In many places, the size of deposits are limited by law, so charging a larger deposit is not a legal option.
(referring to charging extra rent for kids).
Charging extra rent for kids specifically would violate that, but I’m pretty sure you’re allowed to charge by the number of people living on the property. More people means more wear and tear and more use of things like utilities which might be included.
Not unreasonable that you could also charge by the number of animals.
They can do a lot more when you openly admit to fraud.
Having been honored by being invited to a therapist consultation, I can assure you the therapist doesn’t tell the daughter everything … I wasn’t trying to look up my therapist’s dress to see her underwear, her dress only came down to her belly-button … still shocked she thought that of me … more shocked all the other therapists didn’t notice that on the videotape … fucking Eugene, OR …
This would have to have been a recent change … the last I heard some years ago is that the matter wasn’t completely resolved … and HUD issued the guideline that the number of people in the household was a protected class and cannot ever be used in landlord decisions … charging extra rent for large families is exactly like charging more for Koreans or Catholics … strictly prohibited … two exceptions are for 55+ apartment complexes and more than two people per habitual room (that’s all the rooms except kitchens, bathrooms and closets) …
Never in over twenty years as a rental manager did I have a perspective tenant say they weren’t interested in a unit with vinyl floors instead of carpet … I pulled all the carpet because so many told me the carpet was ugly, even if brand new …
If you want to see the damage a pet can cause, just look under/behind the refrigerator and see the accumulated pet hair.
I used to clean vacant apartments at two complexes that did not allow pets. Let me tell you, humans can do a crazy amount of damage. Pets urinating on carpets? Try humans urinating on carpets…letting cigarettes burn carpets…punching holes in walls…breaking light fixtures. I can understand why some landlords require a damage deposit and a security deposit.
I was curious about pet fees and deposits, so I checked, and they can be used for damage caused by pets, which makes sense. What I don’t know is if there’s a limit on what landlords can charge for a pet deposit/fee. I recognize that some pets do a lot of damage, but a lot of pets don’t. I’m thinking the landlords here still make a tidy profit if you deduct the amount of total damage from the total amount of pet deposits and extra rental charges, but then, I’m not a landlord.
I’ve never seen a dog spill his glass of wine on the carpet though.
A carpet is supposed to last about 10 years. I think if you rent an apartment to a guy for 5 years that had a 5 year old carpet (or more likely a 15 year old carpet) and blame his pets or lifestyle for having to replace the carpets when he leaves then that’s obviously full of crap. I’ve had lots of pets in my life and it’s no where near obvious to me that pets=noticeably extra damage to the house.
I disagree, and I’ve had both pets and kids under 5. Have you?
I’ve been told that insurance companies charge more if a building allows pets, because there’s higher liability. I don’t pay a lot per month for my pets-- $20 for two pets-- but I am also required to keep their vaccinations up to date, and copies of their current vaccinations (I take in the receipts from the vet) have to be on file with the leasing office. There are also some pretty strict rules: cats have to be indoor, and must wear ID anyway, just in case they get out. Dogs must be leashed at all times, except in the designated “Bark Park,” and no pet is allowed in anyone else’s unit, just in the one where they live. I have a numbered “Pet Permit” on my door. They also have lots of rules about dogs-- they have to be under 50lbs., and there are breed restrictions.
I’m assuming the insurance company imposes some of this. My old apartment had breed restrictions, and I was told very explicitly that that came from the insurance company. I asked if you could get a waiver if your dog had obedience training, and you could demonstrate good behavior from the dog, and was told “No,” because it came from the insurance company.
I wasn’t fully paying attention to the numbers, though I dimly knew $7200 was too high. But when I saw “$720 a year”, I assumed it was simply a good answer to the question. (i.e. “Why do pet-owning renters have to pay extra?” - “Because that way the landlord gets more money.”) 
Not true if the daughter is a minor.
In Ontario, they can only deny your application if you have a pet. If you suddenly appear with one after renting, landlords can’t do anything about it like evict you. Security deposits are also illegal.
Landlords used to legally charge extra for children, or even extra adults in an apartment or house, or even prohibit children altogether, and that’s illegal except in senior-designated housing. So, they decided to add on surcharges for pets.
I don’t have to pay extra monthly rent for having a cat, but I did have to pay more for my damage deposit, and also present a statement from a veterinarian stating that the animal was spayed or neutered. (When I moved here, I didn’t even look at an apartment at the place where I really wanted to live, because they also required that cats be declawed :mad: , and I was NOT going to do that to the one who wasn’t; the other one came to me declawed.) This place also has regulations regarding the size of dogs, except for service animals about which they don’t have an issue as long as it’s properly documented.
When I was in college, the biggest issue with pets was that too many people would move out, and leave the animal behind. :mad: :mad: :mad: That’s why most landlords there did not allow them, period. That also included fish tanks and caged animals like hamsters or guinea pigs.
