Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Real Estate > Renting
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 03-11-2009, 06:31 PM
 
Location: Up in the air
19,112 posts, read 30,530,848 times
Reputation: 16394

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by fatmancomics View Post
I'm of the opinion that you shouldn't own a pet until you own a house. It is communal living after all, people. Your pet, even if it is not a cat or dog, will have an effect on your neighbors. Parakeets and other birds are noisy, fish tanks have the potential of breaking and the water leaking on your downstairs neighbors, gerbils and rats stink as bad as dogs and cats and the more exotic animals like snakes or spiders can get loose. In the end, every kind of animal stinks no matter what so carpets usually have to be changed after a pet has been in the apartment. Hence, the non refundable pet fee.

Chances are that the carpet had to be changed and they had to do further clean up on top of that so they charged you more.
Either way, you're supposed to get an itemized list of all cleaning expenses and repairs that they are charging you for after they do it (no later than 3 weeks after move out) along with your deposit (NOT the non refundable pet deposit but the one for the apartment) if there's any part of it left. If they send it and all expenses for your pet are covered by the pet deposit, then you can take them to small claims court over anything extra they are charging you.

For example, if they're claiming that they had to change the carpet, and then fumigate for fleas and do special clean up or repairs for urine stains and the like but they don't have receipts for it, they don't have the right to ask you for more than your pet deposit and you can take them to court. But, if they have receipts for everything they are claiming, then you're stuck with the bill. I wouldn't ignore it if I were you either since they can sell your debt to a collection agency and mess up your credit.

In the end, it's just the price you have to pay for being spoiled and just HAVING to own a pet when you don't have a proper environment for it.

Generally I would agree, but I think it should be on a case by case basis. My dog has her AKC canine good citizen certification, is being continually trained by a licensed professional exotic animal trainer (hey, if you can train a Hyena, you can probably train a dog) and I'm a former horse trainer. I'm pretty sure I can handle a 37 lb pit cross

Granted, I believe that the potential LL should interview the dog as if they were equal to the tenants. If the dog shows any agression, hyperactiveness or even extreme shyness, they should not rent to those people. I grew up on a ranch and I really enjoy having a pet or two, but I'm also responsible and have years of experience.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 03-11-2009, 07:14 PM
 
4,921 posts, read 7,654,778 times
Reputation: 5477
Pet fees = extortion! The landlord does nothing with that money except to pocket it. Pet fees are said to cover the damage a pet may cause, but if your pet doesn't cause any damage what does it exactly pay for? Some say it should be spelled out in the lease, but leases I have read say nothing about nonrefundable pet fees except that they exist. Security deposits and pet fees are double payments for the same thing and this needs to be address by our law makers. The word is double-dipping.
The truth of the matter is that most pet owners are responsible people who have well behaved and mannered pets. Most sensible people would not have a destructive animal. I DID SAY "MOST." This concept of pet fees and pet rent needs to be exposed to our political representatives. Yes, pet rent is another double dipping scam. Do they charge for children? Perhaps a child fee, maybe a friend fee, or even better install a coin slot on the toilet. I ask anyone who reads this to bring this extortion to the attention of the press, media, or any politician that will listen.
Don
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-12-2009, 01:25 AM
 
Location: Chicago
6,025 posts, read 15,286,606 times
Reputation: 8152
jeez, how many of these pet fees threads do we need? isn't the other pet fee thread still very much active?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-12-2009, 12:44 PM
 
Location: Montrose, CA
3,032 posts, read 8,895,785 times
Reputation: 1973
Quote:
Originally Posted by donsabi View Post
Pet fees = extortion! The landlord does nothing with that money except to pocket it. Pet fees are said to cover the damage a pet may cause, but if your pet doesn't cause any damage what does it exactly pay for? Some say it should be spelled out in the lease, but leases I have read say nothing about nonrefundable pet fees except that they exist. Security deposits and pet fees are double payments for the same thing and this needs to be address by our law makers. The word is double-dipping.
The truth of the matter is that most pet owners are responsible people who have well behaved and mannered pets. Most sensible people would not have a destructive animal. I DID SAY "MOST." This concept of pet fees and pet rent needs to be exposed to our political representatives. Yes, pet rent is another double dipping scam. Do they charge for children? Perhaps a child fee, maybe a friend fee, or even better install a coin slot on the toilet. I ask anyone who reads this to bring this extortion to the attention of the press, media, or any politician that will listen.
Don
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-12-2009, 12:50 PM
 
