Re: Pet Friendly Contingencies - Landlord Forum thread 355947

Re: Pet Friendly Contingencies by mdk0420 on February 1, 2018 @03:42

There's just a few issues that I see. The most important one is the additional security deposit. Keep in mind that any "security deposit" is a security deposit in itself. You can only have 2 months of security deposit for the first year, and at the start of the second year only 1 month can be required which means you would have to forfeit that additional security deposit for the pet.

It might be better to word the "security deposit" as a "pet fee" that is non refundable. Or raise the additional rent to say, $50. Maybe even make it their choice. Pay more in the long run, or give a large pet fee right away.

You can set the rules however you want with pets, even restricting them to certain areas of the house. Almost impossible to enforce though. There aren't many laws in PA about pets. The only major law about it have to do with disabilities. No disabilities can be required to be disclosed, however if they give you the piece of paper that the dog is a helper dog, whether a companion pet or a see and eye dog, etc, then you cannot refuse that pet. You can still set rules though. And any damage from the pet will still be on the tenants dime.

I know a lot of landlords will require an application fee in that scenario. After all, there are a lot more reasons that you can deny them for, even if you can't deny a service animal. But keep in mind that its also illegal to discriminate based on a disability, which is what a service dog is for. If the practice of an application fee is not applied fairly to everyone, then it is discrimination. Just food for thought.

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Re: Pet Friendly Contingencies by Jason (PA) on February 1, 2018 @14:46	[ Reply ]

First and foremost - thank you for the information. You definitely know your stuff. I am going to require two months security deposit (plus 1st month rent paid prior to moving in) and an additional fee on top of the rent due to them having a dog. Thanks again! -Jason

Re: Pet Friendly Contingencies by Garry (Iowa) on February 1, 2018 @17:54	[ Reply ]

FYI----you can require whatever you want, as long as it fits inside your state's LL/T laws. And it also depends on what your competition is doing. If similar places are only requiring 1 months deposit, or no extra "pet rent", then you probably won't get any pets, but you also may not get hardly any prospective tenants even looking at your property, because they perceive you as a greedy LL. Learn your state's LL/T laws by heart, and know what your competition is before making any rash decisions.

Re: Pet Friendly Contingencies by Jason (PA) on February 2, 2018 @03:36	[ Reply ]

Gary - thank you for your advice. It seems that being "non-pet friendly" is hurting me right now. Thanks again for your response.