Beth, the only problem with offering a non-refundable fee is you get people who really just want to take your money. When I was calling around for a place for me and my fiance a few weeks ago, I had one guy tell me gladly accepts dogs, except he charges an extra $20 a month in rent per dog AND he charges a $100 per 10 lbs of dog per dog as a non refundable fee (that would be $1600 in my case for the fee plus $60 per month...over $3000 in fees!) for "wear and tear" due to claws on the carpet and wagging tails "wearing off the paint." I politely said no at that point (try not to laugh in disbelief) and hung up. I was tempted to ask him what the fee must be for people who have small children or teenagers. *eye roll*

I think a refundable deposit is fair if the landlord is willing to be. I have been lucky the last two times with my landlords not charging fees or a deposit, but then again, I try to leave the place cleaner than when I got it. I totally understand why landlords want and need to charge fees as there are many irresponsible pet owners who trash the place, but yikes, it makes it so much harder on the rest of us. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

Hi Maren. The landlord's pet policy you describe seems very high to me, and I would have kept on looking.

In one case I was able to rent a house from a "no pets" landlord by offering the equivalent of one month's rent (on top of the regular deposit) as a non-refundable pet deposit. Appealing to their desire for that extra cash made the difference between me finding a suitable place quickly, and having it take much longer. In my circumstances, that was worth it to me.

Years ago I was able to negotiate an allowance for cats into a "no pet" landlords place (a beach condo in Florida - where it is HARD to find anywhere to rent that allows pets!!) by agreeing to a longer term lease that expired right before "prime vacation" season. The landlord was willing to accomodate my request in exchange for me "fixing" a timing problem with his condo for rent. (once again, that was about money).

My point is that I've found it possible to work out a pet agreement with a private landlord regardless of all the "no pets" advertised in the paper.

Beth

 Quote:

by agreeing to a longer term lease that expired right before "prime vacation" season.

Yep its always to get away from the coast before prime hurricane season <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />