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I have a cat, declawed, nuetered, he is quiet, just sort of looks out the window, cruises to his food dish, naps on the bed. He is clean, uses a litter box, that I clean daily. He does not destroy anything.
I am looking at the paper today, checking out rentals, thinking about moving...forget it. All the rentals have ads that say, "NO PETS". How did pet owners get such a bad rap? They won't even consider a pet? A cat?
So, I guess I was lucky to find a place that I could have a cat. I guess I am not going to be moving any time soon...
If you're in the city or suburbs, go on craigslist. I know where I am, it has a lot of apartments that allow pets. They have separate checkboxes for dogs and cats.
unfortunatly its becomming the norm now thanks to so many irressponsible pet owners who let their animals claw the carpets, pee and poop everywhere, flea infestations ect...
ive found that if theres a place that realy peeks your interestes though even if it saysno pets sometimes its worth emailing/calling and asking about the pet pilicy and explaining about your pet if there willing to listen...
offering a refundable security deposit is usually helpfull too.
most places that allow pets in the suburbs/exurbs are total dives. usually they're massive apartment complexes with paper thin walls so you can hear your closest ten neighbors crystal clear. i've tried contacting people about apartments i've seen listed on craigslist with "no pets" in the ads, trying to explain that my pets live in cages/tanks and are not messy, noisey, or destructive. i've not received a single response from anyone.
Oy, tell me about it! I'm a long-time & frequently relocating renter, and my current menagerie consists of a 38lb dog (mutt), 3 cats, 30+ snakes, and a colony of feeder rats. So you can imagine I'd have an impossible time finding rentals, if not for my personal "don't ask don't tell" policy. I always divulge that I have a dog, but the rest are on a need-to-know basis with property managers.
Landlords here in the Bay Area are particularly non-pet-friendly, especially in regards to the dog... and even if they do allow dogs, they'll usually have a 20-25lb weight limit & breed restrictions. I can fool them into believing Rudy's only ~30lbs (he looks small), which is usually close enough to pass muster, and then I always have to convince them he's REALLY a mutt! When I answer "I don't know" to the breed question, they generally assume I'm covering that he's a Pitt, Rottie, etc. So I've learned to just bring him along when I view a place, and upon meeting him they can tell he's non-aggressive and 100% Heinz 57.
Anyway, I'm rambling - but like subject2change's post says, craigslist is the best source for finding pet-friendly rentals. And despite the above post, it never hurts to ask if they have restrictions... strict NO PET policies are tough to crack, but I've had a few landlords bend rules (i.e. weight limits, deposits, maximum pets) for my critters.
What is sad, is that owning a pet equates socio economic status, meaning if you can own your own place, you can have a pet, as a renter, forget it. Sure, you might find someone willing to work with you, maybe. But you are not able to pick any place. Most places I have lived are willing to adjust to a small cat, but even that is tough. I love the places that have an extra $1000 non refundable pet deposit, and $30 a month pet rent. Crazy.
I've also been a serial mover (I think I'm up to 21 times now), and have always had pets. It was much easier with just the cats, before I took in a dog, but I've never had any trouble finding a place.
Renters with pets will have more luck with landlords who just own a few properties, expecially small houses or converted houses with a few apartments. This way you can meet the landlord and you can get to know one another personally. The landlord will be able to judge whether or not to rent to you based on your own behavior, personal hygiene, job, and etc. and not on your pet status.
I've lived in some run down places, but it has always been fine. I wouldn't live in an apartment complex if you paid me!!!
I also confess to sort of joining those who have a "don't ask don't tell" policy. I always say I have 2 cats (even though the count once reached 8.) The reality is that in most places landlords have to give 24 hour notice before they can enter your rental, which is plenty of time to take the cats on a visit elsewhere if necessary. But most of my cats hide when strangers come in my home, so the landlord never sees them.
Many of those terrible people who take their pets to a shelter when they move because they "can't have pets" in their new rental - really COULD have pets in a rental, if they tried. I have no sympathy at all with those people.
We pet owners DO have to make an extra effort to be good tenants - rent paid on time, property kept very clean, and no complaining about minor things. For me the best landlord is one I only see twice - once when I move in, and then when I move out.
We always had a hard time renting. Try finding a place when you've got three rotties or a 182 pound mastiff. Or one of those human eating pitbulls or two.
Sadly, like Foxy said, there are so many bad pet owners out there allowing their pet to destroy other people's homes that it's giving all pet owners a bad name and no one wants to bother with them. Personally I'd rather rent to someone with pets than kids, but that's just my opinion. Landlords aren't allowed to say no children though.
As another poster said, finding a small complex or a home that's owned by a single landlord will be much easier, especially with a previous landlord that can give you a good reference saying you paid on time and your pet did no damage. The last place we rented in Florida we offered to remove the carpet in the entire house and tile it all at our expense because we had dogs and he accepted that. At least that way he knew they wouldn't ruin carpet and he knew we were serious about the rental if we were willing to go to that expense. I'd owned a couple homes before that, and after renting, even with a good landlord, we decided it just wasn't something we'd do again. It just blows that not everyone has that option.
Part of the problem is on the governement. Once upon a time, landlords could negotiate reasonable terms for pets, deposits, ets. But due to problems from tenants and landlords, these often resulted in conflicts that ended up in courts and governement in their wisdom to protect the poor tenant from the evil landlords, enacted may laws and regulations limiting, curbing, setting conditions etc etc on these things. After awhile, landlords found its just easier to have a single policy of no pets than to deal with the issues and problems that can develop just from the legitimate conditions of pet rent and deposits.
If you read CD's rental forum you will see many post from tenants who are upset because their Landlord isn;t returning all of their deposit because of damages the pet caused or other problems resulting from pets. That forum will give you a view from the other side (not to mention all the tenants asking how to deal with neighbors dog barking, pooping smell and cat smells etc.)
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I always divulge that I have a dog, but the rest are on a need-to-know basis with property managers.
