EACH YEAR in "pet rent"? Something isn't right.

Don't get me wrong ...I know the best trained pets cause damage. The thing is, if we were here only one year (and she needed to replace/repair things) she'd have $750 for that. At this point, however, my animals are long satisfied and exhausted by the damage they've done and only want to eat and sleep, BUT the landlord will NOW have $2,250 to replace the exact same things? I'm sorry but there's absolutely no way any landlord can justify charging someone like this...

[Rivertowntalk]

It is a dilemma. Landlords, in general, do not want to rent to people with pets, but if there is an excess housing supply and they can't get a place rented, then, "woof-woof" pets are okay. They want to advertise lower rent to entice and get it rented. When you do say you have pets, these hidden fees, for "pets okay" pop out and it becomes an avenue for peeling higher rent out people regardless of any risk, or damage. It is somewhat of a bait and switch, but you are aware of the fees through the rental agreement and sign on to it. I would view it as part of the rent if it is an annual fee. If you were not paying the rental fee for pets, the landlord would otherwise would still want to increase the rent. Look at advertised comparable rents and see where you stand in relation to evaluate whether you want to tolerate it. Has the landlord used the pet fee to charge you more than rents listed on the market, in general? Next, if so, are the fees excessive and abusive? If so, move, or carefully challenge the landlords fees in the renewal conversation. If you have singed on to it, it is not worth arguing about it at this point, but it could be challenged at the next opportunity with the understanding that you may need to move if you can t agree on it.