Reinforcing No Pets?
I will enter escrow on Monday and recently viewed units and noticed that two tenants have dogs and the owner currently has a no pets policy. One tenant tried to hide that they had a dog but the unit had a pet smell and there was obvious dog food and poo in the backyard- just be honest people!! I'm concerned about inheriting these pets because I plan on replacing carpet and installing vinyl plank or engineered wood and pets ain't gonna mix well with my plan. Now each unit does have its own backyard and I would consider pets in the backyard but I just think that it would be difficult to manage/regulate once gving the the official green light given that dogs may currently be in units. Do you have suggestion for reinforcing no pets policy in new lease? I will also be living onsite so it will be easier to catch "violators" lol.
Also I am considering getting a dog for the backyard. Do you guys think it's fair to enforce no pets policy to tenants while if I have a dog of my own? I would really appreciate honest thoughts and solutions :)
You can evict them over the pet issue.
No, I don't think it is fair for you to have a dog and they can't.
Why not pick up extra deposit money, and increase the rent for having a pet?
Danielle,
I go both ways with pets. I have two properties that I allow smaller dogs and two properties (quads) that I don't allow them. In my opinion you should be able to enforce the policy, however, it has gone on for a while and you might not be able to easily have the tenants change. You can have the tenants (depending on your state laws) sign new leases with you. I usually have tenants that I inherit sign at the same rent rate with the same lease duration. I would suggest having all the tenants sign new leases and add a pet policy, $50/month with $200 non-refundable deposit for cleaning. Since you are planning on getting rid of the carpet I wouldn't worry too much about pet smell/stains.
Hope that helps some.
JW
I have class A rentals and allow pets in all of them. I attract a wider market (more family have pets than don't) higher rents (more demand than rentals available) plus I charge either a pet deposit or month rent amount. Honestly I run 9 rentals, 5 are mine and pets have been. Huge part if my plan. I truly haven't had any trouble with them.
Originally posted by @Danielle J.:
Also I am considering getting a dog for the backyard. Do you guys think it's fair to enforce no pets policy to tenants while if I have a dog of my own? I would really appreciate honest thoughts and solutions :)
Philosophically, I think it's totally fair for the owner of a building to have a different set of rules apply to them than to the tenants. They're welcome to go buy a place and make up their own rules... However, that's entirely beside the point.
Practically, the tenants won't view/feel that it's fair and it's going to cause you nothing but problems, especially if the family wanting a dog has kids who want a dog! Taking away the parents', "Sorry, we can't have a dog in this building..." will drive parents nuts.
As the other posters said, allow pets and charge for them. Years ago, before buying a place, I specifically sought out (and paid slightly over market rent) a place that allowed me to have a dog. Never did get that dog in 5 years of living there, but the pet-friendly policy was a huge selling point for me. (I'm now married with kids and a dog and no way would I give up my dog over a rental, no matter how nice.)
In some areas, allowing a pet might be a huge selling point. I know in my area, you can potentially get a large premium on rent if you allow dogs, in the neighborhood of $100-$200/mo depending on your rental. This is directly a function of most landlords/rentals in the area not being pet friendly, so spend some time browsing your local rental listings and see if your area is similar. If you can get $100 or more per mo. in additional rent, you're virtually guaranteed to recoup any repair costs at moveout plus a hefty bonus.
Jim Sokoloff I know that I can live a separate set of rules than my tenants, but if I go with my gut on this one I am sure that having a dog and not allowing my tenant a to have one would cause unnecessary drama that I really don't need in my life.
Elizabeth C. I definitely want to attract families and higher quality tenants. I'm happy to hear success stories with allowing pets. I think there is just automatically a negative perception of allowing pets due to odors and stains. But as everyone is mentioning, allowing pets can actually be an excellent strategy for staying competitive in the market so I'm definitely going to consider!
John Van Uytven Bradley Bogdan I like the advice of adding a pet deposit and possibly increasing rent for allowing pets. Honestly I think I would sleep better at night knowing I didn't have to fight about pets. I prefer to capitalize on the opportunity via rents and deposits....
I have a $500 fine if I catch an unauthorized pet in addition to pet rent or deposit.
@Elizabeth Colegrove Ouch! So are you saying that if you catch an additional pet other than the one you already are aware of its a $500 charge?
Good info here! I will be getting a couple of units ready in the next couple of months and was thinking about no pets. Now I am rethinking and considering yeah, most families with kids have at least one pet. Great idea about the unauthorized pet fee in addition to rent/deposit. Good reason to disclose pets. I actually have an adult child in an apartment with an undisclosed cat so can see it from her end as well.
I think that you having a dog and not allowing others to have pets is a big public relations mistake. The fact that you are the owner and living in the building could bring on boundary issues of its own. Don't make things worse. I have found that most dogs that are not allowed inside end up being the barkers that disturb everyone or the ones that dig and destroy the yard. Trust me I have a barker next door.
The choice is yours as far as allowing them, but don't expect them to stay outdoors. As mentioned, you will be cutting out a major part of your market. Get a large deposit(non-refundable and refundable), get additional rent, and have fines for not cleaning up after them. You may also want to look at breed restrictions.
