Should I Allow My Tenants To Have Pets?

There are many great tenants who have pets and are willing to pay a premium to have them in their apartments. It is, in most cases, going to increase wear and tear on the unit. However, allowing pets could generate higher revenues and increase your bottom line. Is it worth it?

WHAT KIND OF PETS?
Many tenants will have a cat or a small dog but constant barking could cause other tenants to move. You could potentially end up with a building in which every tenant has a pet. This could make it difficult when it comes time to sell. There is also potential liability to consider, in case the pet causes damage to the building or to other tenants.

SERVICE ANIMALS AND ESA
A service animal is specifically trained, (such as a seeing-eye dog) and is protected by state laws. EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMALS provide emotional, cognitive, or other similar support to a person with a disability to assist them with managing the symptoms. Neither of these is technically considered “pets”.

WRITTEN POLICY
It is important, as a landlord, to have a written policy regarding pets. Consult your attorney and the Apartment Owners Association to help design your policy for your property. You may want to cover types of pets and sizes. Imagine a St. Bernard or a python in one of your units! It is also an absolute must to have a pet lease as an addendum to your rental agreement.

PET DEPOSIT
In the case of pets, California allows for an additional security deposit and additional “pet rent” to be charged. Always check with your attorney and Apartment owners association, especially in areas affected by rent moratoriums, before drawing up an agreement, as laws tend to change.

What we at PRS PROPERTIES CAN DO. We can discuss with you the current rents in your area and supply you with comparable rental prices for similar properties. Before you hire a manager, make sure the compensation is fair to you! We can also look at your building for changes that might allow you to get a higher value in order to create value without huge expenses for your building. We can help you to get the maximum value for your property, should you decide to sell, or the maximum return if you are planning to keep your building.

We always have many investors who are looking for “as-is” properties and are willing to purchase with low rents, a moratorium, or even with a problem tenant in place. We have put together numerous transactions over the years which involve properties that are not listed for sale. Many investors are in 1031 exchanges and need to identify a replacement property before their 45-day identification period runs out.

Should you decide to put your property on the market, we will put together an aggressive, targeted, and professional campaign to get your property sold fast. We have been doing this for over 40 years, and we will use all the tools available to bring you the most dollars at closing. If you are thinking of selling or are just curious about the value of your property, don’t hesitate to give us a call.

Remember – KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!