Woodbridge Property Management Blog

While over half of all tenants have pets, some landlords very specifically do not want pets in their homes. This may be because a member of the landlord’s family has a strong allergy to pets, or because the landlord has had (or heard of) a bad experience with pets in a rental property.

During the listing process, we will advertise the property as allowing pets or not depending on the landlord’s preference.  If a tenant is selected and a pet is authorized, a pet addendum will be included with the lease, specifying the additional responsibilities and deposit required.

But what if an unauthorized pet is found?  This does happen occasionally during our interior inspections.  Our inspector may see a pet, or evidence of one, such as a food or water bowl, or a litter box.   Other times, the condo association, HOA, or a neighbor may let us know about a pet if it is being disruptive in the community.  

If we find or are notified of a pet that is not authorized, the tenant is at that point in violation of their lease, as the lease specifically states that no pets are allowed without an approval and pet addendum.  In this case, we will issue a 21/30 Notice.  This notice ...

Cat urine stinks.  Especially when it gets into the carpet padding and subflooring.  Dogs slobber and shed and chew and scratch and bite.  What landlord would ever want to rent to a tenant that has pets????

Our landlords make the final decision as to whether or not to accept pets.  Since over 50% of tenants in our area are pet owners, most landlords do decide to accept pets on a case-by-case basis rather than exclude half of all potential renters from considering their property.  If a landlord is adverse to pets, we recommend marketing the property for the first few weeks as a pet-free home and then if there is not sufficient interest from potential renters in the first few weeks, opening up the home for small pets.  We require a refundable $350 pet deposit per pet, with an increase to $500 for larger dogs.  We discourage owners from accepting breeds of dogs that are known to be aggressive.  

Over the past 5 years, we’ve actually had very few problems with p...