I have read on this site were owners interview the pet prior to renting. I think that is a great way to keep out aggressive animals.
I have, and have had, pets in my condo properties and I charge an extra deposit. It's refundable, or why would the tenant even bother to keep the place clean and damage free? I haven't yet charged more per month, because I don't see other landlords in my area doing that and I want to stay competitive. The condo association only allows 1 or 2 pets under 20 pounds, which eliminates breeds prohibited by my insurance company. The association requires meeting the pet and getting all kinds of vet and license info, plus photos.
I may consider the extra pet rent in the future though.
Remember just because you allow pets doesn't mean you will allow ANY pet into your property. There are bad pet owners. Their pets will generally also be bad (not their fault). Good people can be bad pet owners. You need to screen.
I go with the 20 lb weight limit with my units, mainly because they are condos and if there are pet restrictions they tend to be at that weight. I have one property where I let in a tenant with a dog of about 40-50 lbs. The unit had old carpeting and I was looking at a month's vacancy, losing me $1,100 and the tenant swore that the dog was well behaved so I figured it was worth a try. From what I can tell the dog has not caused problems in the interior, but I got a letter from the condo management company complaining about dog feces to the rear of the property. A tense conversation with the tenant followed; she swears the yard is clear now, and I have heard no more from the management company. But it would have been good if another tenant had come along without a dog. I think I would have done the same thing again, but the ideal tenant does not have a larger dog.
In my area, just about everyone has a pet and from what I can see on Craigslist and MLS, 50% of landlords don't allow pets so I imagine there are lots of unauthorized pets. I recently got an application through a realtor, the application said the people had 2 dogs weighing in total up to 25 lbs, which we allow since we'd have a heck of a time getting our places rented if we didn't; their Facebook said they had a "zoo" of 6 animals. I really wonder where they are going to wind up since even the "pet friendly" places only allow 3 pets.
We have a retroactive pet fine and pet rent if a undisclosed pet it discovered, but that isn't always effective. Going forward if I can't find anything on Facebook, I am probably going to call the personal references people give and ask the references about my applicants pets.
I like your idea of contacting references to learn about pets! I think it's important for people to honest about pets upfront, because eventually you will find that they have pets. Just makes life easier for everyone to know upfront and be done with it.
I've already had one tenant who lied about a pet. Actually said she didn't like cats in response to me saying we don't allow them. Had to replace all the carpet. Not going through that again if I can help it.
To enforce a no pets policy, first talk to them and remind them of the lease policy of no pets. If they fail to remedy the situation, send a notice that they are violating the lease.
As far as you having one: That seems like a PR nightmare. It's difficult enough balancing tenant relations, why intentionally stir the pot?
For me personally, after spending thousands on repair and still can't get the awful odor out of the apartment, I will not be allowing pets. No pet fee or deposit will ever cover the cost of the damage.
I have no shortage of renters from my new "no pets" stance. I now have residence base that doesn't want to live around pets. :)
re: You having a dog and not allowing them to
Thats a no brainer. Its YOUR house. Its your investment. If you feel that tenants with pets are too big a risk and don't want to allow it, then don't. If they want to have pets, they need to buy their own place. There is a risk with pets and damage. Not only that. But if its a 3 flat or triplex, then you'll have to deal with the noise issue. One bad tenant might drive away a good one. Worse yet, since you'll be living there, it might make life unbearable for you.
As the landlord, you can control your own pet. But you can't really control theirs. If you allow pets and their pet is a problem (with noise, etc), then you're going to have an awfully long year of dealing with it.
To be honest. You can spin it either way. If you want to allow pets, then you tell applicants that you're pet friendly. But to limit some of the risk, tell them that your "insurance company" prohibits certain breeds and then you just list the breeds you don't want. :-)
If you don't want tenants to have pets then tell them you don't allow pets. And when they ask why you can get one, tell them you know you can control your pet and you don't mind paying for any damage your own pet causes. But you don't want to end up paying for any damage someone else's pet causes. And its too hard to collect damages from tenants. You can also spin it that if you do, there's the risk of a tenant having a noisy dog that would cause you to lose other tenants as well.
To me, its your money. Its your investment. You decide whether you want to accept pets or not. I actually allow pets in all my houses. I've found families with pets tend to keep the places pretty well. Have only had one incident that I had to come out of pocket for in 7 years. But it lets me open up my tenant pool to a much larger audience.
I'm a firm believer that people who have pets are more responsible about caring for their space. Always going to be exceptions.
re: preventing pets
Even though I allow pets, I only allow the ones they come in with. So if one dog, then I allow one dog. If they are caught with more, I have a clause that allows me to jump their rent an additional $400 to 500 a month more AND/OR terminate the lease.
Having that number in the lease really seems to have cut down on the sneaking of pets. It used to happen every so often before. I have yet to find anybody with a "new" pet since I started including that little clause. I think it makes it that much clearer to them how much an additional dog will actually cost them.