Where to move????????

[Dthraco]

Originally Posted by KonaKat

None of that pertaining to your comments about the cleaning fees is allowed by law and I seriously doubt raising the rent from the advertised price just because of pets is either. No pet policy in buildings is fine, and some have various rules such as only owners may have a pet, or no dogs, etc.

Allowed by law or not, the non-refundable cleaning fee was a reality. It was part of the deposit with a clause that it was not refundable. The $25 per month per pet (I have 3) was also a reality. I'm happy to provide you with the agency name that does this. If it's illegal, I would love to help others avoid this frustrating extra expense.

It took a few weeks to find a decent place keeping totally up to date with the ads and as many agencies I could keep up with. A HUGE portion of the pet friendly places in honolulu are complete dumps. Most of them are tiny walk-ups with coin op laundry rooms.

I'm not trying to be negative, just expressing the reality of finding a place to live in town with pets. If I were the OP, I would do as others have reccomended.....take base housing and then take the time to find a place off base if base life was not meeting their needs. I was Navy in the past so I am not neive to base life.

[newUHprof]

Several people are "sure" that charging higher rent for pets is illegal, but cite no law or statute to back this up. Suppose a potential tenant offered to do work on the apartment in exchange for lower rent: paint, upkeep of some grounds, and so on. Suppose the tenant offered to pay higher rent in exchange for something the landlord might be able to provide (storage space, an extra parking place, whatever). Is that stuff legal? Then why not the pets increase? If an apartment doesn't rent at an advertised price, can the owner re-advertise at a lower price? What if all the inquiries ask about pets? Can the owner re-advertise at a higher rent with pets OK? If you folks know the law, surely you can enlighten us?

FWIW: I also paid a pet rental increase when I moved here. $100 / month increase in rent for having a large dog and two cats in the place. (The building was pet-friendly. This was negotiated with the owner. Also, I worked through a licensed property manager and a real estate agent. So I'm pretty sure this stuff was above-board.)

As far as I know there's no rent control in Hawaii, no laws governing what rents can be charged for various units. It's market controlled, and the market says that allowing pets can get you a higher rent. I seriously doubt there's anything in the legal code requiring owners not to negotiate rents based on special requests of potential tenants. But I'm not going to bother looking it up because (1) legal stuff is boring to read, and (2) I'm not a renter any more, so I don't really care.

But, seriously, if you have actual information then please post. But if you're "sure" something is "true," maybe look it up before passing it along.

[HankDfrmSD]

The American Apartment Owners Association says it's legal to charge extra for a pet, as long as the dwelling is not under rent control:

Can Landlord Charge Pet Rent? | American Apartment Owners Association