Searching for a Pet-friendly Apartment? Here’s How to Make the Case for Your Best Friend
Finding a new apartment when you have a pet isn’t exactly easy. Animal welfare advocates have long suspected a link between increased housing issues in a community and higher rates of animals being re-homed. A 2015 survey commissioned by ASPCA found that renters listed housing issues as the number one reason for giving up their pet.
There are some signs that attitudes toward pets are changing among landlords, but many still choose to list their rentals as “No Pet” or charge tenants with animals exorbitant rent fees. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to boost your chances of finding an apartment that will accept you and your pet, even one that’s on a “No Pets” list.
Get into the right mindset
“We’re off to a new-agey start,” you may think. But hang with me here. Moving is a lot like budgeting — the individual components of your decisions need to be logical, but the overall effort requires an enormous amount of emotional labor.
Before you know it, you’ll be neck-deep in apartment listings, all unaffordable, and that one guy on the phone is gonna be a jerk. Stress is building. Before you know it, all kinds of weird, distorted thoughts start coming into your head: Maybe I just can’t afford to have my pet. Maybe we should just move now.
Create a buffer for yourself in the form of this mantra: I love my pet, and we will find a new place to call home together. Convince yourself that you’ll make the right choice ahead of time.
As you, scroll online or drive around the neighborhood looking for rentals, keep in mind that a “No Pet” indication is negotiable.
Prep for phone calls with landlords
Early interactions with a potential landlord aren’t that different from a job interview. At a basic level, you’re trying to convince someone that you’re not a flake or a homicidal maniac and that your pet is a sweet critter who won’t hurt anyone (especially not the newly reno-ed floors). This is doubly true for apartments listed as “No Pet.”
When you call, say something like, “It looks like your listing indicates you don’t allow pets, but I was wondering if you make exceptions for X” — insert the most non-threatening quality your pet has here (calm small dog, elderly pet, one cat, friendly family dog, quiet dog).
Do be upfront about the fact that you have a pet. If you’d rather look at the apartment first and bring up your pet during the tour, that’s fine, but don’t try to smuggle in Rory the Rottweiler on moving day.
If you get some hemming and hawing or even a flat “No,” time to tap into your persuasive skills.
Offer referrals and testimonies
Offer to provide a referral from the previous landlord and/or some testimonies from friendly neighbors. These don’t have to be deposition-style documents. A simple email or a printed signed letter will work.
Here’s what to include:
— Name(s) of people giving the referral.
— Street address of the residence and/or name of the apartment complex.
— A few sentences about your pet(s) best qualities and how they never caused trouble.
— Contact information of the parties giving a referral.
— Date and signature(s).
Make it easy for your landlord and neighbors by writing the email/letter yourself and having them read and sign. If you had to pay a pet deposit and ended up getting it back, this would be a great thing to mention in the referral. Other great things to mention: the pet was always quiet (maybe your neighbors didn’t even know you had that cat!), the neighbors / landlord enjoyed interacting with the pet or they saw them being friendly with children/other pets.
If you can, offer a pet deposit
Having to pay extra to keep your pet is at best annoying, and at worst impossible for some families. If you already paid a pet deposit at your old apartment and expect to get it back, try offering the same sum to the new landlord or use that money throughout your lease term to pay pet rent. Be prepared to negotiate down if the landlord names a bigger sum — especially if your pet never caused damage to property in the past.
Use market forces to your advantage
If you’re moving to a renter’s market, there are ways to remind your landlord that you and your pet are an asset. Mention that you’re interested in this other very similar apartment (it doesn’t hurt to mention the complex name, it also doesn’t hurt if they’re in the same neighborhood) because they allow pets, but you’d really, really love to rent their apartment, because…it’s closer to a school, has a patio, etc.
This will not work in a large city with high demand, so know your market.
Important note: Your chances will almost always be better with a mom-and-pop landlord than a big corporation. When you’re dealing directly with the owner, you’ll have someone with authority to make your case to. (That is, another real human being who, incidentally, may also have pets.)
Corporate landlords tend to hide behind a mountain of lawyered-up policies, leaving you at the mercy of whoever is running their leasing office. It’s pretty easy to tell which type you’re dealing with on the listing website, though you can always call to ask who the owners are.
A word on breed restrictions
You’ve seen those on property management websites: “No pets over X weight” or “Certain breed restrictions apply.” “Certain breeds” almost always includes pit bulls, no matter how sweet and adorable yours happens to be. This is an awareness and public image issue that animal welfare organizations have been trying to address for years.
A few months back I wrote about a woman who ended up moving in order to keep her 13-year-old pit bull. Thankfully, awareness is slowly growing, so give the tips above a try. A referral from the previous landlord can be especially helpful if your pup is on the “restricted breeds” list.
And a word on emotional support animals
There are services that will connect you with a mental health professional just so you can get your pet registered as an emotional support animal.
ESAs are a complex concept. Some see them as a crucial resource for people with mental health conditions, others, as a work-around for pet lovers to drag their animals everywhere they go. The Department of Transportation recently took the latter view by announcing a new rule that no longer requires airlines to treat ESAs like service animals (no more flying with your ESA peacock in the cabin).
If you decide that an ESA letter is right for your situation, don’t pull it out after a landlord already denied you. Practices like that give people with ESAs a bad rep and make things harder on other pet parents trying to move in to the apartment complex. Have a letter ready before you start your search or get one before you approach a new landlord.
One last thing worth remembering: As you begin your search, remember that landlords, like the rest of us, enjoy being around nice humans. Be a nice human when you talk to them. And if they aren’t a nice human back, there’s another “For Rent” sign around the corner.
