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This is my 02 cents worth, so take it for what it is worth. I am LANDLORD and always make very certain that anyone I rent to understands the rules up front. I have a no pet, no smoking policy on both of the homes I rent. When I have a tenant sign a lease (as you probably did with yours) I always have them initial these highlighted rules.....NO PETS! It written in all capital, big letters too.
I'm not an animal hater, I have a dog of my own and consider it my child. BUT, in my past experience, renters with pets usually do not be as careful with their pets as I am with mine. They damage property,PERIOD! A widdle here, a widdle there, chew this, chew that, scratch this, scratch that, a few poo accidents, barking while the owners are away disturbing the neighbors, cat pee? Oh lets not even go there!
Last tenant I had, snuck in THREE cats despite signing in four places......NO PETS. Their cats pisssed all over MY home! I took them to court and sued for $5000 an won the case in less then 30 minutes. Had I wanted to, I could have taken them to district court and got a judgement of probably $15,000! Just something to think about when you sneak pets in. You screw up someone's home with your furry little friend and you can be found liable. It won;t be fun have your wages garnished from your next job. It is embarrasing and they take a chunk from your check until it is paid off.
And for those who will come back and state how much of a jerk I am, well, I got an easy response for you. Let me come stay in your home and rip it apart and pee all over for a few months and then tell you how mean you are for getting angry at me. Especially when you told me up front, not to destroy your home. Or, if you don't own a home, let me smash up something you worked hard for.
My point? Your furry little friends might cost you far more then you think. And no, most landlords are not understanding to you lying on a legal biding contract and sneaking in a pet. They exclude them for a reason, because they don't want to pay for the damages they do.
Also, they usually have to carry professional liability on the property and most of these contracts don't cover for dogs or have exclusions for them. So the home owner could actually get sued himself if you sneak a dog in and it attacks someone.
I am currently renting the place out. At the time of the posting I wasn't sure if I would do that or put the house on the market to sell. The pet stipulation was only pertaining to a decision to rent.
I am running into the same problem moving to portland right now. I am moving from Indianapolis to Portland , so I especially need to be careful that when I get out there, I can live where I signed a contract to live. I have decided to be totally honest with my potential leasers. I used hotpads.com and wrote a message to each person "Do you accept three cats?," so far one has said that they would, but for $400/cat, which is probably non-refundable (still waiting to hear back.) My friends and family urge me to get rid of one, but I don't think that they are that adoptable. I just can't do that. You can't just drop them off in the country.
Good luck to anyone in the same position that I am in at the moment. Still waiting to hear back from a lot of people and will try to update.
Being an animal lover I feel for you and your pets. As a Landlord I always ask for an upfront non-refundable $300 fee for clean-up after a pet owner moves out no minimum on how many pets. I will give it back if I feel they treated the unit very well and there is no signs of damage-kind of a gift Too many bad owners that do ruin it for the good ones which is unfortuante but have to protect my property.Nothing worse than male cat urine in carpets . Big problem too is that way too many people do not neuter/spay their pets which makes the "marking" even worse. PLEASE SPAY/NEUTER way too many out there (ok -off my soap-box)
Tell the apartment complex manager/LL about your situation.
I once had more pets than the allowed limit (they were absolutely clean and I kept my apartment spotless) and I told her the truth and asked for an opportunity.
She appreciated my honesty and allowed me to stay. She became my friend and mentioned my unit was unbelievably clean "for people who have pets".
Some people are oblivious about cleaning their homes, pets or no pets, but the pets have a bad reputation. It is the owner's fault, pets cannot clean up the place.
Telling the manager/LL about pets is the only way to go in my opinion. This will avoid problems to yourself as a renter and your pets will be considered "residents" as well.
I not only mention my pets but also ask the manager/LL to put everything we have agreed to in writing regarding them, so that everything is clear from the beginning and nobody has issues.
I just wanted to leave an update. I put in inquiries to around 40 apartments that said they were pet friendly. I asked them all if they accept 3 cats. So far, three days later, five apartment complexes told me that they do accept 3 cats. The lowest rates I got was $200 refundable deposit for each cat and $20/month pet rent for all cats. The highest rate was $400 deposit per cat, with a $40/cat pet rent. That last rate was ridiculous, so I immediately took them out of my options.
I am trying to be legit about this whole process. I would definitely recommend that other people also be legit.
To all landlords: Charging more for rent and deposit makes renters with three cats more desirable and also more profitable. If you are already accepting 2 pets, why not accept three. You could make exceptions based on previous experiences that the renter has had, which can be found in a pet resume.
Right now, the most pet friendly people in Portland are on the west side between Beaverton and Portland; and Clackmas (West side).
Hope this helps
Last edited by aefroyms; 06-05-2010 at 12:48 PM..
Reason: punctuation correction
To LLs around this thread, just a quick thought: I understand this is a very difficult thing to decide, and probably many people here have had former experiences with tenants who left the property in filthy condition, but please don't rule out people with pets from the start.
I have always had pets and I am proud to say my house/apartment has always been in pristine condition. After moving in, very often the apt complex manager or LL wanted to come take a look to make sure the property was well taken care of, and not once I heard complaints, but compliments. They were surprised, and I was gad to help build a good reputation for other responsible pet owners.
I tried to remind them that not all people with pets are the same, and many people I know take excellent care of their pets and have the cleanest homes. If the pet is out for a walk one simply won't realize a pet lives there. In my experience, not even pets like to live in a dirty home. I can only speak for dogs, as I am a dog owner - they have great sense of smell, have allergies, and are very sensitive to dirty places.
It is some people who are used to live in filthy conditions. I have been to people's homes where there were no pets whatsoever but clearly the place hadn't been cleaned in months. Dirty clothes/dishes/dusty/messy overall.
I believe I mentioned on a previous post at one point I asked a property manager for an opportunity, as I had more pets than the established limit. She was glad she allowed me to stay. Having been given the opportunity, I was even more concerned about having the cleanest apartment on the complex.
Other neighbors did not have pets and often had insect infestations, bad odors, etc.
I know every person is a different person, but please consider that before choosing your next tenant.
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Too many bad owners that do ruin it for the good ones which is unfortuante but have to protect my property.Nothing worse than male cat urine in carpets 
. Big problem too is that way too many people do not neuter/spay their pets which makes the "marking" even worse. PLEASE SPAY/NEUTER way too many out there (ok -off my soap-box)
