Why do most people who rent in my area say "NO PETS"?

Question

I have called and looked at so many places that rent in my area, but the clincher to deciding if I want to live there is their no pet policy. Why is it if you have an outside dog, and sometimes inside, that it is okay to rent, but if you have a cat then OMG, nope. Why in the heck do they think cats are dirty? Cats use the litter box and COVER up their doings. Dogs go wherever they can in the yard or worse, the neighbor's yard. Plus some dogs bark and bother other people when they are trying to rest.
My cats are like my children and I do not want to have to give them to someone who would not treat them like they are used to being treated.

Answer 1

Some places have a "no pet" policy because pets leave dander. As they don't know the health conditions of the people they are renting to, some may be allergic to dander, which can be hard to get out, even with a good steam cleaning. Because of this, it may keep people away.

A lot of places also don't want to take the liability as some pets are unpredictable (tearing something up, digging holes, ripping carpet, etc.)

Its just a pre-caution. I have had the same problem many places I have lived, but I just kept looking and eventually found something.
What you may try to do, is if you find a place you like that doesn't allow pets, ask if they will allow pets if you put down a huge pet deposit! You'd be surprised on how often it works.

Answer 2

Because of the damage of what those pets do or leave behind. There are pets that will mess on the carpets (hard stains to clean up). Having a pet leaves odors in a home, hair everywhere, some will dig or make holes in the carpet (our cats did).
Once someone rents out an apartment or home to a pet owner they have to replace carpets due to stains or hair, and sterelize the apartment or house. The next tenants may have pet allergies and cannot be in a place that once was lived in by a pet.
It is just harder to clean after a pet. That is the main reason.

Answer 3

I'm sorry your kitties are looking for a home. Pets leave telltale signs behind even though you are a clean person. All cats mark their territory and leave dander in carpets and vents and duct work. The rental agent can clean a unit but miss these problems. The next renter can react to those signs even though the unit is clean. Here where I live the Apartment Rentals require an additional $25 a month for having a pet. This is to provide funds for and extra special clean up when the unit is vacated. Good Hunting

Answer 4

Because pets do damage...all pets.

As A homeowner, i know my dog will damage some things, and i know I am responsible for it and will fix them.

As a landlord, I know from experience that my tennants will not, and then they have a fit when I deduct $$ from their security deposit.

Also, the landlord is responsible for dog bites or any otehr injuries caused by pets, and many insurance companys will not insure a buildibg that has dogs living there...because they know the same thing i do...most tennats are NOT responsible people.

to prove my point, I solfd real estate for 20 years. Prospective tenants did not show up or have teh decency to call and cancel appts 50 % of the time.

Prospective home buyers showed up 99% of the time. I think that says something right there!

Sure there are exceptions, but that's the deal.

Answer 5

I am in Real Estate and have done property management for over 25 yrs. Most owners of homes make this descision and the manager must follow or lose the account.

There are many responsible pet owners out there but the irresponsible ones ruin it for all. Over the year I have seen houses that were ruined by bad pet owners. The owners of these house have spent thousands of dollars to repair the damages. I am an investor and own rentals also and I have had damages. There is usually 1 in 5 responsible pet owners who are renters (not talking about actual home owners here). The main damges are carpets, pad, baseboards, floors. I used to have to fix up a unit everytime a renter left because they snuck in their animal and let it do its thing.

Cats do near damages that are almost impossible to fix. For what ever reason a cat can stop using his litter box and use the carpet, drapes, walls, baseboards and furnture for their relieving. They can get angry if you are gone too long or do not clean their box regularly or bring a new animal in. They can spray walls too. Or pea on carpet and pad. I know it happened to my home. I was gone 10 days on vacation and my cat got angry and ruined my whole living room, carpet, pad, drapes, and baseboards. It was never the same. They return to the same place over and over and you can never get them back to the cat box full time. You have to bleach the floor boards or concrete to get the smell out. And sometimes it is never gone.
Dogs can damage walls, carpets, and doorways. They like to chew anything including wood. And any animal if left alone locked up too long will use your house to elliminate. Training helps with dogs but cats are harder. They go to the liter box because of the scent used in the liter to attract them there.

Birds even cause more damage to wood in a home. Parrots, cockatiels, and the like. They are totally off limits in my places.

Want would you do it your rental was damaged several times? Put up a No Pets Sign?
There are responsible owners out there and you are one. I am sorry others have ruined it for you. I am a cat and dog owner and I love animals too. They are my family but I own my own home so If they cause damage I take care of it.
Good Luck

Answer 6

1. Because our liability insurance policies require us to prohibit pets.

2. Because we're sick and tired of having to shell out several hundred $$$ to have a place de-fleaed when a pet owner moves out and then listening to them squawk about the charge against their security deposit, including the 2 week delay to ensure that the treatment took (charged off at the rental rate.)

3. Because we're sick and tired of having to shell out several hundred $$$ when a cat owner moves out getting the odor out of the carpet where their old tomcat marked his territory and then hearing the tenant squawk about the charge against their security deposit.

4. Because we're tired of having to shell out several hundred $$$ replacing the back door where the tenant installed a pet door without our permission and then listening to them carp on about being charged for the "improvement" to our property.

5. Beause the tenant refused to pay an additional damage and cleaning deposit and de-flea fee up front, along with the extra $25.00 a month that our liability insurance is going to cost us to be a "nice, pet-loving landlord."

Answer 7

They just don't want the responsibility of having to clean up, if that is the case, after animals when the place needs to be re-rented. Plus a lot of renters can not get insurance to rent with pets.

Answer 8

pets tend to wreck the place, many times a renter will not look after things like it was their own property, even something as seemingly harmless as a fish tank can cause big problems, if you want pets buy a home.

Answer 9

pets tend to leave their scents and dander behind. hard to get rid of and therefore hard to rent out afterwards. same with the no smoking that landlords require.

Answer 10

it is often hard to re-rent a place if their have been animals.