In a perfect world we would not accept any kind of pets in our rental properties.
Allowing pets in a rental property can be risky – damage to the property is a legitimate concern.

Unfortunately it is not a perfect world. As a residential property management company in Austin, Texas, we find that entirely prohibiting pets poses a greater risk to rental income than allowing them does to the possibility of property damage.

How could that be? Well, Austin, Texas has the third highest rate of household pet ownership for metro areas in the United States, according to the 2017 American Housing Survey (1).

At Crosstown Properties, our long-term experience in the Austin property management industry and rental market corroborates the survey – between 50% and 70% of all applicants for rental properties have pets.

Thus a landlord is almost forced to consider allowing pets in their property, unless they are willing to exclude half or more of a potential applicant pool for their property. If a Landlord is willing to risk their rental income in such a way, we are happy to advertise the property as “No Pets.” If the Landlord does not want to risk their profits, we have several tried and true methods for mitigating the risk of property damage to the rental.

1. Pet Restrictions for Dogs

First, we limit the size of any dog that we allow. The dog must be fully grown at a maximum of 25 pounds. Second, we do not take puppies. All dogs must be a minimum of one year old.

Although it is true that even small dogs can cause damage to property, larger dogs are capable of far greater damage. For instance, large dogs let into a backyard can and often do jump up onto the windowsills or screens in the back of the yard and tear the screens up whereas a small dog can’t even reach the windowsills!

Further – although small dogs can bite someone – the bite from a small dog under 25 pounds is going to be much less damaging in almost all cases then a bite from a 50 or 70 pound dog.

2. Pet Restrictions for Cats

Cats must be either spayed and or neutered as appropriate.

3. Restrict Number of Pets Per Property

We further mitigate the damage that can be done to our properties by limiting the number of pets to no more than two animals per property.

4. Application

If an applicant marks “yes” to pet ownership on our application, extensive further questions are required to gather information on the type, breed, size, and age of the animal. We also use a third party company (PetScreening) to gather vet records for pets and verify pet information.

5. Pet Deposits

If the pet meets the requirements, we charge a $500 pet deposit per pet. This pet deposit actually becomes part of the entire overall security deposit that can be applied to any damages caused by the pet or otherwise.

6. Americans with Disabilities Act

It is very important to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which requires a Landlord to make reasonable accommodations for people with Assistance Animals. This means that we must allow any verified Assistance Animal no matter the size, age, or breed and cannot charge a pet deposit.

The frequency of applicants claiming to have Assistance Animals is increasing. The nuanced legalities of verifying whether an Assistance Animal claim is valid is complex and the penalties are steep if a mistake is made in accommodating the ADA. This is why we use PetScreening.

All applicants must make a PetScreening profile as the first step of their application. Applicants can choose “No Pet,” “Household Pet,” or “Assistance Animal” as appropriate. All Assistance Animal profiles are reviewed by PetScreening’s expert attorneys.

In this way we can be sure that we are complying with the law as far as any Assistance Animals go and we can also be sure that we have up-to-date vet records confirming all the factors that would qualify or disqualify a household pet.

Of course it would be simpler and less risky to prohibit all household pets from our rental properties. Although Austin, Texas has an excellent rental property investment market, the percentage of pet owners in the city is so high that it is in Landlord’s best interests to allow pets – but only some pets!

With nearly two decades of experience in residential property management in Austin, Texas, our pet policy has proven highly successful. Give us a call and let us put our expertise to work for you today!

People often find us by searching “property management Austin,” “rental home management austin, tx,” “property manager near me,” and “property management companies austin, tx.” We’d love to hear how you found us!

References
(1) https://www.statesman.com/entertainment/20170407/austin-has-third-highest-rate-of-pet-ownership-in-us-survey-says