Who Rents To Tenants w/Big Dogs? - Landlord Forum thread 321694

Who Rents To Tenants w/Big Dogs? by Anonymous on July 23, 2014 @14:35

So far this week I have had eight prospective tenant inquiries. I use a customized set of LPA pre-screening questions requiring an email response.

Out of the 8 inquiries I have had this week, 4 are where the tenants wanted me to accept their big dogs. These are German Shepherds, Labrador Retrievers, etc. These dogs weigh upwards of 75 lbs. to 80 lbs. My published pet policy states one or two pets not to exceed thirty pounds total.

What I am curious about is, are there landlords that rent to people with big heavy dogs? Do any of you?

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Re: Who Rents To Tenants w/Big Dogs? by BARBARA (NY) on July 23, 2014 @14:54	[ Reply ]

GENERAL INFORMATION I. LARGE DOGS WILL LIKELY BE LESS PROBLEM ON CARPETS THAN SMALL DOGS IF CORRECTLY TRAINED. 2. FEMALE DOGS ALSO LESS TROUBLE ON RUGS THAN MALE DOGS THAT MARK TERRITORY. 3. CAN YOU TRUST TENANT TO WALK THERE DOG WHEN THEY ARE BUSY AND HAVE OTHER PLACES TO GO? 4. LARGE DOGS DO NEED MORE EXERCISE THOUGH AND NEED TO GET IT OR THERE CAN BE PROBLEMS WITH DOG IN THE APARTMENT. 5. WILL I RENT TO TENANT WITH A DOG. NO. 6. THIS IS GENERAL INFO ON LARGE DOGS. 7. I HAVE HAD LARGE DOGS AND GIANT BREED ALSO AND THIS IS WHAT I KNOW ABOUT THEM. I HAVE HAD A GIANT BREED IN THE NY WESTMINSTER DOG SHOW ALSO THAT TOOK 2ND PLACE. 8. NOTE WHAT BREED THEY HAVE AND READ ABOUT THAT BREED. MEET THE DOG ALSO BEFORE RENTING. 9 SOME BREEDS ARE GENTLE GIANTS AND OTHER LARGE BREEDS ARE VERY DIFFERENT.

Re: Who Rents To Tenants w/Big Dogs? by Noelle (ID) on July 23, 2014 @16:04	[ Reply ]

I haven't run into this yet, all my applicants with huge dogs also had terrible credit. But my attorney suggested I have a HUGE pet deposit which deters people big dogs from applying in the first place, and if they are willing to pay it I'm in a better position to cover their damage if they leave any. I don't have a limit on size, just breed, but we are new landlords and I plan on charging more if the dog is over 40lbs. They can rent elsewhere with their miniature horses if they don't like it... or buy a house. I've never understood renting with a big dog, personally.

Re: Who Rents To Tenants w/Big Dogs? by Anonymous on July 23, 2014 @17:52	[ Reply ]

I have a number of SFHs with backyards ranging from regular sized city lot (7,000 SF) up to 1/2 acre and I frequently rent to tenants who bring large or giant breeds. Pets treated properly (walked regularly and made a regular part of the family) are not a problem on the property; bored dogs of any size are a problem, they will dig or bark. My experience with giant breeds are they are lethargic and require a lot of sleep -- Great Danes in particular are couch potatoes. But I've had Shepherds, Labs, Rotties, etc. on my properties and not had any difficulties. Definitely use a pet addendum spelling out exactly what standard of care is required to keep a pet on the property and then check & enforce that, for the sake of the pet and your property!

Re: Who Rents To Tenants w/Big Dogs? by Anonymous on July 23, 2014 @18:35	[ Reply ]

I did rent to people with dogs and the dogs had to be approved on a case by case basis. I'm re-thinking that. If I do continue to allow dogs, the scruntiny will be a lot more strict and the damage deposit higher. The most damage I've had came from a couple with 2 pugs. The tenant dog owners were both very busy professionals and kept the dogs locked up inside the house for hours at a time. They usually left the pugs locked in the basement when they were at work. I had damage from the dog urine (yes the smell does penetrate concrete, as well as hardwood) where they urinated at the top of the basement stairs as well as on the concrete basement floor. Their dogs also scratched the newly refinished hardwood floors in the master bedroom with their claws. Only the finish was scratched, not the actual wood, so it is an easier fix than it would have been had the dogs been larger and heavier and able to put grooves in the floor with their claws. The dogs ruined about four or five solid oak 100 year old five panel doors by scratching them. I'm talking deep grooves, a quarter of an inch deep in an area about four or five inches high and wide. This damage was from locking the dogs into or out of a room and the dogs scratching the doors to get in or out. I've had a total of three house that had tenants with dogs. The ones with the pugs were the only ones to cause any damage. The other dogs were a puggle (pug and beagle mix) puppy that was crate trained and the owner was disabled and home with the dog most of the time. The other tenants have three dogs: a mutt puppy (part beagle, part great dane, we think) they recently rescued and two minpins they've had for years. No problems or damage from those dogs. The owner walks the mutt and exercises her regularly and the mutt is well behaved and minds well. The minpins are purse sized and well behaved too. This tenant takes meticulous care of the rental house. It depends so much on the individual dog and individual owner. We have recently rescued a mutt ourselves and he is a good dog (weighs 60 lbs though) except he chews a lot. We weren't watching him closely and, even though we were right in the same room watching TV, he recently chewed on the molding around the pocket door. The wood he chewed is 110 year old unpainted oak and the damage is really noticeable. We'll have to fix it and it won't be cheap (we'll probably have to find something to match it from inside a closet or less conspicuious part of the house. Thank goodness we own our own home! The damage is our fault though, for not watching more closely. We just recently got the dog, and still have a lot more training to do to get him where we can trust him outside the crate without close supervision. Sometimes the damage is the owner's fault--like when they don't crate the dog and leave them home alone for hours so the dog soils in the house. Or, the owner doesn't walk them on a hard surface regularly so their claws get worn down and the owner doesn't trim their claws either. It's not so much the dog size; it's how good is the owner? Are they keyed into what a dog needs? Will they walk them everyday? Take them to the dog park to exercise them and socialize them? Take them to obedience training? Or is the dog just a lifestyle accessory...something to be cuddled and take cute pics of so they can post it on Facebook? Does the owner have time to take care of the dog or is the owner going to be gone for long periods and leave the dog home alone? Dogs are social creatures and need companionship and exercise. They will be more likely to damage the property if their needs aren't being met. So to answer your question. I've had a tenant with a dog over 30 lbs. and had no damage. I've had tenants with dogs well under 15 pounds and had damage. Unless you are talking about a tiny apartment that doesn't have any outside space then I think the size of the dog doesn't matter. It's the individual characteristics of the dog and, possibly more important, the owner, that really matter when it comes to pet damage. You can make some owners care a little more when it comes to pet damage by requiring a larger deposit because if the owner has more "skin" in the game they may take better care. But some owners won't care no matter what, and other owners will take good care of the dog and property even if they have no deposit at stake.

