Pet Friendly housing- no breed restrictions (San Diego, La Mesa: apartment complexes, renter, homeowners insurance)

[Moving to San Diego]

Planning a cross-country move for a new position around Thanksgiving 2012 and am having a frustrating time finding rental homes/apartments/ condos without breed restrictions. I know this is common and I have a young American Staffordshire Terrier (also know as a Pit Bull). I will be working in Lemon Grove off of the 94fwy/Broadway.

Any suggestions on rental homes with yards or complexes? Areas to focus on? I have connected with the Pitt Rescue agency in San Diego as a helpful resource.

I have never used this site but see lots of great comments. Big Thank You for any suggestions! It is nice to see there are still helpful people out there.

[Think4Yourself]

Your best bet is going to be renting a home from a private landlord because most of the large corporate owned places simply have a standing policy of no attack breeds allowed. It's harsh but insurance companies will not cover them otherwise simply because the attack breeds are responsible for just about all the dog related lawsuits out there.

[cellzone]

regents la jolla in Regents road (the golden triangle)
I used to live there 2 years ago and they have open pet policy.
As well i agree with Think4yourself

[tonyinsd]

I take it that since you're working in Lemon Grove you will be seeking housing there? I really can't speak to that.

However, most of the places I looked at that allow pets will either generally say cats only, or they'll do a weight limit on the dogs if they do restrictions. I didn't see any breed specific rules when I was looking at places. And nothing steams me more than hearing that certain breeds are banned. It's not the dog, it's the owner. Any decent sized dog can inflict serious damage to a human being!

First it was the German shepherd, then the Rottweiler, and now it's the pit bull's turn. It's the stupid humans, not the dogs.

[westwind15]

Originally Posted by Think4Yourself

Your best bet is going to be renting a home from a private landlord because most of the large corporate owned places simply have a standing policy of no attack breeds allowed. It's harsh but insurance companies will not cover them otherwise simply because the attack breeds are responsible for just about all the dog related lawsuits out there.

Actually, State Farm, Liberty Mutual, and several other heavy-hitters in the insurance industry have dropped breed restrictions, and simply look at that particular dog's history. Why the apartment complexes have not adjusted their rules accordingly is an unknown.

I have several family members and friends who have been bitten by dogs. 2 were Labrador retrievers (one of whom bit my daughter in the FACE for wandering too close to his food dish), one golden, one basset hound (took a CHUNK out of my brother's leg), and most recently, a friend whose face was pretty torn up by a Shih tzu. Not a pitty bite in the bunch, and several of them own pits!

[Clevelandgal]

The fact that you are moving out with a job is huge. So many people move out here with a few months of savings. As a private landlord, i would not be impressed. You may need to post an ad on Craiglist in the looking for housing section (give a range of areas), indicating you can verify income, rental or mortgage history, and if you have have renter or homeowners insurance, proof that no claims have been made against you because of your dog....maybe a letter from your vet about your dogs temperament.

[Moving to San Diego]

Thank you for your suggestion. The dog resume for Mellow is something that I will put together. I will work in Lemon Grove and have been told to look in La Mesa for a place. Tryign my best to find private rentals but the two I found this weekend are recently rented. It can't hurt but I hope landlords to look at the "rental needed" section of Craig's List as an active search rather than a passive one. Thanks!!

[Clevelandgal]

Keep pressing that you have a job! The unemployment out here is awful so I think I you would be a good candidate. Just curious...I am a landlord in another city ...so if a great candidate came along with a dog, I would maybe ask them to take out an insurance policy. I'm thinking this would not be outrageous,but I don't know. I hate to say it becuase we are animal lovers, but we passed in a tenent with pits, and ended up finding a pet less doctor to rent our place. I just didn't want to take the chance of the dogs biting someone in the elevator...and you know who would get sued? Us. The other thing is, as a land lord, if I could meet the dogs it might make a difference. If they seemed aggressive, I would not rent to the pet owner.

I have family members who found dog loving landlords on housing wanted section od Craigslist and they had 3 dogs at the time, including 2 dobermans.

[mdm1]

Originally Posted by Clevelandgal

Keep pressing that you have a job! The unemployment out here is awful so I think I you would be a good candidate. Just curious...I am a landlord in another city ...so if a great candidate came along with a dog, I would maybe ask them to take out an insurance policy. I'm thinking this would not be outrageous,but I don't know. I hate to say it becuase we are animal lovers, but we passed in a tenent with pits, and ended up finding a pet less doctor to rent our place. I just didn't want to take the chance of the dogs biting someone in the elevator...and you know who would get sued? Us. The other thing is, as a land lord, if I could meet the dogs it might make a difference. If they seemed aggressive, I would not rent to the pet owner.

I have family members who found dog loving landlords on housing wanted section od Craigslist and they had 3 dogs at the time, including 2 dobermans.

Yup, there's pretty much no upside for landlords in allowing pets if they can fill the place with petless tenants (unless there's pet rent), which probably isn't hard given the low vacancy rate in SD. And at least cats are only really a damage issue, but don't have potential to aggravate other tenants the way dogs might.

[RobynSr]

Sorry this is a little late. Search Craigslist. Put "no breed" in the keyword search and if you go through all the listings, you should find about 10 pit friendly options. Also check viridian lofts, regents la jolla, forest glen, palm terrace, windsor condominiums, srcinvestmentsllc.com.