Nina! Our dog’s name is Nina... she’s a 10-pound Maltese whom Elyse and I added to our family the first week of us being newlyweds. They say that a dog is a man’s best friend and that has certainly been true for our family as Nina has been there in the good and bad times. Studies show that 2 out of every 3 households have a pet of some sort. Therefore, making a rental home Pet Friendly goes a long way in being able to attract the most amount of interested renters in the marketplace. Yes, it’s true that pets do add a layer of risk. There is no way to eliminate risk, but there are certain policies that can be put in place to reduce risk. The following are some items to keep in mind when deciding whether to make your rental home pet friendly.
IS IT A PET?
Owners must know that not all animals are considered pets. Animals can fall into the category of a Service Animal or an Emotional Support Animal. If an animal fits any of these two requirements, then an owner must accept the animal as not doing so could lead to discrimination. When an applicant applies, they will list if they have an animal that is considered a service animal or an emotional support animal.
NOT PET FRIENDLY
Yes, an owner can make their home not pet friendly. However, in our experience there are two good reasons as to why it’s best to make a home pet friendly. First, it reduces the number of households that could potentially be interested in a rental home and therefore have a direct impact on the rental price. If out of every three households only one of them doesn’t have a pet, then there’s a smaller pool of qualified applicants and therefore lower demand. Lower demand will directly impact the rental price the marketplace is willing to pay. Second, some residents will ask for forgiveness and not permission. This means, that we do see that sometimes residents will bring in a pet after the fact they’ve moved in and ask for forgiveness rather than permission. I know… these things shouldn’t happen, but the reality is that they do. If this happens, what’s an owner’s recourse? The only thing an owner can do at this point is provide a Notice to Cure or Quit telling them to remove the pet and if they don’t then go through the eviction process is the only other option. It is easier to make a home pet friendly and place rules upfront with the resident that they can abide by then trying to enforce rules and/or evicting after the fact.
PET FRIENDLY
Just because a rental home is pet friendly it does not mean that an owner must allow any and all types of pets. A proper Pet Addendum should be prepared. The following are three policies and procedures that we put into place to help owners reduce their risk in making the rental home pet friendly.
ONE: PET RESTRICTIONS
Number of Pets: While there is no right or wrong number of pets for a household to have, we find that limiting the number of pets to two is a reasonable number.
Breed Restrictions: With dogs we want to be certain to restrict the breed of dogs to exclude the Aggressive Breeds as defined by most insurance carriers. This can be a tricky one as an owner’s preference for or against a certain type of breed will be different then an insurance carrier’s policy. From an insurance perspective, an owner can possibly lose their insurance coverage if the carrier finds out that a breed in this list is found at the property. An owner will want to inquire with their insurance carrier for their specific breed restriction list.
Size Restrictions: Not all rental homes are created equal when it comes to size and therefore being pet friendly on a 700 sq. ft. condo with a tiny patio will look different to being pet friendly on a 2,500 sq. ft. home placed on a 15,000 sq. ft. lot with an enclosed back yard. Being pet friendly in the example of the condo may be placing limits to one small pet while the example of the house may be placing limits to two large pets. Using the weight of the pet is common practice to determine if a pet is considered small, medium or large. Therefore, the size limit will vary depending on where the information is found but for the most part pets are considered small up to 10 pounds, medium up to 30 pounds and large up to 50 pounds.
TWO: ADDITIONAL WALK-THROUGH
Putting restrictions as found above is a great first step. However, to further decrease the risk it is beneficial to an owner to have an additional walk-through be conducted soon after the pet has been placed in the rental home. We conduct an additional walk-through approximately 90 days into the residency. The purpose of this walk-through is to be on the lookout for signs of pet damage and if so then we can ask the resident to remove the pet from the house.
THREE: ADDITIONAL SECURITY
As much effort as has been placed with the previous two policies it is possible to have damage over time. With this in mind it is important to have a policy in place to mediate the risk of covering any pet damage. In the marketplace the two most common options are either having a pet deposit or a pet protection program, lets look at both.
Option 1, Pet Deposit: The most common option is having a Pet Deposit. While there is no right or wrong dollar amount, a usual and customary dollar amount is $500 as a pet deposit. The intent here is that upon move out, an owner will have an additional $500 in deposit to utilize to cover any additional pet damage.
Option 2, Pet Protection Program: The residential property management industry came out with different programs intended to help owners with the financial operations of running a property as a business. It is up to a property management company to choose whether they will (or will not) offer a program and if so, what the financial numbers will be in offering the program. A common program in the marketplace is offering a Pet Protection Program. In short, there is a guarantee (similar to a Pet Deposit) that the management company will provide to an owner in case there is damage at move out. In exchange, the management company will charge a monthly Pet Fee to the resident. For our company we offer a $1,500 Pet Protection for any pet damage above and beyond the security deposit. For doing so, the company will charge a monthly Pet Fee of $40 per pet. This program is meant to help reduce an owner’s risk in making a home pet friendly.
CONCLUSION
Pets make life more interesting and as an owner one must decide the pros and cons about whether it makes sense to make their home pet friendly. We believe that making a home pet friendly with the above policies will ensure that an owner can obtain the highest rents that the marketplace will pay while reducing their overall risk.