Location: Philaburbia
41,710 posts, read 74,645,479 times
Reputation: 66649
Good point about charging for children. They do more damage to a place than any pet could even dream of.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-12-2009, 08:55 PM
 
850 posts, read 4,726,282 times
Reputation: 689
Too bad they're protected under Fair Housing....last I checked, pets weren't...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-12-2009, 10:17 PM
 
Location: Greenville Cty, SC
32 posts, read 177,624 times
Reputation: 24
Quote:
Originally Posted by donsabi View Post
Pet fees = extortion! The landlord does nothing with that money except to pocket it. Pet fees are said to cover the damage a pet may cause, but if your pet doesn't cause any damage what does it exactly pay for? Some say it should be spelled out in the lease, but leases I have read say nothing about nonrefundable pet fees except that they exist. Security deposits and pet fees are double payments for the same thing and this needs to be address by our law makers. The word is double-dipping.
The truth of the matter is that most pet owners are responsible people who have well behaved and mannered pets. Most sensible people would not have a destructive animal. I DID SAY "MOST." This concept of pet fees and pet rent needs to be exposed to our political representatives. Yes, pet rent is another double dipping scam. Do they charge for children? Perhaps a child fee, maybe a friend fee, or even better install a coin slot on the toilet. I ask anyone who reads this to bring this extortion to the attention of the press, media, or any politician that will listen.
Don
You must not be a LL. If you were and you have ever allowed a pet, you would understand that the fee is NOT extortion. Carpet is VERY expensive. Pet urine(especially cats) is nearly impossible to remove. Also I disagree that MOST pet owners are responsible. Pets have accidents - I own three myself. When & IF I allow a pet in one of my units, I only charge the addl. one time fee. A security deposit barely and sometimes never covers damages much less the additional pet damage. (which isn't always just urine - they chew on baseboards, dig holes, fray carpet edges along with much more)
One tenant dropped a bottle of bleach from a counter top causing the entire room of carpet to be replaced. That room alone cost $950 (with one of the less expensive carpet grades) and had just been installed 12 months before. So you can see how fast a security deposit can be used up without even factoring in a pet.
Its not extortion at all..... Its amazing what some tenants will leave behind or do to a place that they don't OWN.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-13-2009, 10:12 AM
 
897 posts, read 1,583,912 times
Reputation: 1007
Quote:
Originally Posted by donsabi View Post
Pet fees = extortion! The landlord does nothing with that money except to pocket it. Pet fees are said to cover the damage a pet may cause, but if your pet doesn't cause any damage what does it exactly pay for? Some say it should be spelled out in the lease, but leases I have read say nothing about nonrefundable pet fees except that they exist. Security deposits and pet fees are double payments for the same thing and this needs to be address by our law makers. The word is double-dipping.
The truth of the matter is that most pet owners are responsible people who have well behaved and mannered pets. Most sensible people would not have a destructive animal. I DID SAY "MOST." This concept of pet fees and pet rent needs to be exposed to our political representatives. Yes, pet rent is another double dipping scam. Do they charge for children? Perhaps a child fee, maybe a friend fee, or even better install a coin slot on the toilet. I ask anyone who reads this to bring this extortion to the attention of the press, media, or any politician that will listen.
Don
The FACT of the matter is that most pet owners are only responsible because the law forces them to be. Nobody picked up their dog poo until people started getting fined for it. Leash laws were put in place due to the large amount of dogs that were not on leashes outdoors which resulted in bites and random dog fights. Now there seems to be the necessity (I don't know if it's been passed yet or not but I still see people doing this all the time) for a law that stops people from driving while their dog is on their lap. How responsible are you if you allow your dog to ride on your lap while you're driving? Yeah, I know, he's just a chiguagua but will his size matter when you get in that accident and he's hurled to his death because you didn't secure him? Is that responsible? And it's not even the little dogs that are riding in people's laps anymore. I saw someone with a labrador on his lap last week, for god's sakes!
But let's set that all aside for now and assume that you've taken the time out to be a responsible pet owner. Your dog is so well trained that he even poos in the toilet and never bothers your neighbors because he only barks once a day to request his dinner. That dog still has an exposed butt hole and he still sits on it which means that every time he sits down, he perfumes the carpet with his special scent. That alone is more than normal wear and tear on that carpet, hence a non refundable pet fee.
It should really be called a butt hole fee and, when you think about it, it's a very appropriate name because it applies both to the pet and the owner.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-13-2009, 10:22 AM
 
