PET RENT

Does anyone else live in an area where they are allowed to charge Pet rent? It is where they charge whatever they want a month to allow you to have pets. I have seen it over $150 a month, this is money the landlord keeps and you never get it back even if you leave the place in excellent condition. I feel this should be illegal and you should only have to pay a security deposit and you should be able to get it back when you leave the place clean and it good shape. This money is above your regular rent. Once again they are trying to make it so only rich or well off people can have pets. I haven't found anyone willing to care or do something about this, it is like back in the day when landlords where able to turn down someone because they had kids. If you know who I can write to about this or if you also want to write someone please do and let me know who I can write to.

 

Well My family have rentals (most members of the family--aunts and uncles etc...) and I don't agree with paying a rental fee if the renter is responsible for the utilities... But if the utilities are paid by the landloard (water etc...) then a small extra fee might be warranted depending on how many and the size of the dogs/pets on the property. I know people who rent who own upwards of 10 dogs... That's a lot of extra utilities...

But if the Renter is responsible for the utilities and all then I only agree with a damage deposit and if I were doing the managing of a property that damage depposit would depend on what kinds of animals the people have...etc...

JMO

 

Where we live It use to be $100 pet deposit i dont know what it is now but a month shouldnt be right.

 

when I was in america I lved in a college town and many complexes had that policy, and sometimes the bigger the animal the more rent per month. At on place my dog's rent was $150/mo. and mine was $225 ($375 total) plus a $300 deposit which in my lease said I would get back, but they wouldn't give back to me bc they said they had to flea bomb the place "in case" my dog had fleas(which she didn'T she was on advantage or whatever I forget) OK but how much do one of those flea bomb things cost like $5 and they never had an exterminator come in the 1.5 years I lived there, which in my lease said one was to come every other month. And when I brought this point up to my landlord he said I couldn'T prove the exterminator hadn'T been there. But after that I learned my lesson and got a booklet called Virginia Landlord Tenant Act, maybe they have that for where you live it outlines things like that and says what is permissable and what isn'T. Sorry for rambling

 

Many apartment complexes around here charge pet rent. There is also an extra pet deposit. You have to admit, pets CAN cause quite a lot of damage.


Jamiya

 

Yes pets can cause damage ONLY if the owners let them. My dogs go in a crate when I go out and I don't allow my pets to do damage but that is what a security deposit is for. When you are forced to pay "rent" on pets it is free and clear money for landlords and it can be any amount they want. What about responsible pet owners who keep the place clean and not damaged, we will never get that money back! If we would then it would be different. But still who can afford it? You pay utilities so what possible excuse does a landlord have to want rent for a pet? Other than to get rich off of tenants, Yes I said rich because I am sure most don't report that as income. 2pets @ $150= $300 free and clear many charge more than that and then it is only the very rich that can afford pets. I only make a little more than $500 a month, fixed income disable. There is no excuse what so ever for this and it should be made illegal to do. It is rediculous that almost the only way to have a pet is to have enough money to own a home which many people can't. So it is like sorry kids no pets like your friends because we are to poor. It sucks. I have to hide my pets and I only can because I live in the projects.

 

Well...

I agree mostly with what has been said... But to make it even more interresting I figured I'd throw in my policy on selling dogs to renters... I won't do it unless the rentor can give me his landloard's reference and I can contact said landloard about the arrangement. SOOO many dogs have to be re-homed and put in animal shelters because they lived in a rental and the lease fell through, landlord got silly and changed policy, dog caused too much damage etc... So it's a big problem for rescues and many won't even LOOK at letting person who rents take a dog out of rescue...

It's a tough call all the way around and if the landlord is charging pet rent and you don't feel that it is right then you should go to the city and see what rights you have as a tenant. You should have quite a few that you don't know about.