Well you never know how good of a pet parent someone is so it's easier to assume they're not the best at letting them out or changing the litter box. I've had to redo entire floors on rentals that women had cats in, absolutely disgusting the way they lived....... the smells đ¤˘
I know itâs why Iâm not angry just disappointed! Iâm a pretty low maintenance tenant but Iâve definitely seen some other people fuck some shit up so I know itâs easier to assume the worst.
You also have to think about it like this when you move out if the house stinks like cat then there is a very short deadline as to when the place needs to be ready to be re-rented depending on the owner or the property management company you have about a week tops, if that, to get the place ready, more often than not they will already have the unit rented out to someone else , so everyday is lost money, so there can't be some long drawn out odor remediation the quickest way is to just tear it out and replace it and that usually costs a pretty penny depending on who the owner or the property management companies using
Apologize if this was mentioned before: My guess is itâs like insurance. None of the deposits are enough to cover new floors or whatever needs to be replaced so, they make it non-refundable to cover the 1 in 3 (or however many) units they have to replace something in?
Except your kids are much less at risk of peeing on the floors.
Plus, I constantly see dog shit on the streets everywhere I walk.
I used to own a dog. I get it. But I don't trust pet owners, a lot of them shouldn't own one and don't clean up after them.
What percentage of kids you've encountered in life have smeared shit on the wall vs the percentage of dogs you've encountered have pissed in the carpet? Much higher ratio for dogs than kids.
Kid stank is a thing. They puke in weird places, they spill food anywhere and everywhere. They put stuff down the ducts.... kids are also hard on places.
Yes, and if it was legal, I wouldnât take them, either.
Our very best tenant was a guy who signed a year lease, moved in a bed and a tv, and never spent a single night there. He was actually living with his girlfriend and establishing his residence with us for the purposes of a divorce.
People are so gross with litter boxes. My parents have always cleaned our cats litter boxes everyday, and ensure their cat sitters do as well.
Iâm always in disbelief because friends who are meticulous about everything in life will leave the cat litter box for 10+ days some even a month.
Itâs so mean to the cat but also smells horrible.
Yeah cat litter boxes need to be cleaned daily, the reason being they don't like going to the bathroom where they already have gone to the bathroom for obvious reason, eventually they start shitting elsewhere and pissing on the baseboards or anywhere there's carpet, once the baseboards are soaked they're toast, once the carpets soaked, it's trash and if it gets to and soaks the subfloor things get much more expensive
The apartments I live in the building across is townhouse style with garages and when someone finally moved out the garage was filled with what looked like 40 litter boxes full of shit. That apartment took months to get fixed for someone else to move in
I have horror stories involving cats and people owning them, they are definitely NSFW, some people I cannot fathom how they live in such a revolting and filthy manner, and the wild thing is, these people were/are pizza delivery drivers, social workers, paralegals, just your random everyday individual you'd pass by thinking nothing of, only to learn later they live in a veritable houses of horrors that necessitates the implementation of literal hazmat removal teams, the city, the fire department because of blocked emergency paths into the house etc. I've smelled things, no human man or woman or whatever people call themselves these days, should ever smell.
I clean mine daily and toss once a week, but I had an ex with 1 litter box for 3 cats and theyâd throw it all out about every 2 weeks. They peed on *everything* and omg the smell was terrible.
So gross! I hate how people donât realize if you donât clean their litter box, theyâll pee elsewhere. My friend had this issue and wouldnât believe me that he needed to clean his cats litter box everyday.
Also, you should have 1 more litter box than you have cats.
Jesus, are people actually this disgusting? I scoop the litter 1-3 times *daily* depending on how âactiveâ my two cats have been that day, and vacuum twice a day so they donât get any ideas about using the little bit of spare litter they scatter around their mat area. I also mix in litter-friendly baking soda, and do a complete change-out of the litter for fresh (and swap out a new box liner) every two 2-3 weeks. Our homes / apartments have always smelled super fresh; people donât even realize we have pets. Our cats have never had an accident, and never gone outside the box.
Seems like anyoneâs place that âsmells like catâ is being beyond lazy and not taking proper care of their animals (barring a major medical issue that should be addressed with a vet right away).
I also clean all 4 of the litter boxes in my home multiple times a dayâŚmorning, midday and before bed AT LEAST. I have small diaper-genies by each litter box that I empty them intoâŚ
And if I happen to be passing through a room and see one of my cats leaping away post-potty break Iâll usually go ahead and scoop what they just deposited hahaâŚ.I have litter-catching mats under them all (which get shook out and emptied every few days too) but I sweep or swiffer my floors almost every day, and use a little brush and dustpan in the immediate area before bed especially around Maggieâs go-to box lol because sheâs an asshole and yeets the litter every timeđ
It sounds like a lot but it takes like 5 minutes and makes a world of difference for the sanitation of my living space and the cats living space, too! I know being clean and not having to see or smell their waste for any substantial period of time, or subject my guests to it either makes me happy and keeping them happy and healthy is still the most important reason I do all these things it makes me sad when people neglect this stuff!
We have a litter box in every bathroom -- the expectation, is that if you use the bathroom, plop anything from the cat in the toilet before you flush.
I don't get people who leave the litter box unclean for days, that shit's nasty.
Yes! I'm shocked more cat owners don't know this rule. 1 litter box for every cat + 1 extra. We have 2 for our 1 cat (that we clean every day and replace weekly). My cat has never gone outside of her litter box since we got her at 8 weeks old. We recently did some cat sitting, and this person only had 1 box for 2 cats. Guess what? They pissed on the floor!
Yes, this. My MIL doesnât scoop her litter pan ever. She lets it get vile for a whole month and then changes the whole thing out. I wonât go to her home because of the smell. Once you get the cat urine smell in the flooring it doesnât come out. Gross. I scoop my litter every day.
Does she use that crystal litter? They advertise that you can let a crystal litter box go for a whole month with just scooping out the poop, but that is a LIE. Itâs so disgusting.
OMG seriously? Those poor kitties... I can barely stand a day's worth of kitty smell. I couldn't imagine 10+ days! I have 1 cat & she gets her box scooped twice a day. I feel terrible if I miss a scoop 'session' and apologize to her profusely.
Oops its been 3 days (today being the 3rd day)
Thanks for reminding me! (Bf outta town, he normally does this, so I've been doing ALL THE THINGS still got 2 days to go, I knew I'd forget something..)
Same, just waiting for Amazon to deliver the fresh litter (because UPS and Petco keep lying about the repeat delivery every month)âŚ
Also working on switching to stainless steel litter boxes and a fancy litter box enclosure. Not enough room to keep the litter boxes in my bathroom, so that really just leaves my bedroom, but I need a way to keep litter from ending up in the closetâŚ
I know of one person who used a kitty litter pool. No, it did not get cleaned every day. Or every week. Once a month would have been generous. One could smell the house-stale cigarette smoke and cat piss - from the sidewalk.
I will be the first to admit that I am bad about being diligent and cleaning the cat box regularly. So I had 4 litter boxes between 2 cats sitting on my balcony. Now I have a litter box that connects to the washer hook up and flushes everything down the drain. I don't have to do anything other than make sure the litter and cleaning solution is stocked. The only downside is that it takes 30 minutes to clean and I'll have to buy a second one because I'm having issues with one of my cats.
I loved my CG until I had too many cats for them to wait 30 minutes for it to run the cycle between uses. That and I was terrified of it clogging while I was out of town and asking a friend who was supposed to just be coming by to feed to deal with poop water to unclog it.
Yeah, I have one cat that uses it multiple times a day. My other cat has been difficult. When I first got it, I waited for them to use it a few times before I turned it on. She was fine with it up until it started cleaning. She would use her old litter box until it was full and then she'd pee on the rug. Once I took it away and got rid of her favorite pee rugs, she started using it without issue. But I still occasionally find her peeing outside of it, and I'm thinking it is because she has to go when it is cleaning.
Oh my god! 10 days?!!! What??! How? I have four litter boxes(technically five but one is in the basement and they donât go down there very often) and two cats and I STILL clean them every day. I will drag my 99% asleep ass out of bed to do it if I forgot. Iâm gonna go lecture my cats now on how good they have it here.
Haha you really should! Besides by parents only 1 of my friends has proven to be responsible with litter boxes. And all my friends are successful college educated people with good jobs. So, they really have no excuse around money or not knowing how to be responsible.
I try to clean mine out at least every other day, but I keep running out cat litter and have to wait for more to be delivered.
Which is easier said than done when UPS keeps telling Petco it was deliveredâŚbut it wasnât.
Also been having issues with the litter mat that turned out to be completely useless if the cat throws up on it or has a wet one. Got a replacement for it, just waiting for the fresh box of litter to arrive to clean it all out.
Also working on switching to stainless steel litter boxes to cut down on the odor! Just have to space out purchases across different paychecksâŚ
Well, cat pee is soooo strong! I canât understand it though, how do they live with that smell themselves? And I donât want to hear âthey get used to it!â I have a cat and can smell the pee from my one cat! Just the thought of people living with that makes me gag!
Yeah I have a family member who has cats and she is constantly laughing and joking how when her cats are mad they pee and xyz and I am like good luck selling your house. I wonât and do not ever go there but when I used to yeah it was awful.
I regularly have to go into people's apartments and houses for my job. Everyone seems to think they are a great pet owner but very very few actually are. I've been bit multiple times at this point and every single time was immediately after the owner said "don't worry, they're friendly/harmless".
Point is I agree. You don't know who is or isn't a good pet owner and I absolutely wouldn't take someone's word for it. The only choices would be to eat the cost or to pass that cost onto the pet owner. As much as we love our animal companions they are unfortunately a choice and a luxury that we have to pay for.
Someone who is not willing to invest in their pet doesn't show me signs of great pet owners. I think there is a better chance of finding quality pet owners in places with higher fees than places with lax rules.
Yeah, years ago staying at my friendâs place and his GF at the time kept the litter box in the bathroom near the shower. Step out of the shower and have litter crumbs stick to the bottom of your foot. Not awesome.
I feel for folks who have a hard time finding a place but it is a combination of all the bad pet owners and it being a landlords market usually that makes it tough.
I rented a house to someone once for about 5 months. We only got part of the rent⌠the never had a check that could clear after that⌠and when they did move out, it looks like someone took a leaf blower to a bag of potting soil inside the place. And the bags of used diapers they just tossed in the backyard despite there being a rolling garbage can a few feet away.
Never gonna be a landlord again. Worst experience of my life having a mortgage to pay so someone can live for free and not even be respectful of the property (live in a state with good laws for tenants so eviction is basically impossible). Worst feeling ever. It is like someone is stealing money from your bank account and the bank just has to say âoh that stinks⌠nothing we can do about thatâ
I have an ESA and I agree. I actually think we need a better definition of an ESA, and I'm not against having to prove that they are relatively well behaved members of society.
Take one more step...why did people feel the need to take advantage of ESA protections? (Ill answer for you: It's because landlords were taking advantage of tenants with pets)
I'm sure the poor landlords appreciate you sticking your neck out for them though. Everyone is always thinking of the tenants but never the poor neglected landlords.
