Re: Pet Deposit, How Much - Landlord Forum thread 288711

Re: Pet Deposit, How Much by Anonymous on May 6, 2013 @01:07

Hey good samaritan: thank you for your volunteer work, but don't quit your day job. Unless YOU are going to pay the cost for me to rip the carpet out of my entire condo and replace it with tile or laminate, why would I ever do something like that? That statement alone tells me in no uncertain terms that you have never been a landlord in your life.

Let me tell you something else: even if a tenant takes good care of his or her rental places, there is no guarantee the pet is not going to have accidents, or dig up the floor, or chew on the baseboards - particularly if it is a new pet. One of my closest friends falls into that category: she is fastidious - a much better housekeeper than I - but she cannot keep her dog from wetting or throwing up on the carpet. I would not rent to her in a million years, no matter how well she cleans it up, because you cannot ever truly remove those stains.

Finally, contrary to your opinion, apparently, pet ownership is NOT a right: it is a priviledge. If you do not own the dwelling in which you reside, you have absolutely no right to demand pet ownership. I spent five years in apartments just waiting for the day I could own a pet, and it took me less than four months after I bought my first house to adopt a dog. And just in case you think I don't support pet adoptions, notice I did NOT say I bought a dog. I know the problem exists, but I am also a realist: I cannot afford to save them all, and I am not about to lose everything because of a pet, especially someone else's pet.

Maybe, you should start with pet owners who get pets they can't afford and then have to get rid of them (which is where my dog came from) before you start picking on us landlords.

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