As a landlord, some of our units as NY (the city) rent stabilized so the rent is what it is, and some tenants have dogs they had when we became landlord, so not worth trying to do anything about it. When tenants move out and we can renovate and charge more (under city rules) we don’t want people with dogs if it’s avoidable. Just getting people without dogs is better than trying to charge people with dogs. A lot of the problem with dogs from our POV is not the expected cost of extra wear and tear, it’s the risk that the pet will be really destructive, or a nuisance to other tenants (noise) or heaven forbid actually hurt other tenants.
Nor do we think we can tell that by looking. Our last dog was a hilariously dangerous looking ‘pit bull’, the joke was what a complete cream puff she was, quiet as a mouse too. So we understand how looks can be deceiving, but that can go both ways. One tenant now has a dog which looks mean, it also isn’t actually, but it is noisy and scares people not used to that kind of dog. It was an obstacle to renting out the unit next door after tenant moved and we put a lot of money in to renovate. As long as we can get no dogs tenants at our price we don’t want ones with dogs. I guess we might try to get an add on for a dog, but as mentioned that doesn’t really address the risk issue. Anyway of course it’s about money: it’s a business.
I would have sworn I posted a reply earlier this morning… weird. Anyway, I guess I should have known better than to make my post without several more paragraphs of detail.
My daughter is autistic. Claiming our cats are “companion animals” is perfectly legit and legal. But we did not get our cats for that purpose, we got them to be our pets.
The leasing agent suggested the form to waive pet rent during our first visit, when we were just checking the place out. She said something along the lines of “we charge pet rent, but if you can get this form filled out saying they are companion animals…” She did not know we had a daughter, she did not even ask if we might qualify, she simply made the suggestion.
Regardless, my wife was the lead accountant for a property management company at the time. She was familiar with the laws and regulations regarding property management. We knew before we even started apartment hunting that we would not be paying pet rent.
As for “scamming the landlord,” I’m afraid there are some things that I’m just not going to feel bad about getting around if I can, and this is one of them. Pet rent is the scam. We have always been fine with paying an extra deposit for our cats, as that is justifiable. Pet rent is just an excuse for the landlord to rake in more dough.
We have since bought a condo anyway, so all of this is now moot.
I am surprised that you have rentals with carpets. The people who used to live next door to us decided to move away and rent the house out fully furnished. We had a few conversations about pitfalls and I had some experience from the other side.
One thing was to take up the carpets and fit laminate floors; another was to stipulate No Pets. He also used an agency to handle lettings, collecting rent and handovers. That is a cost from his bottom line for sure, and he would make more in theory if he handled it himself, but one bad tenant can cost more than the cost of several years of agency fees.
I have not had a problem finding a place in Indianapolis that allows pet, but they all have stipulations. They limit the number, limit the size, have breed restrictions on dogs, and charge deposits and monthly fees. They also all require that pets wear tags and that you pick up after your dogs. So far, I have been the only person I see reliably pick up after a dog every single time, but I have never heard of anyone getting in trouble for it.
I did know of one tenant who got a Pit Bull, and didn’t even bother to tell the landlords they had a dog at all. They actually only got into trouble when she was obviously way over the weight limit, though. When she was small, they looked they other way, and there was always the chance she would end up under 50lbs (some female Pits are small), but she was at least 65lbs, and not even a year yet.
There’s also someone who has a Beagle/“Boxer” I strongly suspect might be part Pit, but it’s a small dog, it’s a nice, well-trained dog, and the owner has paid the deposit, gotten the Pet Permit, etc. Also, I have seen her pick up after the dog.
People in Indiana are pretty serious about their pets. Almost everyone here has some animal. If landlords tried to ban pets, they’d have a hard time finding tenants. And they’d also have problems with people sneaking them in. It’s better to regulate than ban. Same as cars, guns, and beer.
Not cool.
I’m one of those guys. I have 2 cats. Well, 3 right now because one of the kitties is a loaner from my girlfriend. And while the apartment only has carpet in the bedrooms, I know the cats have peed on them in a few different places. It doesn’t smell because I use enzyme spray but what the heck. 2 cats cost 30 a month in pet rent.
I know after I leave, which might be as soon as a year after I moved in, they will need to replace the bedroom carpet. It’s about 400 square feet, at $1 a square foot for installed cut rate discount carpet, that’s $400. And actually it’s a 2 bedroom apartment and the cats have peed in there as well. A lot more in there, actually. It doesn’t smell because I ran a carpet cleaning machine on it and my roommate knows to close the door. Still, it looks like these cats have done probably $400-$800 of damage, or about what the landlord is charging for a year.
Are they peeing outside the litter box or spraying? Are they neutered? Also, has the urine penetrated through the pad to the floor beneath? If so, your pet deposit plus pet rental may not cover the damage.
But thanks for your honesty. I’m beginning to understand pet rental fees.
One isn’t spayed. Haven’t had time. The urine may or may not have reached the pad. Also the way I see it, since I am being forced to pay so much, I am not really feeling too bad about it. Every time I see them clawing the carpet or blinds or I have to spray something on the pee spot I see it as getting my money’s worth.
I have been planning to get the female cat fixed and then have her live outside if she keeps peeing outside her box though.