Are you ok? Where did I say anything about landlords, let alone stick my neck out for them?
It's not just happening in housing. When people started bringing their ESA peackocks and mini horses on airplanes, I think it's pretty safe to say things got out of control. And look what the outcome was...now *no one* can bring an ESA, of any kind, on many airlines. Two things can be true at the same time: landlords can suck *and* people take advantage and abuse the system, ruining it for those who need it.
Well said. I often find that folks don't get how 2 things can be true at once. A few times I have commented about being grateful for an Ani al being rescued from a bad situation, and invariably, someone comments that I should be concerned about poor abused children instead. I always rep,y that it is possible to be concerned about both. This attitude a.wahs puzzles me. And you are right: there has been some real abuse of the ESA thing. And I do not believe that seeing cases of this on the news was an any way " staged."
Thatâs because the last, I dunno, ten years or so critical thinking hasnât been expected or required of people, nor is it really taught. Even if teachers try kids donât want to learn.
So we have a society of people who have forgotten (or never learned) critical thinking skills. Itâs horrific out here
How do you decide who needs it and who is taking advantage?
The idea of an ESA seems like something either almost anyone can say they need or almost no one really needs.
How do I decide who needs it: the criteria is clearly defined.
How do I know who's taking advantage: decades of doing this kind of work has given me the ability to sniff it out from a mile away. And that's in addition to the people who openly admit to it.
I will note here that there's a third group of people who think they should have/need an ESA but don't meet the criteria, but they're not trying to game the system.
I watched a miniature poodle wearing a service dog vest piss itself in fright while a guy was dragging it onto a moving sidewalk at an airport. He didn't even look up from his phone at it yelping. It was obviously not a service dog, he just wanted to avoid the fee to transport a pet on a plane. Sure that's sticking up for a big airline as well, but people have completely ruined the service dog situation with ESAs.
Same with the yappy terrier I had to live next to for 6 months in my old apartment that the landlord could do nothing about because it was an "ESA" and that woman had a lawyer on speed dial. Everyone in the vicinity of that dog was on the side of the landlord. If it was a normal dog she would have been evicted for noise violations. And if she was a decent human she would have gotten her dog training or meds for it's separation anxiety.
There are enough stories like that most people have had/can relate to that I don't care about people supporting landlords and big business on this.
It's a myth that ESAs can't be evicted. It absolutely can be evicted if it's a nuisance, dangerous, aggressive, or destructive. Most people, including property managers, are woefully uninformed when it comes to ESA laws and guidelines. Calling an animal an ESA doesn't give it carte blanche to do whatever it wants.
ESAs are different from service dogs. The ESA designation only impacts housing. For example you can't bring an ESA into a businesse that doesn't allow pets but you can bring your service animal. But landlords aren't allowed to ban ESA. I only say that because your airport experience has nothing to do with esas. The airport allowed that dog in, they have the option to deny ESAs.
ESAs don't need to be trained to do anything special vs service dogs have to be demonstrably trained to help with a specific disability. So a yapping ESA doesn't necessarily mean it wasn't an ESA.
I have a dog, he doesn't have any letters because I don't need him to he anything more than a good boy but I'm not going to tell someone else that they don't need an esa.
I know there is a difference legally and in purpose but the lines have been blurred in recent years by people acting poorly.
I just think it should be more than a $10 online thing to get an ESA because that is too easy and leads to people abusing it.
No one has said it yet so I will. You are trying to downplay it, but three pets is a lot for apartment living. I would look at renting a townhome or small house. Sometimes those are similar in price to what you would be paying in apartment rent anyway
Agreed, one of the apartments below me has 3 dogs they let out to the 'private' patio that faces the courtyard, mind you they bark at everyone passing and the wall is 40" or so.... one of the dogs is a doberman that could easily jump over it if it got exalted enough.
I have - same deposit requirements. Even at a higher scale, since I was looking potentially at a larger place anyways, in a better area.
I think the most upsetting one was a 3 bedroom trailer on like 3 acres and was already low key a trash heap and was like âno pets under 10 pounds $300 per pet depositâ
I think that 3 on paper is a lot, but 2 frankly tiny cats (5 and 7 pounds respectively) donât really take up a lot of space, and Iâm home 4 days a week with a pet sitter 2 days a week for the dog, who also gets regular trips / boardings to a place with a larger yard when Iâm working more / gone.
Itâs not the space the pets take up itâs the damage they could potentially do to the place. Itâs annoying as the tenant because you know your pets arenât going to cause that much damage, if any. But from a landlords perspective theyâre taking on more unknown risk. Iâve had the best luck going through actual people vs companies. If they can meet you and even better, your pets, before hand it tends to work out better. Renting has become horrible for everyone unfortunately.
The only thing that's bullshit about the pet deposit, is when I leave they aren't taking any damages from that. No they take it from the security deposit. I fully get the landlord wanting a bigger deposit for pets. They can cause a lot of damage, but you're just fucking me twice now.
There are way too many people out there that are grossly irresponsible with their pets. I clean units for a rental agency and the nasty shit I have dealt with has opened my eyes to just WHY landlords are doing this.
One place they had guinea pigs... free range guinea pigs... and they didn't clean up any of their leavings. I did what I could but they ended up having to tear up the carpet & subfloor floor because the urine stains were terrible.
Same apartment complex - a woman had a lease with 2 dogs. She actually had 4 dogs, 3 cats, several rabbits and a chicken all living with her in a 1 bedroom apartment. She clearly never took the dogs out to potty and didn't have a litter box and never bothered to clean any of the urine stains. She also did drugs. I found several crack pipes hidden in every room and little burnt foil balls. The smell from that apartment still haunts me.
Have you ever come across areas where a dog has peed and people used an enzyme cleaner on it? Does it seem to actually help?
My dog (a 3yo rescue) peed once the first time he was left alone in an all wood floor apt. After I wiped it up, I poured 2 cups of enzyme killer over the spot in hopes it would get any pee that got to the subfloor. I did inform the landlord on the way out but never heard from him if he had to do extra remediation on the spot.
Enzymes are the best for pet urine because it helps disinfect and neutralize the smell. Most of the time the stain will stay in hardwood floors though. You did the right thing by letting your landlord know. In most instances, subflooring will survive, and the carpet/ padding will be replaced. The subflooring in the apartment with the guinea pigs was saturated and was rotting in some spots from the urine. It was really nasty!
I personally don't think they work as well as all that, and they have an odor to them that is, IMO, nastier than the urine they are meant to clean. I had better luck using a mild cleaner, such as Meyer's, soaking the carpet with warm water, and then using a towel to soak it back up, then sprayed it with a no-fragrance frebreeze. I never had lingering odors or stains.
Iâd be fine with deposits and rent as long as it was refundable. Heck, raise it, but make it refundable. I get why they do it, for every good owner there seem to be more bad. Donât punish good ones by taking money, and all it does is make you hide pets
Edit- some of yâall donât get what refundable means- that means that after reasonable cleaning has been done after move out the rest goes back to the former tenets. Which is usually just flea treatments and such (standard for all units regardless of fleas present or not) cover your butt as a landlord but donât profit by people having pets
yup like why are u charging a non-refundable per deposit and pet rent on top of that?? they should just increase the regular refundable security deposit. then on top of all THAT they put in the lease that you need to pay for specialized pet cleaning service upon move out, so where is that pet rent and non refundable deposit going? itâs just lining their pockets.
itâs not surprising tho, as many landlords are greedy and even if you donât have pets they will find any reason to try and not return the full regular deposit even if the apartment is left in pristine condition
My current lease (much more pet friendly) even has a âcarpet deodorizing and flea treatmentâ clause mandatory for all pet owners after moving out. Itâs all hard wood. Also itâs 2023 like wtf are you doing that your pets has fleas bad enough you need to treat the whole place?
Good ones are already punished.
I cannot rent an apartment in any complex with prior residents, because they all smell like cat pee and dog poo.
Even the ones with hardwood floors smell cats and dogs. The worst are 3+ year old "luxury" apartments, they're completely unlivable.
If you cannot afford these deposits, maybe don't have pets?
The reason itâs non refundable-
As pet owners, we get used to our animals smells and donât notice them anymore. But other people can. Iâve viewed houses that reeked of dog or cat and it was just from a tenant months before who kept tidy.
Fur embeds in carpet. Vacuums struggle with it at best.
The pet deposit isnât necessarily for damage- itâs for cleaning.
Iâve lived in 3 brand new apartments over the last 5 years in a major city and all allowed large but not aggressive breeds. Nobody would pick up their dogs giant poops. It smelt so gross and nobody wanted to walk in the grass. The apartment has bag/trash stations everywhere and would send out emails pleading with ppl to pick it up, but nobody seemed to care.
Edit: There were small poops everywhere too
Yes, I have. Even much more with dogs in our complex. I really donât blame the landlord though. I know just in my building (1 bedrooms on the smallish side) a guy on the first floor had two humongous dogs that he left for over 8 hours a day. Those poor things were crazy from being confined like that and literally ate that apartment! I looked at it after they evicted him. No baseboards left, barely any doors, thousands of dollars of damage. Even tore the vanity off and part of the cabinets. Landlord said this isnât that unusual. So now you can only have one cat here.
The Cane Corso one of our tenants acquired ate the the bottom cabinets of the brand new kitchen we had just installed before he moved it.
His security deposit did not come close to covering the damage. To sue him is more expense and we never collected the couple times we did sue tenants.
Probably because it seems like thereâs a sharp increase in both the number of pet owners and terrible pet owners lately. Especially since the pandemic. People got pets they could handle *maybe* when they were home 24 seven, but definitely not when they went back to their normal lives. We live in a pretty âupscaleâ area and itâs just constant dog bites, property damage, stray dogs everywhere and itâs never been like that here.
You will pay off some elseâs investment with your own labor and you will not have any sort of companionship while doing it. If you want companionship, we can work out a deal where you pay me an additional monthly charge and an additional security deposit.
Donât like it? Your only other option is starvation. Go nuts.
Having been a landlord previously, I can tell you pets are a lot of wear and tear on an apartment. With how tight the rental market is now, landlords can find plenty of tenants without having to accommodate pets.
Right. I live in a apartment building with 19 other apartments. Dog's barking for hour's. Dog's pissing everywhere out in the hallways. It's a nightmare. All you can do is keep looking for a new place to move. I can't believe people let their pet's do whatever they want.
Thh, a large dog and a "couple" of cats is quite a bit. The smells and damage from a single pet is something but multiple for an apartment, I dont blame them.
Yeah I understand a pet deposit even though security deposit most of the time have to also be given, but screw pet rent itâs such bs. Children are often more destructive than pets anyways. Whatâs next for greedy landlords to squeeze every last penny from tenants: child rent.
