RENTING APARTMENTS with your pets...PETS PEEVES;
FINDING A PLACE TO RENT THAT ACCEPTS PETS IS OFTEN
A MATTER OF TENACITY A;
SECURITY FOR LANDLORDS AND PET OWNERS
BY SANDRA DIAS
So it's time for you and Fido to find a new home...
You sit down with the newspaper, open the classified
ads and pore over the apartment listings. Your beloved pooch is by your side. You're hopeful about a bigger place. Fido licks your face. Maybe he's hopeful about a back yard.
Your eyes scan the listings: two bedrooms, hardwood floors, central air conditioning, laundry on premises. Sounds good. Then, there are those two nasty words, and they're even capitalized: NO PETS.
So you look again, only to find the pet ban in several other ads. You call some of the places that didn't mention pets, but find they don't want them either, or will charge you an exorbitant fee or deposit to accommodate an animal.
Such a scenario is not uncommon today, according to local heads of animal shelters. Marketing yourself and learning some ways to work with landlords and property managers is essential for the pet owner seeking a rental.
''What we've found is that the number one reason why animal owners turn their dog or cat in is because of moving,'' said Sharon Adams, executive director of the Virginia Beach Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. ''A lot of them are moving to a new place and find out it doesn't allow pets.''
Many property managers and house renters allow pets, but charge ''a huge deposit that is non refundable or a large increase in the monthly rent'' that prevents pet owners from keeping their cherished pets, she said.
Adams recently found herself in this very predicament when she began searching for a house to rent in Virginia Beach's North End. Adams sold her house and couldn't find anything she wanted to buy, so she decided to rent. She kept getting turned down because she has a dog and cat.
As a well-known person in the community with a responsible job, Adams was surprised by the rejection. Surely she would know, if anyone would, how to minimize damage from pets and keep them under control.
In fact, damage to dwellings is the chief concern among landlords and property managers who don't allow pets or restrict the animals they will accept.
''The biggest things that concern landlords are chewing, and urinating or defecating, inside or out in a yard or common area,'' Adams said. But she and others say when pets misbehave, it's usually the pet owner, not the animal, who is mostly to blame.
Pet owners need to clean up dog feces, a task that requires nothing more than carrying a plastic bag outside during walks. Indoor cats can be trained to use a litter box. And bad behaviors such as chewing or scratching drapes, baseboards, molding or walls often results from too little attention or active time outside. Cats, in particular, scratch as part of their natural behavior and need to have alternative materials to scratch such as carpeted posts, corrugated cardboard or even a log. Animals that are kept indoors while an owner is away at work can also be ''crate trained'' to occupy a pet cage or carrier until the owner returns.
Robine Humphrey, development director of the Norfolk SPCA, said she has found the pet restrictions in Hampton Roads to be much tougher than other areas of Virginia.
''There are a lot of places that don't want pets because they don't want to bother with it,'' she said. ''But there are many people who are perfectly responsible and can handle a companion animal under the right circumstances. It's not really an animal issue, it's a people issue.''
Humphrey said it's essential for tenants to read their lease and fully understand the pet regulations before signing.
''Some places say all pets are out while others will accept only certain sizes or breeds or will only allow cats and not dogs,'' she said. ''Some only allow dogs under 25 pounds or don't allow kittens because they think they'll do more damage.''
Creating a better rental climate for pet owners really is a two-way street. Tenants need to do more to show landlords and property managers how they can be responsible pet owners while those doing the renting need to be more flexible and understand that not all pets are bad, Humphrey and Adams said.
For the landlord, allowing pets makes good business sense. According to a pamphlet for landlords from The Humane Society of the United States, some 49.4 percent of U.S. renters have pets. So renting to pet owners increases the marketability of apartments. People who have pets tend to stay in the same rental property longer to avoid the hassle of finding another ''pet-friendly'' place.
A pet owner who has had trouble finding a home may also be more likely to keep the place clean and abide by other apartment rules because they know ''pet-friendly'' housing is scarce.
In this area, the rental housing stock is about evenly divided between places that don't allow pets and places that do, said Nick Chandley, chairman of the Property Management and Leasing Council for the Tidewater Association of Realtors.
Humphrey said for landlords and property managers, the key is finding a responsible pet owner. How to do that? Humphrey pointed out several suggestions from the pamphlet: one, do not unreasonably limit the number of pets. Two cats, for instance, will often keep one another occupied, minimizing the damage and mischief they might make otherwise.
Humphrey also suggested that landlords evaluate each animal on an individual basis, rather than outlawing a pet of a particular breed or size, which often does not dictate the pet's temperament, as popularly believed. A landlord might want to ask a prospective tenant to bring in the animal to demonstrate that the pet is trained and respond to voice commands.
Landlords can also require that resident animals be spayed or neutered before they're six-months-old. Neutered male dogs show less aggression, are less likely to bite and do not have the urge to roam and find a mate. Neutered male cats are less likely to mark their territory by spraying urine while spayed female cats will no longer experience noisy heat cycles, according to the pamphlet. Spayed female pets also won't attract pesky male suitors. Landlords can require proof of sterilization from a veterinarian.