897 posts, read 1,583,912 times
Reputation: 1007
Quote:
Originally Posted by JetJockey View Post
Generally I would agree, but I think it should be on a case by case basis. My dog has her AKC canine good citizen certification, is being continually trained by a licensed professional exotic animal trainer (hey, if you can train a Hyena, you can probably train a dog) and I'm a former horse trainer. I'm pretty sure I can handle a 37 lb pit cross

Granted, I believe that the potential LL should interview the dog as if they were equal to the tenants. If the dog shows any agression, hyperactiveness or even extreme shyness, they should not rent to those people. I grew up on a ranch and I really enjoy having a pet or two, but I'm also responsible and have years of experience.
Case by case basis wouldn't work because the law doesn't work that way. If you let one dog in, you have to let them all in or you leave yourself open to get sued.
In the end, these are animals that we're talking about, people. They have different behaviors than humans, they have different brains than humans. They can only be taught so much and, yes, even the most well trained animal will have a bad day and bark too loud or **** itself or poo on the floor (or carpet) or scratch a wall or door.
You guys also forget that buildings that allow pets scare away tenants who don't want to deal with being around animals. I know that I've never rented an apartment in a building that allows pets and have always steered away from them because I am alergic to cats and I also hate the noise that most pets make.
As far as the children comparison goes, I also feel that you shouldn't own a kid until you own a house and there were plenty of times that I wished that kids weren't allowed in apartments either because they are noisy and most parents nowadays don't discipline them either but I'm sure that's a topic for another forum.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-13-2009, 10:25 AM
 
Location: South Carolina
14,785 posts, read 23,948,669 times
Reputation: 27090
Quote:
Originally Posted by sskkc View Post
It could just be a way to scam more $$ out of you.

Our last LL charged us $25/mo per pet, pet rent (Single family home) plus pet deposits. After 11 months, they stated they wanted an additional $150/mo in pet rent because we got a new puppy (the carpet was already damaged by a dog we'd gotten from the shelter and would've been covered by our deposit). We had several discussions about how pet rent was applied to damages before the refundable deposits.

Long story short, we didn't renew the lease and left. The return of deposit letter stated that she did not (and did not have to) apply the pet rent to damages... "it was simply that - pet RENT".

So glad we moved out of there.

The house we moved out of? Been empty since the day we left - 3 months and counting!

You reap what you sow!
Yeah see she was getting her rent and then she wanted to be greedy . In my book greedy landlords get nothing . I once went to rent a place in Tn and I told the landlady that I would pay 5 months rent in advance and a pet fee , well she wanted 5,000.00 for the rent up front and then she was going to charge me another 1,000.00 for a pet fee . Well when we went to look at the house I could not believe my eyes , this place was not only dirty but i saw a rat running inside of it !!! I could not believe someone would be so greedy over a rat shack and guess what it is still empty and has been since the 4 yrs ago when I looked at it . btw I drove by there one night and the next door neighbors were dealing drugs too .If anybody knows how I know they were dealing drugs I know when I see a hand off okay . Boy was I ever glad that I did not rent the rat shack !!! So you are right they reap what they sow.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Real Estate > Renting

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top