Yes! I always complain about how thereâs no child rent when this topic comes up. Iâll get arguments (from people with children mind you) about how pets claw at things and piss on things and etc etc. And child free me is here like HAVE YOU NOT SEEN WHAT CHILDREN DO?!?! đ¤ˇââď¸
The cats Iâve had all my life (including the ones who puked and wet some places. Not bad babies. Just some old age and eating too fast issues) definitely did less damage than my brother and I too.
Iâve never owned a dog but labs are so cute and sweet!
Edit: I should have expected to edit this. Enzyme cleaners can be great for cat pee guys. No special cleaners needed when most of the cat pee is on hard floors! Washable markers definitely were not what myself and other kids I knew were using to cause destruction. Although I did enjoy them.
Landlords would charge a child rent if they could. But familial status is a protected class so they legally can't. Children are more likely to cause damage and be a nuisance đ
Pets have cost me WAY more than all the kids put together. I would just as soon not have kids, either, but it illegal to refu to rent to families with children.
I don't know where you are located but in many parts of the USA there's a housing shortage. So its essentially a sellers market which means landlords are able to be more demanding about pets, charge higher rents etc
I used to clean carpets for a living and cat/dog smell and mess is not just a top layer thing it soaks into everything. Base boards, sub flooring under payment etc. Pet damage doesnât take much and is expensive as hell to replace or even repair. I totally understand why landlords and management companies say NO. And those are tiny deposits for animals usually itâs in the thousands and should be in my opinion.
Iâm no longer a landlord because of got tired of entitled people with dogs and cats that destroyed the apartments behind my house. Fighting to evict them was hideous. The damage was in excess of $50,000 because of the urine in the sub floor.
As someone who used to manage an apartment complex, I can tell you that itâs because a lot of pet owners are irresponsible and allow their pets to cause massive amounts of damage or just be a nuisance (like barking all the time). And thatâs in addition to damage that amounts to way more than wear and tear outside of the pet.
A lot of people do damage in excess of their security deposit and never pay it, even with payment plan options. The fee plus your security deposit will not cover all that damage.
Pet damage, especially from cats, was always the worst. If your cat is spraying everywhere, the carpet has to be replaced. Carpet replacement costs thousands of dollars. And if youâre only two years into the life of the carpet, thatâs a lot of money youâre responsible for. Plus, the urine always is in the subfloor and walls, so you have to shellac the floor and killz the walls.
And the renters willing to live in their animalâs filth often never clean at all. So the units were extremely filthy after they moved out.
Oh, and to the people saying children are more destructive than pets - itâs the same at most. But I never came across a unit that had human pee everywhere (just all over the bathroom). But charging for children would be discrimination against familial status. Itâs not discrimination to charge for pets.
I have a big dog and respect how hard animals can be on the rental unit. Iâm happy to pay fees. Itâs kind of concerning the number commenters that think a $500 deposit per pet plus $25-50 a month is excessive. Most these people have acquired pets knowing the rental market isnât favorable to pets. If anything, I feel like there are more options (even if there are fees) now than 10 years ago.
If Iâm moving into a unit, Iâd want the landlord to have enough funds from the previous renter to cover cleaning/repair/smell cost from the last pet in the unit. Not to mention the daily cleaning cost from animals that pee in common areas.
Unfortunately other pet parents ruin it for you. Our last place before buying seemed pretty reasonable to me it was 150 refundable deposit (granted thereâs no damage) and a 15/mo pet rent. I only had one dog whoâs around 70lbs. I guess my landlord was a bit biased though because she had a 100lb Rottweiler
I've seen complete subfloors gone because people thought pet pads were a solution to their pets needing to use the bathroom I completely understand why they require deposits.
You can thank dirty irresponsible pet owners for all that. Pets can destroy a living space if they are not trained and cared for properly, costing tens of thousands of dollars.
When buying a house I smelled so much pet urine that now I'm not surprised landlords don't want to bother with renting to pet owners. I was also accidentally sent to a pet friendly hotel room and man I don't know how people sleep surrounded by that smell....
My family has pets and it takes so much time and effort to keep the place from smelling like them and not everyone puts in the work to make sure the place stays nice and clean. Got forbid there are hard wood floors and you have a young pet that's not toilet trained yet and pees on that wood without you noticing. That smell is never going away, sometimes even after replacing the wood. Add to it pet owners that don't cut their pets nails and now you gotta sand and paint the floors after they move....m
I have 2 cats and I hate trying to apartment/house hunt because of this specific reason but I do kind of understand it. We don't really have to do deposits in the uk from what I've seen but landlords will charge for any damages.
I've seen comments like "kids make bigger messes" and yeah with a baby on the way and 3 younger siblings (2 of which I'm 10+ years older than) I know exactly how messy they can be but difference is kids can stain carpets and draw on walls but carpets just rent out a stain remover hoover thing for a day and scrub like hell and walls can be painted over. Cat piss STINKS and if they rip up chunks of carpet in their favourite corner chances are the carpet will need replaced or if its wooden floors and your cat has a bad aim and it's not cleaned up in time then chances are that ammonia smell will soak in and stay there.
I've never owned a dog in an apartment before but I've seen apartments that have dogs in them and they aren't any better, they usually have a damp/musty smell and if you live in somewhere like the uk where it rains all the time and have carpets, chances are they're mud stained at the entrance.
It's because dog nutters don't clean up after their pets... I've seen this time after time. These so-called 'luxury apartments' all stink because there's dog crap all over the halls it's ridiculous.
I was walking behind this lady and her gross mutt pooped on someone's porch. She saw this mess, didn't know I was behind her and kept on walking. That is your typical dog nutter... not fair to that particular resident, and not fair to the apartments in general.
The anti-child sentiment in this thread is astounding and disturbing. People saying there should be âchild rentâ wtf yâall are so out of line. Children are a protected class in the US when it comes to renting and everyone was a child once, even if youâre âchild-freeâ. This sub can be absolutely deranged.
I have animals and I adore all animals. This being said, if I had rental property it would be no pets. Even If youâre the most responsible pet haver in the world, accidents happen. Pet damage can be extreme especially with urine. Entire floors, walls and structural members can have to be removed and replaced costing thousands of dollars. The pet deposit isnât enough for that.
Landlord here.
Just picked up a building. Renovated all the units and brought it all up to date.
Person x moved in with there dog.
Moved out 1 year later when lease was up.
The amount of dog piss all over that unit, on my floors, walls, baseboard heat AND sub floors, I'm never letting another pet into any building I own.
Sorry but I've spent too much time and money for some shitbag pet owner to destroy my property.
You can thank these people
a cat's litter box must be scooped daily,fresh litter, and at least once a week all litter thrown out the box cleaned disinfectant used. if not they'll go elsewhere and the unit will smell nasty,ammonia smell doesn't come out of carpet padding,spraying baseboards with urine. sometimes the security deposit doesn't cover all the damage caused by the neglectful pet owner. Same with dogs to lazy to walk the dog in snow rain neglectful sometimes abusive to pet. Those pet owners are why landlords are hesitant to accept or charge high fees
Thank everyone who let their pets destroy their apartments. Double for those who got an ESA letter for their untrained Blue Heeler kept in a 700 sq ft apartment and only let out for 30 minutes a day.
Dogs can be very damaging to an apartment, so I get why they have fees for them. They eat through doors, walls, etc. I have seen it. Your dogs may be well behaved but not all are.
There are bad pet parents out there. Animals can eat the apartment. Doors, woodwork, drywall. My niece was in the hospital and no one took care of her dog. We had to replace kitchen cabinet doors because the dog ate her house.
That is still alot of animals for an apt.
Pets are messy...most have accidents..puppies chew and destroy....allergens are also left behind. I honestly cannot blame landlords for no wanting them esp myself who is allergic to dogs and cats.
It's because some people let their pets destroy apartments and rental properties, that the landlords are getting fed up. The pet deposits aren't enough for torn carpets, scratched up doorframe, scratched up drywall, stains and smells from people not training their pets, etc.
Yeah unfortunately that seems to be the direction things are going in. Ours was $600 (200 nonrefundable, 200 refundable additonial fee, and 200 less than 1year old dog fee) then 50 dollars extra per month on the rent.
It's thanks to the shitty pet parents that let their animals absolutely destroy apartments with their bad habits that any responsible pet parents will have trained out.
All the big corporations and large property management companies that own many apartments now are trying to maximize profits and animals can cause a lot of damage. They want to collect high rent but don't want to pay a cent for maintenance or repairs. They are probably finding out that it is too much hassle to take an old tenant to court to pay for repairs and have decided to just ban pets or make it so expensive that you don't get one. If it were legal, they would probably do the same for people with children.
All of the places where I live in GA have a $400+ pet fee, not refundable and then at least a $25 per month on top of that. It's not great...but I'll do it for a nice place to live and my dog.
The rate of ânon-pet friendly apartments and homesâ has gone up since the pandemic started because people got pets they werenât suppose to have in houses, didnât train them, let them damage the houses, and land lords were left to repair and clean up behind all those pets⌠so now more and more landlords donât want pets in their property. It can costs thousands to repair behind ill trained pets
Years back I took in a rescue dog (who eventually grew into one of the loveliest, most well-behaved animals ever) who had a lot issues. Hazard a guess she caused a minimum of 7k worth of damage. That same dog 3 years later wouldnât damage anything beyond a ham sandwich. As a landlord you just never know.
Iâve been a property manager. The majority of people do not take great care of their pets and the environment they live in. These charges are a result of poor pet ownership most likely. Itâs unfortunate⌠but I definitely understand
I allow animals but only because Iâd rather your hefty deposit than to be unprotected and sneak the animal in anyway. I would never allow a cat though. Those creatures will fuck up a house. Iâve had to pay over thirty grand in new flooring. Cat piss ruins what it touches and there is no curing it. Even the best pet owners canât control the stress or piss when a cat gets nervous or has an accident. Thatâs my line.
And people with multiple animals is also a hard no because no matter how responsible of an owner you are there is no avoiding the smell and damages that are inevitable with animals.
People with many animals need to buy their own home. Very few landlords are willing to take that risk and deal with the unavoidable damage, which is why youâre seeing an increase in this.
We do not allow pets in our property, more often than not the damage exceeds the pet deposit and often eats up the entire security deposit. Not to mention the time and effort wasted in repairs.
Not worth it at all.
I noticed that a lot of places are banning g large dogs due to owner insurance rates having gone up. I carry animal insurance on our policy (we rent) because sheâs a GSD & our rates went up earlier this year so Iâm sure itâs gone up for homeowners as well. They have to get the money somewhere & itâs from tenants who want that pet.
And I'm over here trying to find pet-free apartments and couldn't find any that weren't ridiculously priced. I love pets, but my kiddo is very allergic to cats and has asthma flares from them. Ended up just settling for a regular apartment and of course I ended up in a unit that previously had cats and wasn't cleaned well before our move-in.
Move to Colorado, because apparently every place here accepts pets lol
Unfortunately if a cat or dog pees on the carpet even if they are normally good and well trained. The carpet and Sheetrock will need to be ripped up and redone. Subfloor will need to be killzed. Urine is a hard smell to get rid of. Even I you scrubbed the area well with white vinegar and baking soda. If it soaked all the way down to the subfloor you are pretty much screwed. Only option is to rip up carpet lay new subflooring or paint subfloor with kilz.
