What would you consider a resonable pet deposit

smurfetteinred · August 2010

We're renting our house now instead of selling it. Ideally we didn't really want someone with pets (I know I know that pets don't necessarily equal destruction but having pets ourselves we know they're not always non destructive either) but a really nice family is interested in the house and they have a small terrier.

Me and dh are in a disagreement about what a suitable pet deposit would be. I won't say what numbers we're arguing over because I want to see what others say without any nudging.

**sunny** · August 2010

$100-200.

Another thing to consider is whether all or some of it is refundable at the end. You want it to be refundable in hopes that it will entice them to keep the place nice. I think our rental we're currently moving out of has half of it refundable and half non.

ETA: I just checked our lease and it was $200 refundable. We have 2 large dogs. I don't think I've ever paid more than $200 in the various apartments and homes we've rented through the years in NC and AZ.

crackerjackprinter · August 2010

I think it depends on what it would cost to clean/patch the floors (if carpet). I think in our apartment we paid $200 for 3 cats.

Boizmom · August 2010

The house we're in it is $400 per pet. A bit steep I think and that's why we don't have a pet. Oh, and it's non-refundable, all of it. I'd be okay with it at $400 if half was refundable.

MrsGo4Hockeychick · August 2010

on a house? I'd say 250-300. Maybe more if there's a lot of carpet.

I'd make all but maybe 50 of refundable.

blissfully_caffeinated · August 2010

It depends on where you are. In CA it was consistently 1/2 of one months rent. I think here in CO it's $200-500 plus cleaning the carpets.

luvlieK · August 2010

$1500

ElloPoppet · August 2010

i paid $500 for one cat in my 2br apt in santa cruz. i think i got some of it back. rent was about $1125 i think.

luvlieK · August 2010

For comparison, in hotels it is about $75 extra a night.

Dobie_Mama · August 2010

My mom has a few rental houses and she charges 1/2 of one month's rent. It is refundable.

renee143 · August 2010

i was going to say $500, but i like the half a month's rent idea.

Sam78 · August 2010

non-refundable: cost of steam cleaning any carpet and any other additional cleaning necessitated by having pets

refundable: an amount suitable to cover any potential damage

We have 2 cats and a large dog and were not charged anything if i recall at our last place but it was at a house which almost always had pets (including the owners when they lived there).

Sapphyr · August 2010

Every apartment I've lived at was $300 non-refundable + $15 month per pet for rent.

MandaGail · August 2010

We are charging our tenants $350 with $175 of it being non-refundable. The house is in Texas. The amount was set by our PM, but I believe we have a say in it, it's been a while since we had that discussion, so I don't remember. Our tenants have one small dog.

missthick · August 2010

Our apartments charged $300 non-refundable, but since our dog is twice the weight limit we offered to put down an additional refundable $200 to cover any "additional" damages beyond the carpet.

We are happy with that...I didn't have to give up my puppy-wuppy Big Smile

MattnNat · August 2010

Our 2br apartment was $300 deposit and $50 extra per month per pet.

Temp76535187505890 · August 2010

I'm sure it would vary by region but we recently moved and paid a $250 pet fee (not deposit) per pet. So, since it's a fee, we will not be getting any of our $500 back plus we're also expected to clean the carpets & fumigate upon our departure.

I'm not sure I consider that reasonable though.

smurfetteinred · August 2010

luvlieK:
$1500

OMG Luvlie!

Thanks ladies! That helps a lot. Dh was on the side of "we're going to scare them off if it's too high" and wanted to charge $100. I was of the mind to say 200-250 with $100 of it non refundable for carpet cleaning etc (whole house is carpeted except kitchen and bath obviously). I don't think that sounds unreasonable especially since we're only charging a half a months rent standard deposit. So even with the pet they're not paying even a full months rent down as a deposit.

thejennigirl · August 2010

1/2 of whatever the rent for one month is.

luvlieK · August 2010

smurfetteinred:
luvlieK:
$1500
OMG Luvlie!

lol, well our pet destroyed more than that

MidwestTexan · August 2010

In our last apartment it was $300, half of which was refundable, for one cat. There was also a $15 a month fee on top of our monthly rent.

