Rental Property Investor · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2017 · 17 posts · 8 votes
One of my tenants signed a year lease and she agreed to pay a little more in rent since she had a cat. A few months into the lease, she notified me that her cat died. Am I obligated to lower the rent since she no longer has the pet?
Rental Property Investor · Edmond, OK · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
6y
I wouldn't say that you are necessarily obligated to reduct the rent, but it's something that would be appreciated. Especially if she's not planning to get another pet. You might ask if she plans to get another cat at some point in the future. Also, the cat wear/tear may have already happened, so I'd probably walk the unit to make sure the cat's few months living there didn't do any major damage.
I personally like pet fees rather than pet deposits or pet rent. A one time non refundable pet fee makes things a little cleaner because there is no question on whether it needs to be refunded or adjusted after the fact.