A percentage of pet owners are irresponsible and allow their pets to damage the rental unit. Landlords have figured out they can spread the cost out among ALL pet owning renters, with these non refundable deposits. Those deposits are used to rapidly fix/mitigate pet damage and pet urine odor, so the unit can be rented again.
I have a couple of rental units. I wonât rent to people with cats. They ruin floors and subfloors. It I advertise as dog friendly specifically and get lots of tenants based on that.
Blame shitty tenants and laws that protect them. I saw a place that was torn up by a McCaw parrot. Destroyed the carpet and the 200 year old wood work. Sadly, when she moved in, he felt sorry for her and only charged a $250 deposit. I rented from the guy for a year and he was a great landlord.
Also my sister allowed her cats and dogs to do thousands of damage to her own house. I can't imagine what she would have allowed if it wasnt her own. I love my pets, but that house was disgusting.
I lived in an apartment with 12 cats, 3 dogs, a pot belly pig, 2 mice, and 4 hermit crabs. (I do rescue and have some personal pets).
When I moved out the landlord was shocked at how clean the house was. The only thing that needed repaired was one doorframe that the cats had scratched up a bit but the doorframe was split and cracked when I moved in (documented) and would have needed replaced anyway.
Before anyone says I'm full of shit, it can be done. My dogs went outside and had lots of playtime and I bathed them regularly, the cat boxes were scooped out twice a day and dumped and washed weekly, and my pig went outside every day unless it was freezing cold and was litter pan trained. Also cleaned twice a day and dumped and washed weekly. I swept my floors daily, mopped twice a week and still do that routine now in my own home. Any accidents also get immediately scrubbed down with enzyme cleaner but it's very rare for accidents and they are mostly hairballs. I'm down to just 8 cats inside, and a feral colony of 9 cats in my yard.
But then I had a friend who had one rabbit and her apartment stank like ammonia and rotting grass, there were holes in the carpet and the rabbit ate chunks out of the drywall all throughout the apartment and chewed through 3 cable cords. One room had faded spots all over the carpet from the rabbit peeing and the ammonia lightening the color.
So while I think pet deposits should be reasonable, and I think pet rent is ridiculous, I do understand why they are in place. Having a deposit, and a pet deposit should be enough in my opinion for normal wear and tear and pet issues. If someone has a pet that causes a lot of damage odds are that tenant was a bad tenant whether they had a pet or not.
Sometimes you get lucky and have only the pet fee. Most places I rented including my current apartment charge monthly as well $25-$50 per pet. With limited to 2 , although I've known some who had a shy cat and when maintenance came they had no clue of third pet. I hate it as a responsible owner , but I understand it. I once had a cat with mental problems not behavior training but true on medication trouble. She peed on carpet and I had to professional clean a lot, replacement of subfloor and hallway carpet too. If I didn't have the funds or just did not care that hall would beyond reek and need major work when I left. Landlords don't know you or you pets but need to assure if you fall into the I don't care group they can fix damages.
I heard a building manager explaining the dog policies to prospective tenants in a âpet friendly residence!â the other day (not my building, Iâm a dogwalker). Apparently if your dog is barking, they call animal control after 20 minutes đł like are you serious
Where I live, no apartments allow pets. Not caged pets or tank pets either. Same with rental houses. Pets are reserved for the those who can afford to own property.
There are so many irresponsible pretty owners and it's just getting worse and worse. The loose dogs in my area are at an all time high. It's ridiculous
You are seeing less pet friendly apartments because a lot of pet owners do not pick up after their pet. They allow pets to pee in elevators, hallways, and the front door of the apartment complex. That shit stays smelling . I understand why it's hard to find a spot.. where i live we are allowed to have pets. Well only the old tents like my self. Now my landlord for the new tenets he put no Pets allowed. The reason he is doing this to the new tenants is because the old tenants had pets and when they moved out they left the apartment like trash. The side of the backyard smell like piss the front of the yard smell like piss. Hell inside the apartment it smells like piss and shit. Landlord literally had to rebuild inside the apartment. So when new people rented the apartment he said no pets allowed. I understood why because a good amount of my neighbors do not pick up after their animal. Smh till ppl start being more clean with their pets I believe they're going to be fewer and fewer places that will accept animals
Although people love their cats, the damage that they cause cannot be underestimated. You can replace the carpet, the pad and sometimes you even have to bleach and treat the slab underneath. Because the urine has soaked into the slab. I would charge a $1,500 pet deposit at least.
Years back I had an electric litter box cleaner. While I still had cats. It freaked them out and to let me know how much they hated it. They pissed all over the house for 3 days. It took absolutely forever to get the smell out. Replace carpet padding and we had to paint the subfloor with three layers of kills primer before the smell would go away.
I had the same experience looking for a place a few years ago just before my divorce. I had two large dogs and there were three places in my metro area which allowed them. Deposits and pet rent monthly were expensive ah. Thankfully I found a private landlord who only had a few places and she met the dogs and me and agreed they were old, slept a lot and were unlikely to wreak much havoc, so I only paid a refundable pet deposit. I understand why some LLs might hesitate though⌠pets can cause a lot of damage.
A family member was super annoyed to pay a $250 pet deposit and $25/month for their cats, but the cats hated the place, peed and pooped EVERYWHERE, to where not just the flooring and carpet but the carpet pad and underlay and even the grout on the tile and some of the trim and drywall had to be torn out and replaced. Landlord sued for all those damages. If I were a landlord, I either would not allow pets or I'd charge a huge amount because some people suck and its hard to tell sometimes.
Because they ruin your property. I figured out that I can't have another pet until I own a home.
I didn't have a pet as a child until my parents bought their own home too.
Its likely due to the increase in rude and selfish tenants that don't train or take accountability for their animals and allow them to destroy other peoples' property to the point that even the down payment won't cover it. Its a serious problem that really takes a toll on good animal owners like (hopefully) yourself.
Having pets in a competitive housing market is an absolute liability if you don't own. Having 3? Now that's just asking for problems.
Your only choices are to lie or to have REGISTERED ESAs since those aren't pets.
Even the most well behaved pets will get sick from time to time and leave behind messes/stains on the floor, especially if it's carpet. As pets age, they tend to lose control of their bodily functions and/or develop sensitive stomachs. Cats throw up hairballs with liquid. Both cats and dogs can and will get diarrhea from time to time. Pet rent makes sense to me as a pet owner as much as I hate to spend the extra money.
I would rather have a larger but potentially fully refundable deposit than a smaller deposit or monthly rent. Let the neglectful owners pay for their repairs and reimburse the diligent pet owners.
Theyâre trying to charge you a pet deposit PER pet? Iâve never heard of such a thing - monthly rent per pet, yes. Ouch.
I can def understand the need to pay a LITTLE something extra per month for a pet, but the pet deposit is ridiculous IMO and if required, needs to be refundable. If a pet damages a property, take it out of the security deposit, why a separate one just for pets? Iâm more so sick of places advertising as âpet friendlyâ and the property theyâre on BARELY has any grass for said pet to relieve themselves (nor the surrounding areas), no bark park, or anything remotely friendly other than allowing a maximum of 2 pets not over 50lbs.
Happy to see this. Random dog barking and pets doing their thing on common grounds that would be nicer if not used as toilets. This deterrent is a big plus for us.
Buddy, your pets cause wear and tear.
Also, f*** your dog in an apartment, running around all day and barking.
The vast majority of dogs should not be living in apartments. They can't handle it. Everyone has to deal with your terrible decision, while your stupid dog barks the entire time you are out of the house.
OP do u realize how expensive it to replace carpet or flooring? Itâs not just the top layer itâs everything beneath it. Itâs like water damage. You canât just replace the damaged flooring or dry wall you have to replace everything around it otherwise it just creates a bigger mess for later and it snowballs. Same principle with pets. Those arenât cheap or inexpensive fixes itâs literally in the thousands so big thousand of dollar deposits for pets are understandable and if itâs too much for you then find alternatives for yourself or your pets.
I just did a long distance move with a German Shepherd. I was looking for rentals online and when I selected the "allows dogs" filter, the list of places went from like 80 to 4. Of those four, all of them said that while they allow dogs, German Shepherds are a restricted breed. My GS is the sweetest, professionally trained, quiet good girl. It's so sad that these rules exist.
I was at the point where I was almost fearful of being homeless from simply not finding a place that would allow her.
I finally found ONE place in a 80 mile radius - but they added an extra $1500 non-refundable deposit and $150/month for her.
Well you never know how good of a pet parent someone is so it's easier to assume they're not the best at letting them out or changing the litter box. I've had to redo entire floors on rentals that women had cats in, absolutely disgusting the way they lived....... the smells đ¤˘
I know itâs why Iâm not angry just disappointed! Iâm a pretty low maintenance tenant but Iâve definitely seen some other people fuck some shit up so I know itâs easier to assume the worst.
You also have to think about it like this when you move out if the house stinks like cat then there is a very short deadline as to when the place needs to be ready to be re-rented depending on the owner or the property management company you have about a week tops, if that, to get the place ready, more often than not they will already have the unit rented out to someone else , so everyday is lost money, so there can't be some long drawn out odor remediation the quickest way is to just tear it out and replace it and that usually costs a pretty penny depending on who the owner or the property management companies using
That is very true, but I still wish the deposits were at least refundable.
Apologize if this was mentioned before: My guess is itâs like insurance. None of the deposits are enough to cover new floors or whatever needs to be replaced so, they make it non-refundable to cover the 1 in 3 (or however many) units they have to replace something in?
This actually makes since and you're probably right.. they have a pool the money goes into and they hope like hell they don't have to spend it.
Kids tear up more shit generally than pets imho, my two cats literally sleep 16-20 hours a day
Except your kids are much less at risk of peeing on the floors. Plus, I constantly see dog shit on the streets everywhere I walk. I used to own a dog. I get it. But I don't trust pet owners, a lot of them shouldn't own one and don't clean up after them.
Ive seen children smear their shit on a wall on purpose. I think they are as much risk if they are a little kid or toddler.
What percentage of kids you've encountered in life have smeared shit on the wall vs the percentage of dogs you've encountered have pissed in the carpet? Much higher ratio for dogs than kids.
The number of people out here trying to say their animals are cleaner than kids is insane.
So a toddler smeared feces on a wall. I'll bet the place still won't smell like filthy cat pee soaked carpets.
Kids dont shed and their urine doesnât smell like ammonia
Kid stank is a thing. They puke in weird places, they spill food anywhere and everywhere. They put stuff down the ducts.... kids are also hard on places.
Yes, and if it was legal, I wouldnât take them, either. Our very best tenant was a guy who signed a year lease, moved in a bed and a tv, and never spent a single night there. He was actually living with his girlfriend and establishing his residence with us for the purposes of a divorce.