Temp76535187505890 · August 2010

smurfetteinred:
Thanks ladies! That helps a lot. Dh was on the side of "we're going to scare them off if it's too high" and wanted to charge $100. I was of the mind to say 200-250 with $100 of it non refundable for carpet cleaning etc (whole house is carpeted except kitchen and bath obviously). I don't think that sounds unreasonable especially since we're only charging a half a months rent standard deposit. So even with the pet they're not paying even a full months rent down as a deposit.

I think you're being very generous not asking for a full month's rent deposit PLUS a pet fee/deposit! AND you're including the carpet cleaning in that too.....as I said, we're required to pay for that ourselves upon move out so these people are making out on the deal big time, in my opinion, but maybe that's standard for your area?

babyluv617 · August 2010

We paid an extra month so $650 and it was refundable when we moved out.

Jennicap · August 2010

I would say $250 and refundable at the end of their lease if there is no damage caused by the pet or if they fix any damage to your satifaction.

ash.flea · August 2010

Our last apartment charged a $500 non-refundable fee per pet.

nikll34 · August 2010

Depends on your house I guess. I'd say $150-$200 is reasonable. I'd also make it refundable too, unless you have to clean up messes from the dog after they move out and you take out what ever amount you need to do that.

nikll34 · August 2010

I guess you have a lot of varying ideas! I'll also add it probably depends on your location. When we rented in Boston, MA pet deposits were really high, even though the apartment was tiny. Here in VT when we rented the deposits were $50-$200 depending on location and size.

mrsjjd · August 2010

The last place we rented had a $500 NON-refundable pet "deposit", so it wasn't really a deposit. I mystery shop appartment complexes and the average seems to be $200-$400 per pet. I've seen them as low as $100, but I personally don't think that is high enough to make people worry about getthing their money back.

DizzyBlonde · August 2010

My mom just got a new apartment and paid $200 for each dog (she has a shih-tzu and a chihuahua and the deposits are based on pet size). None of it is refundable, and the monthly rent is about $650/month.

In her last place, I believe she paid $300 for both dogs, and $150 was refundable IF there was no damage/no additional cleaning needed. We've lived in one place where there was a $150 refundable deposit, and then an additional $30/month per pet rent that wasn't refundable.

njh514 · August 2010

When we rented it was $100 for my (declawed) cat and we got all of it back. I thought it was very reasonable, especially for my low key, non destructive cat.

smurfetteinred · August 2010

ArmyQM:
I think you're being very generous not asking for a full month's rent deposit

I do too. This is all dh and absolutely no one agrees with him (including his rather money savvy brother who also has a rental property). There is just no dissuading him on that one. I won on the pet deposit but mostly because I just emailed the guy the amount and then told dh about it after the fact!

roundtheworldgirl · August 2010

Coming late to this, but I have a tale of caution ...

We rented out our house two years ago to a nice lady and her two kids. Our lease stated "NO pets." We had a rental management company to manage the property. They never saw any pets. Well, when we moved back into the house after DH returned from Afghanistan, it was clear that they had had a pet. The carpet was rank, as were the tiled bathrooms! The smell was so bad that the carpet cleaners swore our renters must have had a cat. Upon consulting with the neighbors, we learned that it was in fact just a very small (and apparently incontinent) dog.

We had actually charged them TWO months rent for a deposit because they didn't meet our management company's minimum financial requirements. As it turned out, we were unable to use that money to replace the carpets or fix the stinky bathrooms (I had the floors covered in baking soda for months before the smell dissipated) because our renter lost her job and chose to use the deposit to stay in the house two extra months before breaking her lease. The laws in our state left us with little recourse, and suing would have cost us more money than we would have gotten back.

This is a little bit different than your situation because we expressly forbade pets. Next time I might allow pets but charge an extra deposit - and honestly, after this experience, I would probably charge a full month's rent in a refundable deposit (to encourage good behavior) in addition to the regular deposit of one month's rent.

PDX · August 2010

somewhere in the $100-300 range but make sure you specify that you can keep the other deposit for pet damages as well (I view the pet deposit as just additional security for the owner in case there are accidents, etc. the small amount really won't cover anything, so you definitely want to be able to use the other deposit if you need new carpets or anything).

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