Friday, February 13, 2015

Tenants with Pets: 5 Steps to Protect Your Rental Home




As a property management company in Charlotte, we sometimes get the most touching letters from owner clients.  I’d like to share one of them entitled, “Pets in My Home Please!”

Dear BDF Realty,

Thank you for agreeing to manage our property; we’ve worked really hard to make sure our property is upgraded and clean for the new renter.  The new paint and carpet really makes it show well!  We know you’ll do a great job with it (BDF side note: thanks!).

We do have one small request.  We are huuuuuge pet lovers.  Could you make sure that you rent to a family that has as many pets as possible?  The bigger the animals, the better!  It wouldn’t seem right to have a nice, big house without housing as many of God’s creatures as possible.  We’d consider reducing the rent for tenants who can prove they have a large and varied brood of animals.  Thanks!

Regards,
Pet Lover

P.S. Not to be too picky, but we’d also like to give preferential treatment to those prospective tenants who have unneutered pets.  The thought of them giving birth to a litter in our rental home just sends shivers of joy down my spine! 

P.S.S.  Think Noah’s Ark on land!

OK, this letter isn’t real.  I’ve never had any owner clients who said they liked the idea of having pets in their rental homes.  But if that’s the case, then why do almost all of them wind up accepting pets?

It’s simply because most tenants (easily over 50% in my experience) have pets.  And most pets do not damage homes.

Let’s take a moment to acknowledge our fears with the following scenario.  A nefarious and unkempt tenant has been breeding an even more nefarious and unkempt dog, with the scary moniker of “Gargoyle” (Gargoyle is a great student who has far exceeded his master’s nefariousness and unkemptness).  They move into your rental home.  Unfortunately, Gargoyle sometimes doesn’t allow himself to be walked and winds up doing his business in the house.  Gargoyle is also crazily aggressive and enjoys chewing on all door beams and scratches the paint off the walls.  After a year of making your home his lair, Gargoyle and the tenant move out to destroy another rental home…

What happens?  After move-out, you (or your property manager) does a walk-through.  The damage is clearly above normal wear and tear.  Some walls need to be repainted, the carpet either needs to be professionally steam-cleaned or replaced, and some door beams need to be replaced.  All of this is taken out the security deposit.  In worst case scenarios, the damage is above the security deposit, and the tenant is sent a bill for the balance.  And when you have a tenant who is known for his nefariousity, he may not pay it.  Then court action to collect the balance would be necessary.  It’s not ideal, but not catastrophic.

Fortunately, this is very rare.  99% of the time, if there are any pet issues, they can be taken care of with carpet steam cleaning and a professional cleaning, which usually need to be done after a tenant moves out anyway.

But how do you protect yourself from a Gargoyle experience?  Try these five tactics:

1.  Collect a high pet fee upfront for the right to have a pet on the property

2.  Collect additional security deposit monies

3.  Screen the tenant thoroughly upfront.  What kind of pet do they have?  How big?  Is it an aggressive breed?  What did their past landlords say about them after they moved out?  Was the property left in good shape or was it torn up?

4.  Put a clause in the lease that if any pet issues arise, the tenant can be asked to remove it within 48 hours

5.  Inspect the property early in the tenancy to see if the pet is doing any damage

For the most part, pet owners are responsible and will not adversely affect the rental home.  Tenants have friends and family over to the house (like you) and would be embarrassed if their house was unsightly and reeked of pet.

Don’t let visions of Gargoyle mess with your head!  Take the aforementioned steps to protect yourself and your pet issues should be minimal.


Brett Furniss is the President & Owner of BDF Realty (Charlotte Residential Property Management), the trusted real estate advisor for Charlotte landlords & Home of $100 Flat Fee Property Management.   BDF Realty utilizes their innovative Pod System for exceptional customer service in residential property management, home repairs, and home sales for single-family homes, condos, and town homes in the Charlotte-Metro Area.  Contact Us Today!

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