Potential landlord lives across town: “No pets.”
Girlfriend: 2 indoor cats.
Apartment: Very nice good deal.
Building: Small.
Now what?
Getting evicted for violating the lease? Priceless!
I would advise against it. A friend of mine recently took in two kittens. Their owners had them in a “no pet” apartment, and the landlord found out. They had to find them a new home in a hurry.
Sorry. What are your other options? Where are the cats now?
I say go for it, keep them on the down low and no one will be the wiser. We have the same rule in my building and no one really cares.
Don’t go blaming me if you get evicted though.
I did exactly the same thing in my old flat. When the landlord came to do an inspection, I put 'em in the back yard, hoping they’d run off and explore like they normally did. Not a chance. They sat outside the French doors, staring reproachfully at me and meowing to be let back in. The inspection went like this:
Landlord: Those cats yours?
Me: What? No, not mine. They’re always hanging about.
Landlord: Well, have you been feeding them?
Me: Of course not! I don’t even like animals.
Landlord: Well someone’s obviously been encouraging them.
Me: Well, I hope when you find out who you have strong words with them. This is supposed to be a “No Pet” building…
Luckily, I never did get caught :).
Check the local laws. In my jurisdiction you CANNOT BE EVICTED for possessing an animal - even if you signed a lease that had a “no pets” policy. The landlord can evict you if you have a pet that’s destroying the apartment or bothering other tenants, but they have to show cause; just having a cat is not legal grounds for eviction. Consult with your landlord-tenant laws.
You may also want to have a frank discussion with the landlord. I know at least a few places I’ve been where there was a “No Pets” policy that didn’t really mean “No Pets,” it meant “No Big Loud Dogs, Pigs, Or Anything Else Disgusting” - they weren’t really concerned about a few cats, or hamsters or birds and fish, but wanted something to use against idiots who have two pit bulls in a bachelor apartment or crazy cat ladies with nineteen cats and one litter box.
Another issue here is that some people are seriously allergic to cats. To you, that means nothing. But in apartments where pets are allowed, they are often have to be (I guess depending on local laws) thoroughly cleaned after you move out to prevent the next tenant from possibly keeling over. When we were apartment-hunting, that’s one reason why pet-free leases did tend to be cheaper, was because of the cleaning requirements after pets move out. Again, check your local ordinances, etc.
Whether or not landlords actually do that or not in places where pets are allowed, I would imagine people with severe allergies might well seek out pet-free apartments and apartment buildings figuring it would be a fairly comfortable place to live.
My husband’s a landlord, and many of his apartments have no pet rules. And if any of his employees see a cat around the outsides of the apartments they set out traps for them and take them to the pound. He had a real problem with some tenants feeding strays a couple of years ago and as a result a kid was attacked by a rabid cat, so they don’t take any chances.
I’d definitely advise against sneaking any animals in. If you’re caught either you or the animals will be out in a heartbeat. It wouldn’t be a good situation for either of you.
Definitely find out about the laws - as RickJay said, in these parts landlords throw all kinds of things into the lease that they aren’t really allowed to.
But also note that even if they’re not allowed to evict you because of your cats, and they find out about them and aren’t happy, they may try their best to find something they can evict you for (which happens more often than it oughta in my jurisdiction too).
Also, as an allergy sufferer, make careful note of the point about how the next tenant may be put into snivelling misery because of it. I hate being an anti-cat curmudgeon but if you ever saw me in a former cat house you would understand.
A third on the allergy thing! “Animal lovers” don’t understand that not everyone appreciates your wretched little beasts. I live in shared housing and somebody decided to suddendly move a cat in without telling anyone (who wouldn’t love a cat?). I’ve been living in hell ever since. There’s a reason why that apartment is pet free, and why its tennants chose to live there.
Do the right thing and don’t a) take the apt or b) if you do, don’t bring the cats. (At least don’t do it unless you square it with the landlord first.)
The rules may be there for a reason.
Neighbors with even the slightest itch of an imagined slight will not hesitate to turn you in, you know.
You can’t count on not being found out. You can hear cats or see them sitting on windowsills.
I know that one floor down from me, one appartment has 2 cats and the other has a yappy rat-dog, for example.
Me? Two cats and two ferrets. And one of the cats sounds like a black lab or small pony when she runs (frequently.)
Luckily, the building manager knows about them, and it’s not a no-pet apartment.
A shelter worker checking in to say, FIND A DIFFERENT APARTMENT. If you can’t get the landlord to bend the rules for you, you’re just setting yourself and your cats up for misery later on.
The Humane Society of the United States has a wonderful website for renters looking for pet-friendly housing. It includes information you may share with a prospective landlord in an effort to convince them to let you bring your animals with you.
Daniel
In many nstates, it is still on the books that unmarried couples can’t share an apartment. So, if the landlord wanted to evict you, he might have an easy way to do it.
Besides, if you start off with an attitude of, “so what if we violate his rules,” you don’t have much of a leg to stand on if he doesn’t live up to everything on his side of the bargain. And how do you know that the meter reader, postal worker, other tennants (like me, allergic to cats) won’t tell the landlord?
As a former landlord, BTW, I would NEVER allow a cat! they do damage far more lasting, permanent, and smelly than most dogs.
I don’t think you’d normally get summarily evicted if you’re caught with pets in a no-pet building, but you would get a notice to either quit the premises or get rid of the cats. That happened to us once, and we complied, for about three days. Then when the heat was off we brought them back.
It seems many times a landlord will just let you alone as long as you pay your rent. If your cats aren’t loud meowers you might be able to get away with it for a while. But be prepared to accept the consequences. One that I haven’t seen mentioned here is what happens when you need to have something fixed. Then you have to figure out what to do with the cats so they’re not detected. And then, there WILL be some cat-related damage in most cases, so be prepared to have that taken out of your security deposit when you move. I think no-cat rules are stupid and unfair, and I have violated them, but I’m prepared to face the financial consequences at move-out.
It’s stupid & unfair to expect to be able to live soley with other humans? What’s stupid and unfair is how insensitive and self-centered pet-owners are.
Not to hijack much, but wha-huh? I’ve had two indoor cats for 14 years, and the only damage they’ve done is to my furniture, clothes and bank account.
Having said that, though, if you’re moving anyway, just don’t move into an no-pet building. It’s not worth the anxiety.
They’ve had pets in the building before with other tenants. Suddenly, there’s a no pet rule. The tenant who moved out had two cats. The landlord never enforced the rule against them though.
I don’t know what kind of damage cats would do to an apartment. I haven’t heard any in this thread. Also, I don’t know what kind of damage cats would do that couldn’t be remedied with a larger deposit or an extra $20 per month in rent.
The best plan I think we’ve come up with is to find a reasonably competitive apartment nearby that will take pets. Then, approach this landlord and tell him we want cats. You can either let us move in here with cats, and we’ll pay a bit more to you, or we’ll move into that other place.
What a brat.