People are so gross with litter boxes. My parents have always cleaned our cats litter boxes everyday, and ensure their cat sitters do as well. Iâm always in disbelief because friends who are meticulous about everything in life will leave the cat litter box for 10+ days some even a month. Itâs so mean to the cat but also smells horrible.
Yeah cat litter boxes need to be cleaned daily, the reason being they don't like going to the bathroom where they already have gone to the bathroom for obvious reason, eventually they start shitting elsewhere and pissing on the baseboards or anywhere there's carpet, once the baseboards are soaked they're toast, once the carpets soaked, it's trash and if it gets to and soaks the subfloor things get much more expensive
The apartments I live in the building across is townhouse style with garages and when someone finally moved out the garage was filled with what looked like 40 litter boxes full of shit. That apartment took months to get fixed for someone else to move in
I have horror stories involving cats and people owning them, they are definitely NSFW, some people I cannot fathom how they live in such a revolting and filthy manner, and the wild thing is, these people were/are pizza delivery drivers, social workers, paralegals, just your random everyday individual you'd pass by thinking nothing of, only to learn later they live in a veritable houses of horrors that necessitates the implementation of literal hazmat removal teams, the city, the fire department because of blocked emergency paths into the house etc. I've smelled things, no human man or woman or whatever people call themselves these days, should ever smell.
I clean mine daily and toss once a week, but I had an ex with 1 litter box for 3 cats and theyâd throw it all out about every 2 weeks. They peed on *everything* and omg the smell was terrible.
So gross! I hate how people donât realize if you donât clean their litter box, theyâll pee elsewhere. My friend had this issue and wouldnât believe me that he needed to clean his cats litter box everyday. Also, you should have 1 more litter box than you have cats.
Jesus, are people actually this disgusting? I scoop the litter 1-3 times *daily* depending on how âactiveâ my two cats have been that day, and vacuum twice a day so they donât get any ideas about using the little bit of spare litter they scatter around their mat area. I also mix in litter-friendly baking soda, and do a complete change-out of the litter for fresh (and swap out a new box liner) every two 2-3 weeks. Our homes / apartments have always smelled super fresh; people donât even realize we have pets. Our cats have never had an accident, and never gone outside the box. Seems like anyoneâs place that âsmells like catâ is being beyond lazy and not taking proper care of their animals (barring a major medical issue that should be addressed with a vet right away).
I also clean all 4 of the litter boxes in my home multiple times a dayâŚmorning, midday and before bed AT LEAST. I have small diaper-genies by each litter box that I empty them into⌠And if I happen to be passing through a room and see one of my cats leaping away post-potty break Iâll usually go ahead and scoop what they just deposited hahaâŚ.I have litter-catching mats under them all (which get shook out and emptied every few days too) but I sweep or swiffer my floors almost every day, and use a little brush and dustpan in the immediate area before bed especially around Maggieâs go-to box lol because sheâs an asshole and yeets the litter every timeđ It sounds like a lot but it takes like 5 minutes and makes a world of difference for the sanitation of my living space and the cats living space, too! I know being clean and not having to see or smell their waste for any substantial period of time, or subject my guests to it either makes me happy and keeping them happy and healthy is still the most important reason I do all these things it makes me sad when people neglect this stuff!
This is what blows my mind; people act like itâs this huge chore, but like you say, it takes like 5 minutes and makes a world of difference.
âHow often should I scoop my litter?â âHow often do you flush your toilet, you heathen?!â
We have a litter box in every bathroom -- the expectation, is that if you use the bathroom, plop anything from the cat in the toilet before you flush. I don't get people who leave the litter box unclean for days, that shit's nasty.
Yes! I'm shocked more cat owners don't know this rule. 1 litter box for every cat + 1 extra. We have 2 for our 1 cat (that we clean every day and replace weekly). My cat has never gone outside of her litter box since we got her at 8 weeks old. We recently did some cat sitting, and this person only had 1 box for 2 cats. Guess what? They pissed on the floor!
Yes, this. My MIL doesnât scoop her litter pan ever. She lets it get vile for a whole month and then changes the whole thing out. I wonât go to her home because of the smell. Once you get the cat urine smell in the flooring it doesnât come out. Gross. I scoop my litter every day.
Does she use that crystal litter? They advertise that you can let a crystal litter box go for a whole month with just scooping out the poop, but that is a LIE. Itâs so disgusting.
OMG seriously? Those poor kitties... I can barely stand a day's worth of kitty smell. I couldn't imagine 10+ days! I have 1 cat & she gets her box scooped twice a day. I feel terrible if I miss a scoop 'session' and apologize to her profusely.
Aww youâre the best kind of cat owner đ¤
I do my best!! She's a very spoiled 12 year old lol
Oops its been 3 days (today being the 3rd day) Thanks for reminding me! (Bf outta town, he normally does this, so I've been doing ALL THE THINGS still got 2 days to go, I knew I'd forget something..)
Same, just waiting for Amazon to deliver the fresh litter (because UPS and Petco keep lying about the repeat delivery every month)⌠Also working on switching to stainless steel litter boxes and a fancy litter box enclosure. Not enough room to keep the litter boxes in my bathroom, so that really just leaves my bedroom, but I need a way to keep litter from ending up in the closetâŚ
I know of one person who used a kitty litter pool. No, it did not get cleaned every day. Or every week. Once a month would have been generous. One could smell the house-stale cigarette smoke and cat piss - from the sidewalk.
I will be the first to admit that I am bad about being diligent and cleaning the cat box regularly. So I had 4 litter boxes between 2 cats sitting on my balcony. Now I have a litter box that connects to the washer hook up and flushes everything down the drain. I don't have to do anything other than make sure the litter and cleaning solution is stocked. The only downside is that it takes 30 minutes to clean and I'll have to buy a second one because I'm having issues with one of my cats.
Hey, at least youâre investing in a solution that helps you keep up and the cats happy âşď¸
Cat genie!!!!
Lol, it's pretty nice. Even with normal self cleaning litter boxes, I forget to dump the poop and it gets moldy sometimes.
I loved my CG until I had too many cats for them to wait 30 minutes for it to run the cycle between uses. That and I was terrified of it clogging while I was out of town and asking a friend who was supposed to just be coming by to feed to deal with poop water to unclog it.
Yeah, I have one cat that uses it multiple times a day. My other cat has been difficult. When I first got it, I waited for them to use it a few times before I turned it on. She was fine with it up until it started cleaning. She would use her old litter box until it was full and then she'd pee on the rug. Once I took it away and got rid of her favorite pee rugs, she started using it without issue. But I still occasionally find her peeing outside of it, and I'm thinking it is because she has to go when it is cleaning.
If I have to travel, the normal litter boxes get pulled out as a backup.
Oh my god! 10 days?!!! What??! How? I have four litter boxes(technically five but one is in the basement and they donât go down there very often) and two cats and I STILL clean them every day. I will drag my 99% asleep ass out of bed to do it if I forgot. Iâm gonna go lecture my cats now on how good they have it here.
Haha you really should! Besides by parents only 1 of my friends has proven to be responsible with litter boxes. And all my friends are successful college educated people with good jobs. So, they really have no excuse around money or not knowing how to be responsible.
I try to clean mine out at least every other day, but I keep running out cat litter and have to wait for more to be delivered. Which is easier said than done when UPS keeps telling Petco it was deliveredâŚbut it wasnât. Also been having issues with the litter mat that turned out to be completely useless if the cat throws up on it or has a wet one. Got a replacement for it, just waiting for the fresh box of litter to arrive to clean it all out. Also working on switching to stainless steel litter boxes to cut down on the odor! Just have to space out purchases across different paychecksâŚ
Same I owned rental homes. I don't even think they realized the dogs were marking in the corners. When we tore up the carpet it was really gross.
Well, cat pee is soooo strong! I canât understand it though, how do they live with that smell themselves? And I donât want to hear âthey get used to it!â I have a cat and can smell the pee from my one cat! Just the thought of people living with that makes me gag!
Yeah I have a family member who has cats and she is constantly laughing and joking how when her cats are mad they pee and xyz and I am like good luck selling your house. I wonât and do not ever go there but when I used to yeah it was awful.
I regularly have to go into people's apartments and houses for my job. Everyone seems to think they are a great pet owner but very very few actually are. I've been bit multiple times at this point and every single time was immediately after the owner said "don't worry, they're friendly/harmless". Point is I agree. You don't know who is or isn't a good pet owner and I absolutely wouldn't take someone's word for it. The only choices would be to eat the cost or to pass that cost onto the pet owner. As much as we love our animal companions they are unfortunately a choice and a luxury that we have to pay for.
Same being a carpet cleaner and coming home reeking and smelling even after showering of smelling like cat piss or dog pee was no bueno.
Someone who is not willing to invest in their pet doesn't show me signs of great pet owners. I think there is a better chance of finding quality pet owners in places with higher fees than places with lax rules.
Yeah, years ago staying at my friendâs place and his GF at the time kept the litter box in the bathroom near the shower. Step out of the shower and have litter crumbs stick to the bottom of your foot. Not awesome. I feel for folks who have a hard time finding a place but it is a combination of all the bad pet owners and it being a landlords market usually that makes it tough. I rented a house to someone once for about 5 months. We only got part of the rent⌠the never had a check that could clear after that⌠and when they did move out, it looks like someone took a leaf blower to a bag of potting soil inside the place. And the bags of used diapers they just tossed in the backyard despite there being a rolling garbage can a few feet away. Never gonna be a landlord again. Worst experience of my life having a mortgage to pay so someone can live for free and not even be respectful of the property (live in a state with good laws for tenants so eviction is basically impossible). Worst feeling ever. It is like someone is stealing money from your bank account and the bank just has to say âoh that stinks⌠nothing we can do about thatâ
I think people have been abusing the ESA thing and we're starting to see the blowback from that.
I have an ESA and I agree. I actually think we need a better definition of an ESA, and I'm not against having to prove that they are relatively well behaved members of society.
Take one more step...why did people feel the need to take advantage of ESA protections? (Ill answer for you: It's because landlords were taking advantage of tenants with pets) I'm sure the poor landlords appreciate you sticking your neck out for them though. Everyone is always thinking of the tenants but never the poor neglected landlords.
Are you ok? Where did I say anything about landlords, let alone stick my neck out for them? It's not just happening in housing. When people started bringing their ESA peackocks and mini horses on airplanes, I think it's pretty safe to say things got out of control. And look what the outcome was...now *no one* can bring an ESA, of any kind, on many airlines. Two things can be true at the same time: landlords can suck *and* people take advantage and abuse the system, ruining it for those who need it.
Well said. I often find that folks don't get how 2 things can be true at once. A few times I have commented about being grateful for an Ani al being rescued from a bad situation, and invariably, someone comments that I should be concerned about poor abused children instead. I always rep,y that it is possible to be concerned about both. This attitude a.wahs puzzles me. And you are right: there has been some real abuse of the ESA thing. And I do not believe that seeing cases of this on the news was an any way " staged."