Re: Who Rents To Tenants w/Big Dogs? by Anonymous on July 23, 2014 @19:51	[ Reply ]

I am the OP. The content of the three above posts are excellent, except for the fact Barbara was yelling in UPPER CASE. These are all excellent points, but the net is that it depends mostly on the owners care and behavior of the dogs. That is very difficult to judge up front. I had tenants early in my landlord career who told me they had a small dog; it was at first, but grew into a 75 pounder. They kept it locked up all day when they were gone and it scratched so hard it permanently scratched the patio door glass for about 5 feet from top to bottom. Then apparently they locked it in the master bedroom where it urinated and pooped all over the carpet. I had to throw away the carpet and pad and seal the concrete floor/foundation. This is what scares me about big dogs: big claws and powerful teeth and lots of poop and pee. Small dogs do not have this physical feature to the same degree. Trying to charge more than the going rate for a pet fee is hard if not impossible. I had two prospective tenants tell me to jump in the lake because I dared suggest their big dogs will cost more up front! Next!

Re: Who Rents To Tenants w/Big Dogs? by Anonymous on July 23, 2014 @19:52	[ Reply ]

Hi the OP again. I meant the above FOUR posts, not three. Sorry!

Re: Who Rents To Tenants w/Big Dogs? by Kim (WV) on July 23, 2014 @20:27	[ Reply ]

Yep, you are right, OP, it is hard to judge up front who is going to be a good and responsible pet owner and who is not. That's why I'm reconsidering allowing pets. I'm either not going to allow them, or I'll allow them but only if they pass all my conditions. Or I may allow them at some properties but not others. I haven't decided yet. One thing I'm considering is coming up with some additional requirements the pet owner has to comply with before I'll rent to them. I'm thinking about having them fill out a questionnaire pertaining to their pet before I'll rent to them and allow the pet. Allowing the pet depends on them giving me the correct answers to the questions. Some of the questions for dog owners might be: (1) what is the location of the nearest dog park? (2) How often do you take your dog to the dog park? (3) Has your dog been to obedience school? (4) Did the dog "pass" obedience training? (5) Show me the dog can do the following on command: sit, stay, come, down, etc. (6) When does your dog bark? (7) If you work, how long is the dog alone? (8) What is your plan for the dog while you are at work? (9) How much does your dog chew? (10) When you are home, where is the dog? (11) Is the dog crate trained? and so on and so on. I could come up with quite a few questions that pertain to care of the dogs and this information would help me sort out the wheat from the chaff so to speak. It's much easier to just say NO PETS ALLOWED and leave it at that. But I've been a renter with pets once--I was a homeowner but had to move out of my house for a year (husband got recalled to military duty because of the war) and it was hard to find a place that would let us have the cats. The cats did not harm the rental and we got every penny of our security deposit back so I know it can be done (have a tenant with a pet and no damages) but it's rare.

Re: Who Rents To Tenants w/Big Dogs? by Anonymous on July 24, 2014 @01:18	[ Reply ]

Kim, This is the OP again. I think you have a great idea with your pet survey. I may do something along the same lines. The only things I require now are vet proof of spay/neuter, vaccinations and a city license. Some people balk at the spay/neuter but the vet report usually names a breed if possible. That way I can tell if the owner is truthful about the breed. The Humane Society of the U.S. has an accepting pet guide for landlords at http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/rental_manager_resources.html I guess another way to verify their level of care is to go visit their current residence and see how the place fares with the dog. I don't really want to go to that much trouble, and many of the renters I serve are military who are being transferred from another base in another state. I think I will keep my smaller pet policy for now.

Re: Who Rents To Tenants w/Big Dogs? by Melanie (CA) on July 24, 2014 @13:14	[ Reply ]

I have two rentals - a condo and an SFH on 1+ acre. My experiences are that id FAR rather rent to someone with pets than kids. And on the pet scale, as the condo owner has a small dog and the SFH has two active mid sized dogs, ill take the larger dogs any day of the week. My goal is to have ZERO carpet in either rental, thus mitigating carpet damage. But i agree with what someone said earlier about the big dogs being poky. But, having said all of that, there are about 12 breeds i wont even consider and i MUST meet the dogs during the application/screening process.