Landlords can also demand that cats be kept indoors or on a harness while outside and require that dogs be leashed. The pamphlet also suggests that landlords not require cats to be declawed or dogs debarked. These practices are inhumane and can actually result in greater behavior problems, according to the SPCA. Instead, insist that the pet owner solve problems through behavior modification techniques.
The pet owner looking for a rental can do a few things, too, according to Humphrey. The first step is marketing yourself as a responsible pet owner. Humphrey offered these suggestions from the HSUS to renters seeking housing:
Don't answer ads that say ''No Pets.''
Check all newspapers, from local shoppers to big daily papers.
When inquiring over the phone, talk about the apartment, not the pet.
Represent yourself rather than going through a real-estate agent. Pet owners who work with an agent may be shown fewer properties and miss important opportunities to make a good personal impression on a landlord, often the crucial factor when a pet owner seeks an apartment.
Go to small individual landlords before trying large property management firms.
Meet the landlord in person, go see the apartment and then bring up the pet issue. Be honest about why you didn't bring it up right away. Don't try to hide an animal.
Get letters from your vet, former landlords and neighbors documenting that you are a responsible pet owner. Have pet vaccination records, obedience school diploma and other records ready to show the landlord.
Offer to let your prospective landlord meet your pet and see your current apartment. Draw up a plan for how you will manage the pet, such as how many times a day it will be walked, where it will relieve itself, whether it will be crated or not when you're gone, whether it's neutered or spayed, etc. Ask the landlord to outline his/her concerns and say you'll do your best to address them. Emphasize that you will always clean up after your dog outdoors and make sure that you do.
Let the landlord know that you keep your cat inside and your dog under control at all times and that you understand the health and safety of doing so.
Offer to pay a reasonable pet damage security deposit or secure liability insurance to cover the cost of pet-related damage.
In fact, most landlords and property managers will demand a pet deposit ranging from $ 100 to $ 400, often non-refundable, for the length of the lease. Some charge extra for each pet. Others charge an extra monthly pet fee from $ 10-$ 40 to cover costs associated with cleaning up common areas. And many will require the pet owner to clean carpets and give their place a flea treatment before moving out.
Adams thinks the fees are too high and contribute to the number of animals that are turned into shelters. Many shelter animals are never adopted and must be euthanized.
Beth Gardy, an SPCA employee who recently moved from Suffolk to Virginia Beach, said she was charged a $ 400 non-refundable fee for her two cats when she moved into a new apartment recently, on top of her first month's rent and a month's security deposit.
''I was able to pay the $ 400, but had to pull money out of my savings,'' Gardy said. ''A lot of people can't do that. But I tell everyone I would have lived in my car before I abandoned my pets.''
The Virginia Beach SPCA is working with one local property management firm, Cornerstone Realty, to create a program where pet owners could be trained in easy ways to control and clean up after their pets and modify bad behaviors in exchange for full or partial refund of the pet deposit. The project is still in the talking stage, but if it works, Adams hopes to approach other landlords and property management firms.
Chandley said the idea is laudable, but won't work everywhere. He is a property manager for GSH Realty which rents mostly single-unit places that are privately owned, such as apartments, townhouses and condos.
''In our case, you really have to negotiate one on one,'' he said. ''We don't have big apartment complexes that would have a blanket ability to deal with the SPCA. You might have 100 different properties with 100 different owners.''
The local SPCA offices are good resources for both pet owners seeking an apartment and nervous landlords considering a tenant with pets. While they do not try to persuade landlords to accept pet-owning tenants, they have plenty of information addressing their concerns, as well as pamphlets to help tenants in their apartment search. The Virginia Beach SPCA has a list of all the major apartment complexes in that city which outlines what pets are acceptable and the amount of each pet deposit. Restrictions on the list range from ''no aggressive breeds'' (such as chows or Doberman pinschers) to dogs under 25 pounds to pets only on the first floor. Many limit the number of pets to one or two.
The Norfolk SPCA is working on creating a booklet to help educate landlords about the pro's of allowing pet owners in their units, as well as ways to minimize damage.
Before they will approve an adoption to a renter, most SPCA's check with the adopter's landlord to see if pets are allowed and whether they've paid the pet deposit so animals aren't returned to the shelter a few weeks down the road.
Humphrey said it's important for prospective pet owners to really think about their living situation before acquiring a pet. They should consider whether they'll move one day to a place that prohibits pets or places restrictions on what sizes, types or breeds are acceptable. People adopting or buying dogs should think about the breed and whether it will grow to a much larger size that won't be appropriate (or even allowed) in an apartment.
''You have to think about the fact that cats and dogs can live up to 20 years so you should be looking 20 years down the line,'' Humphrey said. ''You really need to consider the animal's needs and their welfare first, rather than your own desire to have an animal.''
Copyright 1999 Landmark Communications, Inc.
The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA)
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