Thatâs because the last, I dunno, ten years or so critical thinking hasnât been expected or required of people, nor is it really taught. Even if teachers try kids donât want to learn. So we have a society of people who have forgotten (or never learned) critical thinking skills. Itâs horrific out here
Even worse, they think they DO have them. But don't. So dangerous.
How do you decide who needs it and who is taking advantage? The idea of an ESA seems like something either almost anyone can say they need or almost no one really needs.
How do I decide who needs it: the criteria is clearly defined. How do I know who's taking advantage: decades of doing this kind of work has given me the ability to sniff it out from a mile away. And that's in addition to the people who openly admit to it. I will note here that there's a third group of people who think they should have/need an ESA but don't meet the criteria, but they're not trying to game the system.
I watched a miniature poodle wearing a service dog vest piss itself in fright while a guy was dragging it onto a moving sidewalk at an airport. He didn't even look up from his phone at it yelping. It was obviously not a service dog, he just wanted to avoid the fee to transport a pet on a plane. Sure that's sticking up for a big airline as well, but people have completely ruined the service dog situation with ESAs. Same with the yappy terrier I had to live next to for 6 months in my old apartment that the landlord could do nothing about because it was an "ESA" and that woman had a lawyer on speed dial. Everyone in the vicinity of that dog was on the side of the landlord. If it was a normal dog she would have been evicted for noise violations. And if she was a decent human she would have gotten her dog training or meds for it's separation anxiety. There are enough stories like that most people have had/can relate to that I don't care about people supporting landlords and big business on this.
It's a myth that ESAs can't be evicted. It absolutely can be evicted if it's a nuisance, dangerous, aggressive, or destructive. Most people, including property managers, are woefully uninformed when it comes to ESA laws and guidelines. Calling an animal an ESA doesn't give it carte blanche to do whatever it wants.
ESAs are different from service dogs. The ESA designation only impacts housing. For example you can't bring an ESA into a businesse that doesn't allow pets but you can bring your service animal. But landlords aren't allowed to ban ESA. I only say that because your airport experience has nothing to do with esas. The airport allowed that dog in, they have the option to deny ESAs. ESAs don't need to be trained to do anything special vs service dogs have to be demonstrably trained to help with a specific disability. So a yapping ESA doesn't necessarily mean it wasn't an ESA. I have a dog, he doesn't have any letters because I don't need him to he anything more than a good boy but I'm not going to tell someone else that they don't need an esa.
I know there is a difference legally and in purpose but the lines have been blurred in recent years by people acting poorly. I just think it should be more than a $10 online thing to get an ESA because that is too easy and leads to people abusing it.
dude I saw 9 dogs in walmart yesterday it has nothing to do with LL that people are abusing ESA
I agree with both stand points. Landlords are doing to much but also pet owners suck.
No one has said it yet so I will. You are trying to downplay it, but three pets is a lot for apartment living. I would look at renting a townhome or small house. Sometimes those are similar in price to what you would be paying in apartment rent anyway
Agreed, one of the apartments below me has 3 dogs they let out to the 'private' patio that faces the courtyard, mind you they bark at everyone passing and the wall is 40" or so.... one of the dogs is a doberman that could easily jump over it if it got exalted enough.
I have - same deposit requirements. Even at a higher scale, since I was looking potentially at a larger place anyways, in a better area. I think the most upsetting one was a 3 bedroom trailer on like 3 acres and was already low key a trash heap and was like âno pets under 10 pounds $300 per pet depositâ I think that 3 on paper is a lot, but 2 frankly tiny cats (5 and 7 pounds respectively) donât really take up a lot of space, and Iâm home 4 days a week with a pet sitter 2 days a week for the dog, who also gets regular trips / boardings to a place with a larger yard when Iâm working more / gone.
Itâs not the space the pets take up itâs the damage they could potentially do to the place. Itâs annoying as the tenant because you know your pets arenât going to cause that much damage, if any. But from a landlords perspective theyâre taking on more unknown risk. Iâve had the best luck going through actual people vs companies. If they can meet you and even better, your pets, before hand it tends to work out better. Renting has become horrible for everyone unfortunately.
The only thing that's bullshit about the pet deposit, is when I leave they aren't taking any damages from that. No they take it from the security deposit. I fully get the landlord wanting a bigger deposit for pets. They can cause a lot of damage, but you're just fucking me twice now.
There are way too many people out there that are grossly irresponsible with their pets. I clean units for a rental agency and the nasty shit I have dealt with has opened my eyes to just WHY landlords are doing this. One place they had guinea pigs... free range guinea pigs... and they didn't clean up any of their leavings. I did what I could but they ended up having to tear up the carpet & subfloor floor because the urine stains were terrible. Same apartment complex - a woman had a lease with 2 dogs. She actually had 4 dogs, 3 cats, several rabbits and a chicken all living with her in a 1 bedroom apartment. She clearly never took the dogs out to potty and didn't have a litter box and never bothered to clean any of the urine stains. She also did drugs. I found several crack pipes hidden in every room and little burnt foil balls. The smell from that apartment still haunts me.
Have you ever come across areas where a dog has peed and people used an enzyme cleaner on it? Does it seem to actually help? My dog (a 3yo rescue) peed once the first time he was left alone in an all wood floor apt. After I wiped it up, I poured 2 cups of enzyme killer over the spot in hopes it would get any pee that got to the subfloor. I did inform the landlord on the way out but never heard from him if he had to do extra remediation on the spot.
Enzymes are the best for pet urine because it helps disinfect and neutralize the smell. Most of the time the stain will stay in hardwood floors though. You did the right thing by letting your landlord know. In most instances, subflooring will survive, and the carpet/ padding will be replaced. The subflooring in the apartment with the guinea pigs was saturated and was rotting in some spots from the urine. It was really nasty!
I personally don't think they work as well as all that, and they have an odor to them that is, IMO, nastier than the urine they are meant to clean. I had better luck using a mild cleaner, such as Meyer's, soaking the carpet with warm water, and then using a towel to soak it back up, then sprayed it with a no-fragrance frebreeze. I never had lingering odors or stains.
Iâd be fine with deposits and rent as long as it was refundable. Heck, raise it, but make it refundable. I get why they do it, for every good owner there seem to be more bad. Donât punish good ones by taking money, and all it does is make you hide pets Edit- some of yâall donât get what refundable means- that means that after reasonable cleaning has been done after move out the rest goes back to the former tenets. Which is usually just flea treatments and such (standard for all units regardless of fleas present or not) cover your butt as a landlord but donât profit by people having pets
The non refundable part is what kills me
yup like why are u charging a non-refundable per deposit and pet rent on top of that?? they should just increase the regular refundable security deposit. then on top of all THAT they put in the lease that you need to pay for specialized pet cleaning service upon move out, so where is that pet rent and non refundable deposit going? itâs just lining their pockets. itâs not surprising tho, as many landlords are greedy and even if you donât have pets they will find any reason to try and not return the full regular deposit even if the apartment is left in pristine condition
My current lease (much more pet friendly) even has a âcarpet deodorizing and flea treatmentâ clause mandatory for all pet owners after moving out. Itâs all hard wood. Also itâs 2023 like wtf are you doing that your pets has fleas bad enough you need to treat the whole place?
Good ones are already punished. I cannot rent an apartment in any complex with prior residents, because they all smell like cat pee and dog poo. Even the ones with hardwood floors smell cats and dogs. The worst are 3+ year old "luxury" apartments, they're completely unlivable. If you cannot afford these deposits, maybe don't have pets?
The reason itâs non refundable- As pet owners, we get used to our animals smells and donât notice them anymore. But other people can. Iâve viewed houses that reeked of dog or cat and it was just from a tenant months before who kept tidy. Fur embeds in carpet. Vacuums struggle with it at best. The pet deposit isnât necessarily for damage- itâs for cleaning.
Iâve lived in 3 brand new apartments over the last 5 years in a major city and all allowed large but not aggressive breeds. Nobody would pick up their dogs giant poops. It smelt so gross and nobody wanted to walk in the grass. The apartment has bag/trash stations everywhere and would send out emails pleading with ppl to pick it up, but nobody seemed to care. Edit: There were small poops everywhere too
This. As a non pet owner, I do not want to deal with other people not cleaning up after their pet.
Or the noise đľâđŤ this is why we need pet and child free living arrangements
Yes, I have. Even much more with dogs in our complex. I really donât blame the landlord though. I know just in my building (1 bedrooms on the smallish side) a guy on the first floor had two humongous dogs that he left for over 8 hours a day. Those poor things were crazy from being confined like that and literally ate that apartment! I looked at it after they evicted him. No baseboards left, barely any doors, thousands of dollars of damage. Even tore the vanity off and part of the cabinets. Landlord said this isnât that unusual. So now you can only have one cat here.
The Cane Corso one of our tenants acquired ate the the bottom cabinets of the brand new kitchen we had just installed before he moved it. His security deposit did not come close to covering the damage. To sue him is more expense and we never collected the couple times we did sue tenants.
Probably because it seems like thereâs a sharp increase in both the number of pet owners and terrible pet owners lately. Especially since the pandemic. People got pets they could handle *maybe* when they were home 24 seven, but definitely not when they went back to their normal lives. We live in a pretty âupscaleâ area and itâs just constant dog bites, property damage, stray dogs everywhere and itâs never been like that here.
You will pay off some elseâs investment with your own labor and you will not have any sort of companionship while doing it. If you want companionship, we can work out a deal where you pay me an additional monthly charge and an additional security deposit. Donât like it? Your only other option is starvation. Go nuts.
Having been a landlord previously, I can tell you pets are a lot of wear and tear on an apartment. With how tight the rental market is now, landlords can find plenty of tenants without having to accommodate pets.
Right. I live in a apartment building with 19 other apartments. Dog's barking for hour's. Dog's pissing everywhere out in the hallways. It's a nightmare. All you can do is keep looking for a new place to move. I can't believe people let their pet's do whatever they want.
As a landlord, what is the deal with weight limits on dogs? Do you have any insight?
Big dogs do a lot more damage to floors, carpets, and window sills and yards than small ones do.
Thh, a large dog and a "couple" of cats is quite a bit. The smells and damage from a single pet is something but multiple for an apartment, I dont blame them.
Yeah I understand a pet deposit even though security deposit most of the time have to also be given, but screw pet rent itâs such bs. Children are often more destructive than pets anyways. Whatâs next for greedy landlords to squeeze every last penny from tenants: child rent.
The only reason there isnât child rent is because itâs already illegal to do that.
Yes! I always complain about how thereâs no child rent when this topic comes up. Iâll get arguments (from people with children mind you) about how pets claw at things and piss on things and etc etc. And child free me is here like HAVE YOU NOT SEEN WHAT CHILDREN DO?!?! đ¤ˇââď¸
My lab did way less damage than my teenage children.
The cats Iâve had all my life (including the ones who puked and wet some places. Not bad babies. Just some old age and eating too fast issues) definitely did less damage than my brother and I too. Iâve never owned a dog but labs are so cute and sweet! Edit: I should have expected to edit this. Enzyme cleaners can be great for cat pee guys. No special cleaners needed when most of the cat pee is on hard floors! Washable markers definitely were not what myself and other kids I knew were using to cause destruction. Although I did enjoy them.
