How do I love thee? Let me count the ways to pay, starting with pet rent!

You may be wondering why I'm even spending the time to write this article! How important could pet rent be? What real significance can it have to most of us? Well, if you're a landlord you need to know that 69.6% of the population has a pet; 32.4% have dogs & 37.2% have cats and that's not counting the hamsters, ferrets, snakes & other slightly less mainstream companions. Pet rent for a landlord can offset the wear, tear & damage pets (even the best behaved ones) will inevitably cause and pet rent will increase your NOI. If you're a tenant looking for a home to rent, a landlord who may have said absolutely no pets may reconsider when given the opportunity to charge pet rent. So it can be a win-win!

Starting April 1, 2013 most of TMG's single family properties began charging pet rent; $25 per pet for small pets & $50 per pet for large pets. This is in addition to pet deposits & nonrefundable pet fees (only in Washington are non-refundable fees allowed). Let me first say, THANK YOU to TMG's Relocation department for bearing up under the righteous indignation of potential tenants that were horrified we would do such a thing. Comments ranged from "would you charge a fee on your child?" to "you can't do that, it's illegal". Maybe you are horrified as you reading this article. At first glance, you might think, those greedy landlords. However, if you are a landlord you know the wear & tear any pet, big or small can cause. We all love our pets and forgive their many faults, they smell, they scratch, they gnaw, they have fleas, they make little brown spots in the yard, they chew carpet and they can't hold it all day while you're at work. If we loved other people's pets as much as ours all this wouldn't be a problem but we don't.

In Oregon, landlords are not able to charge non-refundable fees even on pets so pet rent has been more widely accepted. In Washington, more apartments are charging pet rent, however, single family homes have been slow to follow that trend until now.


Carmen Villarma
President

The Management Group
Property and HOA Management in Vancouver WA and Portland OR
http://www.TMGnorthwest.com

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