Re: Pet Deposit, How Much - Landlord Forum thread 234181

Re: Pet Deposit, How Much by Mitch (NY) on September 10, 2011 @19:47

Please understand something, taking a tenant to court in no way guarantees a landlord one red cent. In the time it takes to go to small claims court, pay the court fee, and have a judge tell the tenant he or she is responsible, the landlord is losing money, still has a mess to clean up, still has a house to rent, and falls further behind in bills caused by the tenant's pet. If the tenant decides not to pay or has no money to pay, what is the landlord going to do? Sure, he or she can file a judgement which will go on the tenant's record, but the bill is still not paid.
The best and safest way is for a landlord to charge a non-refundable security deposit to cover any incidentals. It's protection for the landlords property and is well within the rights to protect themselves and their property. Even an outdoor pet causes damage to property, dogs will dig up your lawn, cats will pee, (inside and out) I know from experience! Trying to get rid of cat pee is not fun and cost money. As I said earlier, recouping money isn't as easy as you think. If a tenant is willing to let his or her pet mess in the house or dig up the lawn, you won't have much luck in recouping the cost. Trust me, I'm the landlord that was easy and got taken and it cost me $$. Thank you, but I will get my money up front and then if there's damage and the tenant won't pay, then I will take them to court and use part of that deposit for my court cost.

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