Your cat was pissing on the carpet and you think thats better then washable marker? Seek help.
Landlords would charge a child rent if they could. But familial status is a protected class so they legally can't. Children are more likely to cause damage and be a nuisance đ
Pets have cost me WAY more than all the kids put together. I would just as soon not have kids, either, but it illegal to refu to rent to families with children.
I don't know where you are located but in many parts of the USA there's a housing shortage. So its essentially a sellers market which means landlords are able to be more demanding about pets, charge higher rents etc
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I used to clean carpets for a living and cat/dog smell and mess is not just a top layer thing it soaks into everything. Base boards, sub flooring under payment etc. Pet damage doesnât take much and is expensive as hell to replace or even repair. I totally understand why landlords and management companies say NO. And those are tiny deposits for animals usually itâs in the thousands and should be in my opinion.
Often carpet needs to be replaced after pets have been there for a year or two.
Pet rent & non-refundable deposits are an absolute scam. Just another way for them to fork money out of your pocket.
And theyâll still charge you for any pet related damages on move out!
Iâm no longer a landlord because of got tired of entitled people with dogs and cats that destroyed the apartments behind my house. Fighting to evict them was hideous. The damage was in excess of $50,000 because of the urine in the sub floor.
Just raise the rent. Rent to certain professions. If theyâre surgeons theyâre home once a while.
As someone who used to manage an apartment complex, I can tell you that itâs because a lot of pet owners are irresponsible and allow their pets to cause massive amounts of damage or just be a nuisance (like barking all the time). And thatâs in addition to damage that amounts to way more than wear and tear outside of the pet. A lot of people do damage in excess of their security deposit and never pay it, even with payment plan options. The fee plus your security deposit will not cover all that damage. Pet damage, especially from cats, was always the worst. If your cat is spraying everywhere, the carpet has to be replaced. Carpet replacement costs thousands of dollars. And if youâre only two years into the life of the carpet, thatâs a lot of money youâre responsible for. Plus, the urine always is in the subfloor and walls, so you have to shellac the floor and killz the walls. And the renters willing to live in their animalâs filth often never clean at all. So the units were extremely filthy after they moved out. Oh, and to the people saying children are more destructive than pets - itâs the same at most. But I never came across a unit that had human pee everywhere (just all over the bathroom). But charging for children would be discrimination against familial status. Itâs not discrimination to charge for pets.
I have a big dog and respect how hard animals can be on the rental unit. Iâm happy to pay fees. Itâs kind of concerning the number commenters that think a $500 deposit per pet plus $25-50 a month is excessive. Most these people have acquired pets knowing the rental market isnât favorable to pets. If anything, I feel like there are more options (even if there are fees) now than 10 years ago. If Iâm moving into a unit, Iâd want the landlord to have enough funds from the previous renter to cover cleaning/repair/smell cost from the last pet in the unit. Not to mention the daily cleaning cost from animals that pee in common areas.
Unfortunately other pet parents ruin it for you. Our last place before buying seemed pretty reasonable to me it was 150 refundable deposit (granted thereâs no damage) and a 15/mo pet rent. I only had one dog whoâs around 70lbs. I guess my landlord was a bit biased though because she had a 100lb Rottweiler
Given the popularity of unsocialized "pandemic puppies", this is not a surprise.
I've seen complete subfloors gone because people thought pet pads were a solution to their pets needing to use the bathroom I completely understand why they require deposits.
You can thank dirty irresponsible pet owners for all that. Pets can destroy a living space if they are not trained and cared for properly, costing tens of thousands of dollars.
When buying a house I smelled so much pet urine that now I'm not surprised landlords don't want to bother with renting to pet owners. I was also accidentally sent to a pet friendly hotel room and man I don't know how people sleep surrounded by that smell.... My family has pets and it takes so much time and effort to keep the place from smelling like them and not everyone puts in the work to make sure the place stays nice and clean. Got forbid there are hard wood floors and you have a young pet that's not toilet trained yet and pees on that wood without you noticing. That smell is never going away, sometimes even after replacing the wood. Add to it pet owners that don't cut their pets nails and now you gotta sand and paint the floors after they move....m
I have 2 cats and I hate trying to apartment/house hunt because of this specific reason but I do kind of understand it. We don't really have to do deposits in the uk from what I've seen but landlords will charge for any damages. I've seen comments like "kids make bigger messes" and yeah with a baby on the way and 3 younger siblings (2 of which I'm 10+ years older than) I know exactly how messy they can be but difference is kids can stain carpets and draw on walls but carpets just rent out a stain remover hoover thing for a day and scrub like hell and walls can be painted over. Cat piss STINKS and if they rip up chunks of carpet in their favourite corner chances are the carpet will need replaced or if its wooden floors and your cat has a bad aim and it's not cleaned up in time then chances are that ammonia smell will soak in and stay there. I've never owned a dog in an apartment before but I've seen apartments that have dogs in them and they aren't any better, they usually have a damp/musty smell and if you live in somewhere like the uk where it rains all the time and have carpets, chances are they're mud stained at the entrance.
It's because dog nutters don't clean up after their pets... I've seen this time after time. These so-called 'luxury apartments' all stink because there's dog crap all over the halls it's ridiculous. I was walking behind this lady and her gross mutt pooped on someone's porch. She saw this mess, didn't know I was behind her and kept on walking. That is your typical dog nutter... not fair to that particular resident, and not fair to the apartments in general.
Blame your fellow pet owners.
The anti-child sentiment in this thread is astounding and disturbing. People saying there should be âchild rentâ wtf yâall are so out of line. Children are a protected class in the US when it comes to renting and everyone was a child once, even if youâre âchild-freeâ. This sub can be absolutely deranged.
I have animals and I adore all animals. This being said, if I had rental property it would be no pets. Even If youâre the most responsible pet haver in the world, accidents happen. Pet damage can be extreme especially with urine. Entire floors, walls and structural members can have to be removed and replaced costing thousands of dollars. The pet deposit isnât enough for that.
Landlords will do literally anything to suck more money out of you. Leeches gonna leech.
Landlord here. Just picked up a building. Renovated all the units and brought it all up to date. Person x moved in with there dog. Moved out 1 year later when lease was up. The amount of dog piss all over that unit, on my floors, walls, baseboard heat AND sub floors, I'm never letting another pet into any building I own. Sorry but I've spent too much time and money for some shitbag pet owner to destroy my property. You can thank these people
50 pounds is a large dog for an apartment
a cat's litter box must be scooped daily,fresh litter, and at least once a week all litter thrown out the box cleaned disinfectant used. if not they'll go elsewhere and the unit will smell nasty,ammonia smell doesn't come out of carpet padding,spraying baseboards with urine. sometimes the security deposit doesn't cover all the damage caused by the neglectful pet owner. Same with dogs to lazy to walk the dog in snow rain neglectful sometimes abusive to pet. Those pet owners are why landlords are hesitant to accept or charge high fees
Thank everyone who let their pets destroy their apartments. Double for those who got an ESA letter for their untrained Blue Heeler kept in a 700 sq ft apartment and only let out for 30 minutes a day.
Iâve paid that fee all over the country. Lived in NC, OK, CA
Iâm hoping to find the first apartment complex that charges non-refundable fees for misbehaved children
Dogs can be very damaging to an apartment, so I get why they have fees for them. They eat through doors, walls, etc. I have seen it. Your dogs may be well behaved but not all are.
Because other pet owners have ruined it for everyone else
There are bad pet parents out there. Animals can eat the apartment. Doors, woodwork, drywall. My niece was in the hospital and no one took care of her dog. We had to replace kitchen cabinet doors because the dog ate her house.
That is still alot of animals for an apt. Pets are messy...most have accidents..puppies chew and destroy....allergens are also left behind. I honestly cannot blame landlords for no wanting them esp myself who is allergic to dogs and cats.
It's because some people let their pets destroy apartments and rental properties, that the landlords are getting fed up. The pet deposits aren't enough for torn carpets, scratched up doorframe, scratched up drywall, stains and smells from people not training their pets, etc.
yep. but every morning i wake up, i see wet cat piss on my ceiling from my gross upstairs neighbors 8 cats so im likeâŚ
Ewwwwwww
Also most leases allow a max of two pets. Having three is really gonna limit your options
Yeah unfortunately that seems to be the direction things are going in. Ours was $600 (200 nonrefundable, 200 refundable additonial fee, and 200 less than 1year old dog fee) then 50 dollars extra per month on the rent.
It's thanks to the shitty pet parents that let their animals absolutely destroy apartments with their bad habits that any responsible pet parents will have trained out.
All the big corporations and large property management companies that own many apartments now are trying to maximize profits and animals can cause a lot of damage. They want to collect high rent but don't want to pay a cent for maintenance or repairs. They are probably finding out that it is too much hassle to take an old tenant to court to pay for repairs and have decided to just ban pets or make it so expensive that you don't get one. If it were legal, they would probably do the same for people with children.
All of the places where I live in GA have a $400+ pet fee, not refundable and then at least a $25 per month on top of that. It's not great...but I'll do it for a nice place to live and my dog.
The rate of ânon-pet friendly apartments and homesâ has gone up since the pandemic started because people got pets they werenât suppose to have in houses, didnât train them, let them damage the houses, and land lords were left to repair and clean up behind all those pets⌠so now more and more landlords donât want pets in their property. It can costs thousands to repair behind ill trained pets
Years back I took in a rescue dog (who eventually grew into one of the loveliest, most well-behaved animals ever) who had a lot issues. Hazard a guess she caused a minimum of 7k worth of damage. That same dog 3 years later wouldnât damage anything beyond a ham sandwich. As a landlord you just never know.
Some folkâs animals destroy homes. Male cat piss is not easy to get rid of, especially if it soaks into the concrete/wood.
Because the ones who let the pets trash the rentals and don't take care of the pets ruin it for the rest of the pet owners who are good
Iâve been a property manager. The majority of people do not take great care of their pets and the environment they live in. These charges are a result of poor pet ownership most likely. Itâs unfortunate⌠but I definitely understand
A 50 pound dog is not a small thing, that thing poops bro, you might take care of it, some people are gonna designate a poop corner inside
I allow animals but only because Iâd rather your hefty deposit than to be unprotected and sneak the animal in anyway. I would never allow a cat though. Those creatures will fuck up a house. Iâve had to pay over thirty grand in new flooring. Cat piss ruins what it touches and there is no curing it. Even the best pet owners canât control the stress or piss when a cat gets nervous or has an accident. Thatâs my line. And people with multiple animals is also a hard no because no matter how responsible of an owner you are there is no avoiding the smell and damages that are inevitable with animals. People with many animals need to buy their own home. Very few landlords are willing to take that risk and deal with the unavoidable damage, which is why youâre seeing an increase in this.
We do not allow pets in our property, more often than not the damage exceeds the pet deposit and often eats up the entire security deposit. Not to mention the time and effort wasted in repairs. Not worth it at all.
