How to Properly Allow Pets if You Are a Landlord

Allowing Pets

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I, myself, love pets. I have owned dogs my entire life. No one can argue the fact that a good dog is truly man’s best friend. I currently have a chocolate lab mix that my wife and I adopted from a local shelter. Although sometimes he may act a big crazy, I would not trade him for the world. That is what a good pet can do for someone. So being a pet, specifically a dog owner, and as a landlord, I always have conflicting thoughts when it comes to allowing pets to occupy one of my properties with a tenant. A lot of times the decision is made for me to not allow pets. This is done because most, if not all insurance companies in the State of New Jersey will not insure a property with certain breeds of dogs living there. These would include your large and aggressive breeds such as Rotty’s, Doberman’s, German Sheppards, Pit Bulls and so on. The reason is these breeds of dogs are more likely to, and are strong enough to either do damage to the property or God forbid, to another human. If you are not a pet type of person then your decision is easy, you just do not allow them, but for me, it would hypocritical for me to say no, while I own one myself.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Rental properties

Step1

To start, when I show the property, my rental application includes on it a statement that the applicant initials understanding that we do not allow certain breeds of dogs. For the reasons I mentioned above, this is not negotiable.

Step2

If the tenant does own a dog and it is not one of the breeds above, I will make an appointment to actually meet the dog. I want to gauge the dog’s behavior and friendliness.

Step3

If I find a good tenant with a dog that I approve of, the rent immediately goes up $10 per month and I charge an additional security deposit fee. Also with that, in the lease it states that I will with hold $50 above and beyond the normal carpet cleaning charge.

Tips & Warnings

Do your homework before you make that choice and the percentages of obtaining a successful tenant pet owner increases great.
Check with your local housing department for more laws and restrictions on pets, rentals and being a landlord.

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Comments

mpodlesny said

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on 1/30/2008 that is true...but a lot of times its not the landlord, its the insurance company. they are very picky as to the breed of dog.

arwen1964 said

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on 1/30/2008 I am always glad when landlords allow pets. I think pets are important, particularly for elderly people living alone and single women. The right dog can be a big deterrent to crime without putting fellow tenants at risk.

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