Setting a Comprehensive Pet Policy for Your Site

Becoming a pet-friendly site may be a great way to increase your pool of prospective residents and keep them longer once you find them. Responsible pet owners generally are also responsible tenants, and they appreciate sites that welcome pets, In fact, research by FIREPAW, the Foundation for Interdisciplinary Research and Education Promoting Animal Welfare, found that pet owners in pet-friendly housing stay an average of 46 months, compared to 18 months for residents residing in rentals prohibiting pets.

Setting pet deposits high enough to separate casual pet owners from serious pet owners can help to ensure minimal damage caused by pets. Serious pet owners train their pets well, and you'll find that they create much less damage to a unit than the casual pet owner. Serious pet owners will not hesitate to pay the deposit, while casual pet owners are likely to give up the pet rather than pay to keep it.

To ensure that residents properly care for and control their pets, it's important to set specific guidelines and rules. And yet, many sites that allow pets have only rudimentary policies in place. Any property that is going to accept pets needs to protect itself by putting in place a comprehensive policy that details all of the terms and conditions relative to those pets.

For an example of a comprehensive pet policy, click here for our Model Agreement: Have Residents Sign Detailed Pet Policy. In it, the pet restrictions for residents are plainly defined as far as the specific types of pets that are allowed, the number permitted per unit, where pets are allowed on the property and where they are prohibited, as well as rules regarding their behavior and care.