Some of the most heart-rending stories I read on the forum and by email are about people who are torn between giving up their cats or finding a new place to live. This often happens when someone exceeds the number of allowable pets in a rental, or sneaks a new cat into a "no-pets" apartment. I'm always at a loss for a perfect solution, as this is almost always a win-lose situation. It gets even worse, if the person is a homeowner and has violated homeowner association rules covering the number of pets allowed, a fairly common clause in these documents.
On the other hand, there are a few laws which help protect the rights of certain types of tenants.
Read the title article for more information.Has this happened to you? Share your experiences by voting in the poll and posting in the comments section of this blog entry.
Comments
This happened to me twice in apartments where no cats were allowed. The first time, I took advantage of the fact that the landlord was absentee, and I just lived “illegally” with the cat. The second time, I got special permission to keep the cat as a companion animal that would reduce my depression - I got a signed note from my psychiatrist that I presented to the apartment managers.
Years ago I had to give up my oldest cat Tammy because of abusive husband. I gave her to my sister. I’m happy to say I have her back with my 2nd husband of 10 years. Tammy is going to be 15 years old this year.
I am so fortunate now to live in a place where the landlord is also an animal lover and would never think of banning pets. I hope and pray my wonderful landlord never sells this building! But for those insensitive landlords who do ban pets, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?? For those of us who love and live with cats, they are like our children. I realize some landlords also refuse to rent to families with children, so this argument probably falls on deaf ears. But just think if you were not fortunate enough to own your own home, and someone told you you would have to give away your offspring in order to rent an apartment, how would you feel??
The best solution I can offer is to keep looking for a place to live. What you need to do is talk with the receptionist at your vet, ask him or her to put you in touch with other customers, who live in apartments.
Many leases have NO PETS clauses, but they will look the other way if you maintain your place.
I have over 20 cats and a dog, and live in an apartment that also has a no pets clause. But the building agent, who gave me the apartment, said, “hey, it brings up the property value of the apartment.” Only one landlord from my building ever gave me a hard time, and I told him exactly what the building agent said.
My current landlord is always visiting my apartment to make repairs, and he is astounded at how healthy and happy my cats are. He does ask that the dog stay away from him, tho’! He’s a big dog.
I HAVE LIVED IN MY APT. 13YEARS A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO NEW OWNERS SAID NO PETS EVERYONE FOUGHT IT. WE DID WIN F WE DECLAWED OUR CATS. WEL EVERYONE DID BUT I REFUSED IT ISN’T NORMAL AND MY CAT NEVER CLAW AT ANYTHING EXCEPT A PIECE OF DRIFT WOOD I HAVE FOR HER.I WONDERED WHY CAN’T PASS A LAW IN CALIF. THAT THIS SHOULD BE BANED I HEARD THAT SOME PLACES THAT LAW HAS PASED. PLEASE LET ME HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS .THANKS LINDA..LOVE YOUR SITE. BYE A FRIEND AND STAR WHO IS MY 30 POUND KITTY…
I’ve lived in the same place for 11 years and I have accumilated 10 cats. I really need to move but I know I’ll never find another landlord who will accept so many cats plus a Pitbull dog so I stay where I’m at until my babies are down to a movable number (from old age hopefully).
That’s exactly it–they all say adopt a few cats and help out the population—-Bob Barker etc—but between the costs of the vets and the fact is most places will not take pets.—It’s horrible–I was lucky enough to buy a house because I wasn’t going to take the chance on a condo or co-op –and forget apts–
I rescue and often tell people who desperately want a cat—( many cat organizations will not let you if you rent–)-that if they should ever encounter a situation where they have to move and can’t take their cat–offer them more of a deposit—-anything—I even took two cats back—only to have the owner take them back when she was able to find a place that allowed animals.–Taking them to a shelter is too often a death sentence
Many places will rent to dog owners, regardless of the dog’s size or their behavior, but they don’t want cats on their property because they think they smell! Unfortunately, cats get a bad rap because of owners who don’t get them “fixed” so they might spray, and/or they don’t keep the litterbox clean. This means their homes stink of urine, and people who don’t know any better think all houses with cats smell that way. They don’t!
