Unapproved Pet - Not on Lease

[Kyle Burrows]

Hello BP! We are managing our first rental property and have come across a concern with pets at the property. 

We approved 1 dog (specifically identified on the lease) for the tenants. We recently learned that they took in a cat and did not volunteer that information to us. At this point, it is considered against our policy of no cats and no unapproved animals, in addition to a breach of lease.

The tenant is offering to pay an additional pet fee, as well as additional rent to cover the animals. But our concern is the damage the cat has potentially done or will do to the home (flooring, smell, etc.). The fee and rent may not cover the cost of floor replacement or other damage that may occur. The flooring is all luxury vinyl plank, which was installed prior to the tenant moving in. While this flooring is water proof, we are still concerned about the cat urine getting into the seams and baseboards.

Our question then is whether we should take the additional fee ($400) and rent ($25/month), or stick with our policy and communicate that they must remove the pet from the property within a stated timeframe.

Any advice or lessons learned would be greatly appreciated!

[John Underwood]

@Kyle Burrows I am not a cat person either but I don't think they necessarily urinate over everything and destroy a house. I imagine that a trained cat would be no trouble at all. That said I would schedule an inspection to see if there is an issue. If you find a problem then you can resort to asking them to remove the cat an pay for any deodorizing or other remediation.  If you find no issues then you can charge the extra fees same as you did for the approved dog.

I also eliminate carpet and allow pets and so far have never had any pet damage. I charge a $300 pet fee (not a refundable pet deposit) and I do not charge any additional monthly rent for pets.