Allowing pets in your rental property boosts benefits to the property since many tenants would love to bring their beloved pets with them. However, this may also be a liability since property damages may be inevitable.

Include the following policies in your lease or rental agreement to ensure that you and your tenants benefit from the situation:

1. Identify the Types of Pets Allowed

Your pet agreement should specify which types of pets are allowed. Some landlords allow only common domesticated animals such as dogs, cats, birds, fish, guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters, gerbils, and small reptiles. The agreement should also specify any limit to the number of pets allowed. Some landlords ban certain dog breeds that many people believe have a propensity toward violence, such as Pitbulls and Rottweilers.

2. Weight limits

Instead of, or in addition to, banning certain breeds, some landlords limit the weight of dogs.

3. Tenants’ pets only

In your pet agreement, make it clear that you allow only tenants’ pets. You don’t want your tenants caring for other people’s pets in their rental unit. Also specify whether you will allow guests to bring their pets with them while visiting tenants.

4. Allow Only Pets You Approve

Require that tenants get your approval for any pet they wish to keep in their apartment. You may wish to forego this approval requirement for certain types of pets that you don’t think will cause problems or trigger complaints, such as goldfish.

5. Require Proper Identification, Licenses, and Vaccinations

Make sure tenants understand that all dogs and cats must wear identification collars or tags, which include proof of current vaccinations. Learn what your local ordinances require concerning regular cat and dog vaccinations and licenses, and insist that tenants give you current proof that they’ve complied.

6. Make Tenants Responsible for Their Pets

Tenants should agree to keep their pets under control at all times, so that they don’t disturb other tenants and their guests. Require tenants to clean up after their pets, both inside their apartment, and in all common areas and other parts of your property. To further reduce the risk that a tenant’s pet will cause injuries to other tenants or their guests consider requiring your tenants to carry renters’ liability insurance.

7. Consider Charging a Pet Fee

Many landlords routinely impose a “pet fee,” in addition to the normal security deposit, reasoning that pets typically cause added wear and tear to an apartment. Think carefully before implementing such a policy, for these reasons:

* A fee might not be legal. In some states, such as California, landlords cannot charge more than a specified sum as a deposit. This sum covers the total of all types of deposits. So, if the total amount of the deposits that you charge to all tenants has reached the maximum, you cannot charge a pet deposit on top of that.
* A fee might not be a good idea. Setting aside a certain sum as a deposit to cover pet damage isn’t always practical. Suppose a pet is well-behaved but the tenant who owns the pet is a slob. If part of the deposit is marked for pet damage only, you might not be able to use that money to clean up the tenant’s mess. Often, it’s better to impose a non-specific deposit.
* A fee might be unreasonably high. If you decide to impose a specified pet deposit, keep it reasonable, such as $200 to $300 per year. Otherwise, if your tenant challenges it, a judge may not enforce it.

8. Make it Easy to Change the Pet Agreement

From time to time, you may want to change your pet policy. So that you can easily make a change, state in your pet rules that you have the right to amend the rules by giving tenants reasonable notice (typically 30 days).

9. Consider a grandfather clause for pet policy changes.

A “grandfather clause” exempts tenants already in the building from having to comply with the new rules for pets they already had before the changes took place. The rules would apply to any new pets they get. Without a grandfather clause, some tenants might have to get rid of a pet that no longer complies. This is certain to trigger considerable resistance.