Landlords: why is it so hard to find an apt. that allows pets?

Question

We own our own home, but unfortunately have to move out of it because it has too many issues that can't be fixed without pouring more money into the house than it's worth. We are looking for an apartment, but ALL of the apartments I have looked at say NO PETS allowed. We have one very well trained cat that has his front paws declawed (he was that way when we got him) and is neutered. I can see not allowing cats with claws that would tear up carpet, drapes, etc, but you wouldn't think it would be so hard to find ONE apartment that allows a small cat. Why are so many landlords so against having pets in their properties? Don't they know that pets are part of people's families? It would be like telling me I can't have my son or something. We have to be out of this house within 6 months and I'm afraid I won't be able to find a decent place to live. We have looked at houses for rent too, and they all have no pet policies.

Answer 1

Unfortunatelly not all pets are well behaved, they can cause a lot of damage to homes and apartments and landlords just don't want to deal with that. I have a cat and i had to give a $200 nonrefundable pet fee to where i live even though my cat won't cause any damage, i think it's a scam!


maybe this can help: http://www.peoplewithpets.com/ or

http://www.rentnet.com/common/rd.jhtml?rdpath=http://www.rentwithpets.org&frameset=true

Answer 2

Most renters do not look at ownership of a pet like you do.

Pets cause so much damage! Renters are good about sneaking pets into there apartment then when leaving the apartment has poop on the carpets, the urine is so bad that new carpets have to be put in. Renters very rarely pay for the mess or damage caused due to there pets.

There are places out there, just keep looking and save up the money for the high deposit. Or of course find a place that is not of the high quality of living you are looking for.

It is a shame you have to move from your own home.

Answer 3

Its actually NOT the landlords that have created this problem for you. It is past present and future irresponsible pet owners that have created this chaos. Granted, SOME landlords just hate animals period, and thats that. But 99% of it is the pet owners. We rented a place once that allowed cats but 200$ deposit. We had one cat. Our neighbor on the other hand had 3, and they totally ruined her place. She let them pee on the floor, she let them spray and she never cleaned up afterwords. We ended up moving due to the smell, and the lady with the cats ended up paying over 2000$ to pay for the total remodel of the apartment. Its the simple neglect that most people carry with them and their pets that cause this no pet craze. Believe it or not, there's alot of them out there. Dont blame the landlords, blame the irresponsible pet owners. Good Luck in your search!

Answer 4

Speaking from experience as an apartment manager.

Cats and dogs are usually banned from apartments for several reasons.

First off they can do a lot of damage inside the apartment.
Second the building owners can be held liable if the dog bites some one.

The people I worked for did allow aquariums, but some buildings will not because of the potential for damage from leaks.

To boil it all down its pretty much to prevent damage and liability.

You're better off looking for an individual who is renting their own property rather than trying to move into an apartment complex. Individual owners are usually much more relaxed with the rules on pets.

Good luck.
E.

Answer 5

Usually people are not resposible with their pets and it's easier to just not deal with the mess left when someone abuses the rented home/apartment.
I HAVE been able to get "no pets" landlords accept me and my pets, though...
I spoke with them at length about my qualifications, gave them personal guarantees and ammended the contract to put put my money where my mouth is - I gave an extra security deposit and guaranteed that no damage would occur from my pets, and assured the landlord my dogs would be crated when no one was home and the cats were de-clawed, and that, at any time, he could come and "surprise inspect" (when I was home, of course) to make sure I was following my promises.
It was a very successful relationship - he told me when I moved that he was sorry to see us go, as we were one of the easiest and best renters he'd ever had.

Answer 6

It's almost impossible to get all the cat fur out of the carpeting and ventilation when the tenant leaves, which could cause a problem for future tenants with allergies.

They also often soil the carpet, which is expensive to replace.

Look for apartment listings that don't say "no pets" in them. I frankly don't believe you when you say that there are zero listings. Go to craigslist for your area, and hit housing then apartments, check the box that says "cats ok" and look through the listings.

Answer 7

Speaking as a landlord, not all pet owners are as responsible as you are. Petty much you can thank the people who were not responsible with their pets when they had them on our property's. Yes, we do understand that pets are like family members to you, they are to me as well. I have always allowed my tenants to have cats, cats have never been an issue with me..

Cats are usually litter trained and they usually don't cause problems, but dogs are another story. And yes I love dogs as well, I just don't want to listen to a dog barking all night or all day, I live on the property. Also the one place that I rent out here in San Diego, Ca. I have a lot of plants in my yard and wouldn't want my yard destroyed.

But again it comes down to as I said say thank you to past tenant who have broken rules and allowed property to be destroyed. Former tenants are the ones that made most of us re think what we want on our property. That is why leases are getting longer and longer, we need to keep adding items to the ever growing list of problems that renters can cause.

That is why one of my places is on the market as I am writing this, once that is sold, then I will put this property on the market as well and get out of the rental business. Burned out in San Diego, Ca. from putting up with rental and tenants, problems. My property in Northern, Ca. is a property like the size of a large city block and that has eight houses on it. The houses on it do not have individually fenced yards. On that property there is one dog, and the person who owns it is hearing disabled and so she is allowed to have her dog. Other than that there are no other dogs. There are a few with cats and that is it.

I hope this helps answer you question. Also please remember the amount of money and time that has to be put back into a place for us to even be able to re rent our property. So that if a person had a dog and left it in the place and it went to the bathroom on the floors, we'd never be able to get the smell out of the place again. It would be unrentalble. That is another thing that we have come up against, people who have totally distroyed the property.

The rental game, we fix it up nice and rent it to some one and when they move out we find so much damage that you just about want to cry. I had one lady that some how managed to pull out almost all of the grout from around my tiles in the shower stall, the surround was almost destroyed. Another month and there wouldn't have been shower walls to speak of. It took me two months just to get it dry enough to be able to repair it. That's over two months of lost income, had this not happened I would have had it back up and rented in 2 to 3 weeks tops. I could go on, but why. Unless you have ever been in a landlords shoes you will never understand.

I am not the type of landlord who place is a slum either. All the places have new appiances, water heaters, fresh paint, window treatments. I have a lawn service that comes in once a week and takes care of that so the tenants do not have to. Repair are done as needed so that nothing is ever left undone.

As I said Burned out in San Diego, Ca as a landlord.

Answer 8

Your best bet would just be to keep searching for a rented house that allows pet like you have been doing. It will be easier and sometimes appt's can get a little crowded. So just look for a house to rent, where I live we looked for a house to rent *have 1 cat and a dog* and we found one in a day.. so keep looking.

Answer 9

Pets can cause a lot of damage to an apartment and as much as you try to stop it they do leave a mild odor. There are also people who are extremely allergic to animals. If they even come come in contact with a little bit of pet hair they have a severe allergic reaction.

Answer 10

i feel your pain! i have 3 cats that are very well behaved, and rarely do anything destructive (they hate miniblinds though! i had to take them all down so they would not destroy them all, and i have to replace a couple before i move) and if they do any damage i get it fixed on my own, as i am picky about my home. i have to move soon also, and i know it's going to be tough to find a place! i blame the people who do not take care of things & have pets that compound the issues.