I’ve paid an additional deposit, on 2 occasions and without any objection, in order to keep my cat with me. In fact, one landlord came by occasionally to pick up the rent check (and probably to smell around), couldn’t believe I really had a cat in the house! Both of those places returned that extra deposit I paid, because there wasn’t any damage done by my cat, or any smell left behind, when we moved out. It was money well worth paying - even if it hadn’t been returned!
My wife and I recently read an interesting article about this topic in the NY Post:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/12282006/realestate/raising_canine_realestate_max_gross.htm
We’ve had countless experiences in the past 15 years dealing with this. It’s a tough situation, but I think it’s gotten better. I whole heartedly agree with this quote from the article:
And now, it’s easier than ever to be a pet owner.
“All the new buildings are pet-friendly,” says Gregg Oehler, executive director for pet resource site petstyle.com, and former publisher of New York Dog magazine.
It’s good advice because it’s true. Try finding a newer building or a place that has a landlord/owner with a fresh perspective on the pet-friendly lifestyle. That’s your best bet.
I always have cats, my record is 9 which seems small compared to some here. I even paid to bring my “love” all the way to the UK with me when I moved to Scotland from Oregon.
I had some insight to the growing problem of no pets no smokers listed on every apartment ad. Which you see here in the UK as well and unfortunately there seems to be a cultural misnomer here, with many uneducated people of all ages, that cats can just live outside and fend for themselves here in the UK.
Hopefully I think all of you on this site know that isn’t true in the least. But that’s another issue…
Anyway, back to the point. Many of the property developers and landlords only see the bottom line; profit. There are a large number of irresponsible pet owners out there who simply let their cats and dogs wreck their homes & yards via scratching, defecation, and claws/nails on hard wood floors (thankfully I have never seen a cat ruin a wood floor, only dogs). This can cost them a pretty penny when the tenant moves out, so understandably they become resolute. I’m sure many have had someone make promises only to break them as well. I’ve had a landlord like that myself.
A suggestion to this is to provide references from previous landlords - room mates if possible and ask the currentlandlord to make an exception. My last landlord even let me make payments with my rent on the extra deposit I paid. If you can prove that your pets are well behaved and won’t cost them a fortune in the long run, they may change their minds. However, get it in writing and a receipt for your deposit, especially if it’s not a normal amount to pay. That way you’re protected, perhaps even if the building sells and you are still on the same lease.
As for shelters, I don’t know if it varies from state to state, but at the county animal control in Portland Oregon where I lived, they were happy to let me adopt as long as they talked to my landlord to be sure it was ok. I believe that was the same policy for the Portland Humane Society shelter as well.
I just wanted to say one more thing to reiterate the lady who refused to declaw her cat for her landlord…
Good for you!
Please NEVER declaw your cats in order to be accepted in a place. I am so glad that is illegal where I live now.
Meows to all the other cat lovers out there and thanks for reading my long babble on…
Just a view from “the other side”…
I grew up in the apt. business. My parents owned 48 one bedroom units until they retired in 1985. Yes, 20 years ago, but still relevant.
They only allowed caged pets; hampsters, gerbils, small birds, etc. but no cats or dogs.
Oh, we were definatly animal lovers, BUT, the problem was that not all people who have pets are responsibile FOR thier pets behaviour.
They don’t clean up after them, they don’t train them to be quiet, they don’t fix damages to the property (scratched door frames, severely stained floors, etc. where the whole thing must be replaced) and they’d often TRY to say it was that way when they moved in!
“One bad apple spoils the basket” for everyone. My parents felt they had no choice. It’s extremely time consuming and costly to evict someone, once they’re in. Court costs, paperwork, and for all that time, thier property is being destroyed.
If we had a rental house, I would be VERY cautious of being able to trust someone with pets, so they wouldn’t damage my investment. Often, even a high dollar deposit won’t cover actual repair costs… It’s ALL about trust and ‘do unto others’.
