Pet requests may come in from existing tenants, who are living in your rental property without a pet. Unless your lease specifically prohibits pets in the property, it’s a good idea to consider the request. You don’t want your tenants trying to sneak in a new kitten or a 50-pound dog. Make sure there’s a process in place for them to request the pet, submit to a pet screening, and pay a pet fee or additional pet rent every month.
This is a little different than the pets that are approved during the application process when your tenant isn’t living in your property yet.
Here are some of the things we recommend as your Santa Rosa property management resource for effectively handling tenant pet requests.
Refer to Your Lease Agreement
You likely do not have a pet policy in place when you moved in a tenant who did not have a pet.
Now that they want a pet, you’ll have to see what your lease says, if anything, about approving a new pet after the tenant has already moved in.
A good lease will state that pets may be approved after move-in on a case-by-case basis. This gives you the freedom to allow a pet but also the freedom to restrict the type of pet that the tenant moves in with. For example, a cat might be fine, but triplet Doberman puppies may not be what you’re looking for in a studio apartment.
It also helps if your lease agreement provides the steps that a tenant needs to take in order to get a pet approved later in the tenancy. If there’s no such language in the lease, you can respond to your tenant’s request with something clear and documented.
Accepting a Santa Rosa Tenant’s Pet Request
As a landlord, you’ll want to ask for a formal written request from the tenant before you make any decisions. It helps to have a specific form in place for this, and if you don’t have one, consult a Santa Rosa property manager who has paperwork for things like this. Then, you’ll want to review the pet’s details (breed, size, vaccination records) and assess if the pet is going to be a good match for your pet policy and your property.
It’s important that your tenant understands bringing a pet into the property could potentially require a pet fee or monthly pet rent if the animal is approved. When you have a lease agreement that explicitly states no pets are allowed, you’ll want to clearly communicate that to your tenants so that they don’t get too attached to the furry friend they wanted to bring home.
Steps to Take Once the Formal Request is Made
When your tenant makes a formal written request to move a pet into your rental property, here are some important steps that you’ll want to take:
- Review the lease agreement. Check to see if the lease that was signed has a current pet policy, offers a pet addendum, or flatly denies any request that a tenant might make to move in a pet after they’ve already established their tenancy.
- Contact the tenant. You may have some questions about the animal, specifically about the size and age of the animal, the type of pet it is, how many pets they’re thinking of acquiring, and what kind of behavioral traits the pet possesses. Is this an indoor cat? A pair of dogs that need a backyard? Get some details about training, health, and breed.
- Request documentation. Ask the tenant to provide proof of vaccinations and any necessary licensing for the pet. You can also ask for vet information and paperwork that shows it’s healthy and not likely to bring any fleas or parasites into your property.
Once you have all of this information gathered, you’ll have to screen the pet almost the same way you’d screen a tenant. Assess potential issues that might pose a risk to your property. Consider factors like the property’s size, the pet’s breed, and whether the pet could potentially cause damage to the property or disturb other tenants. If you’re generally open to pets, this might be an easy decision for you. If you’re hesitant to allow an unknown pet into your property, you might want to ask for references or an opportunity to meet the pet.
Your final step in this process is to communicate the decision to your tenant. Clearly inform them whether the pet is approved, and if so, outline any additional terms or fees that may apply. You’ll want to provide a pet policy as well, and make sure your tenant understands your expectations around their new roommate as well as the responsibilities that they’ll take on to keep the pet and the property clean and safe.
Establishing a Pet Policy for Your Santa Rosa Rental
Protecting your property while allowing tenants to bring in a pet requires a solid pet policy. A Santa Rosa property management team can provide you with a template. Here’s how we put together a good pet policy that’s in place when tenants move in with pets and when they are already living in one of our properties but want to bring in a pet at some point during the tenancy:
- Collect information about the pet, including names, ages, and photos. Records of vaccinations and flea and tick treatments are required. This was part of your pet screening process while you were deciding whether or not to allow your tenants to get a pet, but now you want these details documented in your lease agreement, too. The best way to do that is through a pet policy addendum.
- Set boundaries that make you comfortable and still welcome pets. We recommend that you implement limits on the number of pets you’ll allow and/or the size. For example, you can say that you’ll only allow one pet per property or two pets per property. You can require pets to be less than 30 pounds. You can require them to be at least two years old. We’ll talk more about restrictions in a moment.
- Check with your insurance company about restrictions on dangerous breeds. Pit Bulls and Dobermans can be very sweet animals, but it is not always easy to convince an insurance underwriter of this. They tend not to cover dogs that are considered vicious. You should prohibit these breeds or require your tenants to purchase additional insurance that will hold you harmless if something happens.
- Clearly establish what it will cost to welcome the pet into the tenant’s home and to continue living there with the pet.
Your policy should be clear about what you expect, especially in terms of behavior and cleanliness. You can require that dogs remain on a leash when they’re outside, for example. You can require that cats be kept indoors and not be allowed to roam the streets.
Conduct Pet Inspections
Conduct routine inspections on your Santa Rosa rental properties that are occupied by pets as well as people. Getting inside the home will allow you to check for evidence of pet damage. You can make sure that only the pets you have approved are living there and that the pet population has not grown. When you drive by the home, you can check to see that dogs are on leashes, and you’ll know that the lawn has not been torn up by the animals.
Ask to take a look at the rental home a month or two after the pet has been moved into the property. This can give you an idea of whether they’re scratching at the walls or chewing up the carpet. You can get a sense of whether the pet is housebroken or dangerous to visitors.
Restricting Pet Types
While dogs and cats are standard pet types, and even birds and turtles cross our rental thresholds once in a while, we don’t recommend that you allow large lizards, tropical snakes, or other exotic animals that might invite conflict and confusion when we’re talking about your pet policy and your screening standards.
Be willing to consider pets, but don’t give tenants the idea that any kind of pet will be permitted.
Remember that service animals and even emotional support animals cannot be considered pets. If the tenant requests to bring a service animal, the landlord must make reasonable accommodations under the Fair Housing Act, even if the lease states “no pets.” You cannot charge a pet fee for that animal, nor can you charge pet rent.
We always find it’s easier to approve a pet at the beginning of a lease term, but in order to retain your best tenants, you should be willing to consider pets even after a tenant has moved in. If you’d like to talk more about these requests, we’d welcome the conversation. Please contact us at Prestige Real Estate & Property Management. We manage homes in Sonoma County, including Santa Rosa, Windsor, Sebastopol, Petaluma, and Rohnert Park.
