When we moved up to Dallas, our cat, Clancey, moved with us. Then we found out about “pet rent”, which you pay in addition to the pet deposit. It is pretty common around here, and from the tenant’s point of view it’s bogus. Any damage caused by the pet should be covered by the pet deposit. That’s the reason for having it, right? And let’s be honest, have you ever tried to get a cat to pay rent? Hair balls are not yet an accepted form of payment.
As pets are unable to participate in the human economy, they cannot pay rent. The landlords should instead call this an “additional monthly fee for owning a pet”. The term “pet rent” is misleading. It sounds unrelated to the pet deposit. If you pay $10 a month in pet rent, you end up paying what amounts to a $120 unrefundable pet deposit on top of the potentially refundable pet deposit. I guess from the landlord’s perspective, pet rent makes up for dogs crapping all over the landscaping and assorted other damage and trouble.
If this is going to be a growing trend, we should institute added rents for other annoyances. I’d like to charge extra rent to people who cook food that smells up the hallways.
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I agree!! My landlord was trying to charge us an un-refunable $350 pet fee for our future new beagle pup. We talked her down to 1/2 of that being unrefundable and the other half being a regular deposit (we have a chance of getting that half back). Then if we choose to renew our lease (YEAH RIGHT), she’ll just charge us $25 per month pet rent (non refundable) and no deposit. I live in Kissimmee and I can’t believe landlords can get away with such robbery.
Yea, it’s pretty ridiculous.
Just found this post. I'm in total agreement.