NOW - don’t get me wrong - I’m grown now, own my home, and we have 6 cats, 3 dogs & 2 ferrets!
I’m also a board member of a non-profit cat’s only rescue group. We currently have 9 foster cats. I’ve personally placed 85 cats last year into new adoptive homes.
One of the questions on our application is, “Do you rent?”. And, “If renting, are pets allowed?”. Then, “If so, is a pet deposit required?” and we’ll call the landlord to check.
We certainly don’t want a cat returned simply because someone tried to sneak it in where it wasn’t allowed, mainly because it’s traumatic for the cat to be bounced around.
Our group very often hears the old story that, “We need to surrender our cats because we’re moving and can’t take them along”. To which we respond that there ARE places that DO allow pets. **Take the time to look**. You would not give up your child if you were moving to a place that didn’t allow children!
I do think there are many more pet friendly rentals than there used to be. Pets are becoming more and more important in our lives, for good reason. Just look at the new law passed since Hurricame Katrina - that evacuations now must also provide for pets, since people will stay behind for the sake of thier animals; I know I would.
It was a long time coming, well overdue and I couldn’t be happier!!
When I left an abusive husband, I was blessed to move into a run-down apt complex with my 5 cats. Nowhere else in the city would rent to me with my well-behaved cats. I was thrilled to be able to bring them all, since it was the only way I could leave. I moved into my apt on Christmas Eve and it was the best Christmas I’d had since I’d met him. ROFL!
When I finally joined my husband in another state, he offered a $1000 non-refundable pet deposit and an additional $400 a month to be able to bring K-a-t to his 1-bedroom studio apartment. The Manager said the Owner wouldn’t let him accept a pet there, and so we lived elsewhere for several months. However, since the Manager had seen we cared that much for a pet, we were the one’s he called first when a 1-bedroom, apartment did come open that allowed pets. We are very happy to have our K-a-t with us and be right next door to my husband’s work. It is the same apartment building as the original place, a different floor, and although we pay the rate my husband had offered for the studio, it is at or below the standard rate for a large 1 bedroom in the LA area, and no deposit was required.
On the other hand, we built 3 duplexes to rent. They were brand new, and we didn’t want pets in them. The first one rented without a problem, but the second was getting a little long on the market. Knowing had we would feel about not being allowed our K-a-t, we agreed to accept small animals (the apartments are fairly tiny). We haven’t had a problem renting them after that, and we haven’t had any complaints.
Will and Dina,
I’m a big PetStyle.com fan. I was amazed at the amount of information! So many pet-friendly places, great tips, high-quality programming. Pet-lovers: check it out, maybe you can find a pet-friendly place near you!
Right now I’m in a situation where I’m moving out of my apartment and moving in another telling the new landlord I have one cat when I have two. But there’s a twist here - my mother owned a house, had a cat and dog, I have her cat because in my moms new place the cat will pee on the rug somewhere and always pee there.. a spot you could never cover. My sister took the cat when my mom moved but then my sister moved over 1,000 miles away and the cat really couldn’t go with her, so by god I love her so much and I took her in but she is a hassle. She’s declawed, the worst thing done to her basically and she’ll bite if she doesnt get her way, nothing helped to change that. She also doesn’t use her litter box to poop ever only to pee, I have no rugs in the room she’s in but poops on my couch and in which I need a new one when I move. And my two cats dont get along, and I love my own more than anything - since she opened her eyes.
I have to move out of my place aqnd this is the place of my dreams and I’m taking one cat in and can’t do anything with my moms cat, I don’t think anyone would want her and she’d have to be the only animal, I can only imagine that someone would just put her down considering she’s older too. She’s perfectly healthy but horrible to the house. So I’m stuck, it’s not a fun situation. Either way I have to do something so if someone could help me out here please get back to me! I’d appreciate it. Thanks.
Laura
I’m dealing with this issue now. I just signed a lease that has a no pets clause in it. I have two dogs and a cat but my mom has agreed to keep them until I’m out of college. She’ll be living three hours away from me, so i might end up sneaking my pomeranian in anyway
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