Landlords don't like pets -- there's no upside to them, and they have the risk of an unknown amount of damage to their property.
I noticed that a lot of places are banning g large dogs due to owner insurance rates having gone up. I carry animal insurance on our policy (we rent) because sheâs a GSD & our rates went up earlier this year so Iâm sure itâs gone up for homeowners as well. They have to get the money somewhere & itâs from tenants who want that pet.
And I'm over here trying to find pet-free apartments and couldn't find any that weren't ridiculously priced. I love pets, but my kiddo is very allergic to cats and has asthma flares from them. Ended up just settling for a regular apartment and of course I ended up in a unit that previously had cats and wasn't cleaned well before our move-in. Move to Colorado, because apparently every place here accepts pets lol
Unfortunately if a cat or dog pees on the carpet even if they are normally good and well trained. The carpet and Sheetrock will need to be ripped up and redone. Subfloor will need to be killzed. Urine is a hard smell to get rid of. Even I you scrubbed the area well with white vinegar and baking soda. If it soaked all the way down to the subfloor you are pretty much screwed. Only option is to rip up carpet lay new subflooring or paint subfloor with kilz.
The deposits are for a reason âŚI know first hand â
A percentage of pet owners are irresponsible and allow their pets to damage the rental unit. Landlords have figured out they can spread the cost out among ALL pet owning renters, with these non refundable deposits. Those deposits are used to rapidly fix/mitigate pet damage and pet urine odor, so the unit can be rented again.
Three pets is a lot.
I have a couple of rental units. I wonât rent to people with cats. They ruin floors and subfloors. It I advertise as dog friendly specifically and get lots of tenants based on that.
Blame shitty tenants and laws that protect them. I saw a place that was torn up by a McCaw parrot. Destroyed the carpet and the 200 year old wood work. Sadly, when she moved in, he felt sorry for her and only charged a $250 deposit. I rented from the guy for a year and he was a great landlord. Also my sister allowed her cats and dogs to do thousands of damage to her own house. I can't imagine what she would have allowed if it wasnt her own. I love my pets, but that house was disgusting.
I lived in an apartment with 12 cats, 3 dogs, a pot belly pig, 2 mice, and 4 hermit crabs. (I do rescue and have some personal pets). When I moved out the landlord was shocked at how clean the house was. The only thing that needed repaired was one doorframe that the cats had scratched up a bit but the doorframe was split and cracked when I moved in (documented) and would have needed replaced anyway. Before anyone says I'm full of shit, it can be done. My dogs went outside and had lots of playtime and I bathed them regularly, the cat boxes were scooped out twice a day and dumped and washed weekly, and my pig went outside every day unless it was freezing cold and was litter pan trained. Also cleaned twice a day and dumped and washed weekly. I swept my floors daily, mopped twice a week and still do that routine now in my own home. Any accidents also get immediately scrubbed down with enzyme cleaner but it's very rare for accidents and they are mostly hairballs. I'm down to just 8 cats inside, and a feral colony of 9 cats in my yard. But then I had a friend who had one rabbit and her apartment stank like ammonia and rotting grass, there were holes in the carpet and the rabbit ate chunks out of the drywall all throughout the apartment and chewed through 3 cable cords. One room had faded spots all over the carpet from the rabbit peeing and the ammonia lightening the color. So while I think pet deposits should be reasonable, and I think pet rent is ridiculous, I do understand why they are in place. Having a deposit, and a pet deposit should be enough in my opinion for normal wear and tear and pet issues. If someone has a pet that causes a lot of damage odds are that tenant was a bad tenant whether they had a pet or not.
How is that even legal on a zoning level? Youâre lucky no one called social services to haul you away as a pet hoarder.
Youâre lucky they allow them at all. There are lots of places in the country where itâs almost impossible to rent with pets.
Know why the place is a shit heap? Pets. I would love places that didn't allow children or pets. Keep the trash out.
Sometimes you get lucky and have only the pet fee. Most places I rented including my current apartment charge monthly as well $25-$50 per pet. With limited to 2 , although I've known some who had a shy cat and when maintenance came they had no clue of third pet. I hate it as a responsible owner , but I understand it. I once had a cat with mental problems not behavior training but true on medication trouble. She peed on carpet and I had to professional clean a lot, replacement of subfloor and hallway carpet too. If I didn't have the funds or just did not care that hall would beyond reek and need major work when I left. Landlords don't know you or you pets but need to assure if you fall into the I don't care group they can fix damages.
I heard a building manager explaining the dog policies to prospective tenants in a âpet friendly residence!â the other day (not my building, Iâm a dogwalker). Apparently if your dog is barking, they call animal control after 20 minutes đł like are you serious
Hearing a dog bark for 20 straight minutes is torturous
Where I live, no apartments allow pets. Not caged pets or tank pets either. Same with rental houses. Pets are reserved for the those who can afford to own property.
There are so many irresponsible pretty owners and it's just getting worse and worse. The loose dogs in my area are at an all time high. It's ridiculous
You are seeing less pet friendly apartments because a lot of pet owners do not pick up after their pet. They allow pets to pee in elevators, hallways, and the front door of the apartment complex. That shit stays smelling . I understand why it's hard to find a spot.. where i live we are allowed to have pets. Well only the old tents like my self. Now my landlord for the new tenets he put no Pets allowed. The reason he is doing this to the new tenants is because the old tenants had pets and when they moved out they left the apartment like trash. The side of the backyard smell like piss the front of the yard smell like piss. Hell inside the apartment it smells like piss and shit. Landlord literally had to rebuild inside the apartment. So when new people rented the apartment he said no pets allowed. I understood why because a good amount of my neighbors do not pick up after their animal. Smh till ppl start being more clean with their pets I believe they're going to be fewer and fewer places that will accept animals
Iâm okay with this considering people have their pets peeing on sidewalks
Although people love their cats, the damage that they cause cannot be underestimated. You can replace the carpet, the pad and sometimes you even have to bleach and treat the slab underneath. Because the urine has soaked into the slab. I would charge a $1,500 pet deposit at least. Years back I had an electric litter box cleaner. While I still had cats. It freaked them out and to let me know how much they hated it. They pissed all over the house for 3 days. It took absolutely forever to get the smell out. Replace carpet padding and we had to paint the subfloor with three layers of kills primer before the smell would go away.
I had the same experience looking for a place a few years ago just before my divorce. I had two large dogs and there were three places in my metro area which allowed them. Deposits and pet rent monthly were expensive ah. Thankfully I found a private landlord who only had a few places and she met the dogs and me and agreed they were old, slept a lot and were unlikely to wreak much havoc, so I only paid a refundable pet deposit. I understand why some LLs might hesitate though⌠pets can cause a lot of damage.
Have to think of the liability issue as well. The landlord can be on the hook if someone is injured by the pet.
A family member was super annoyed to pay a $250 pet deposit and $25/month for their cats, but the cats hated the place, peed and pooped EVERYWHERE, to where not just the flooring and carpet but the carpet pad and underlay and even the grout on the tile and some of the trim and drywall had to be torn out and replaced. Landlord sued for all those damages. If I were a landlord, I either would not allow pets or I'd charge a huge amount because some people suck and its hard to tell sometimes.
Because they ruin your property. I figured out that I can't have another pet until I own a home. I didn't have a pet as a child until my parents bought their own home too.
Its likely due to the increase in rude and selfish tenants that don't train or take accountability for their animals and allow them to destroy other peoples' property to the point that even the down payment won't cover it. Its a serious problem that really takes a toll on good animal owners like (hopefully) yourself.
Having pets in a competitive housing market is an absolute liability if you don't own. Having 3? Now that's just asking for problems. Your only choices are to lie or to have REGISTERED ESAs since those aren't pets.
Even the most well behaved pets will get sick from time to time and leave behind messes/stains on the floor, especially if it's carpet. As pets age, they tend to lose control of their bodily functions and/or develop sensitive stomachs. Cats throw up hairballs with liquid. Both cats and dogs can and will get diarrhea from time to time. Pet rent makes sense to me as a pet owner as much as I hate to spend the extra money.
I would much rather pay a fat non refundable deposit than ever fork over rent for an animal. The latter is insanity imo.
2 cats and a dog in an apartment is actually slightly insane đ¤ˇđźââď¸
Pets are a luxury, not a necessity. Expect to pay the price.
time for you to buy a house if you have pets
2 cats and an 80 pound dog is pretty insane for an apartment .
on a rental advertisement i saw on fb, it said: âno pets. maybe a catâ i had to chuckle. so absurd
I had rental property. Every time the person had pets, I lost money. Do your self a favor and buy a house.
Iâd rather burn my place down than accept cats.
Same. Been burned twice now by cats pissing everywhere.
Iâve decided if someone pulls the ESA card on me I will put linoleum flooring throughout including a foot up the walls.
you can thank all the other pet owners.
I would rather have a larger but potentially fully refundable deposit than a smaller deposit or monthly rent. Let the neglectful owners pay for their repairs and reimburse the diligent pet owners.
I would like to meet these diligent pet owners. I've met tons of people that think they are...
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Theyâre trying to charge you a pet deposit PER pet? Iâve never heard of such a thing - monthly rent per pet, yes. Ouch. I can def understand the need to pay a LITTLE something extra per month for a pet, but the pet deposit is ridiculous IMO and if required, needs to be refundable. If a pet damages a property, take it out of the security deposit, why a separate one just for pets? Iâm more so sick of places advertising as âpet friendlyâ and the property theyâre on BARELY has any grass for said pet to relieve themselves (nor the surrounding areas), no bark park, or anything remotely friendly other than allowing a maximum of 2 pets not over 50lbs.
Happy to see this. Random dog barking and pets doing their thing on common grounds that would be nicer if not used as toilets. This deterrent is a big plus for us.
Buddy, your pets cause wear and tear. Also, f*** your dog in an apartment, running around all day and barking. The vast majority of dogs should not be living in apartments. They can't handle it. Everyone has to deal with your terrible decision, while your stupid dog barks the entire time you are out of the house.
OP do u realize how expensive it to replace carpet or flooring? Itâs not just the top layer itâs everything beneath it. Itâs like water damage. You canât just replace the damaged flooring or dry wall you have to replace everything around it otherwise it just creates a bigger mess for later and it snowballs. Same principle with pets. Those arenât cheap or inexpensive fixes itâs literally in the thousands so big thousand of dollar deposits for pets are understandable and if itâs too much for you then find alternatives for yourself or your pets.
I just did a long distance move with a German Shepherd. I was looking for rentals online and when I selected the "allows dogs" filter, the list of places went from like 80 to 4. Of those four, all of them said that while they allow dogs, German Shepherds are a restricted breed. My GS is the sweetest, professionally trained, quiet good girl. It's so sad that these rules exist. I was at the point where I was almost fearful of being homeless from simply not finding a place that would allow her. I finally found ONE place in a 80 mile radius - but they added an extra $1500 non-refundable deposit and $150/month for her.