Cats and apartments

Has anyone ever "forgot to mention" or lied about having a cat when applying for an apartment or other housing?

I have two cats and I'm in the process of applying for apartments. After going apartment to apartment, I've realized just how expensive a pet deposit can be! A lot of places are $300-$400 pet deposit, and along with a $250-$400 deposit, that's around $700 alone without the first and last months rent! I understand why deposits are needed, and usually it's not an issue, but this time around we are very very strapped for cash. If we could avoid the $400 deposit, that would be awesome.

My boyfriend asked me the other day "why don't we just say we don't have cats, and pay the deposit later when we get our budget figured out?" and I thought that was a pretty good idea. When I got the first cat we lived in an apartment that allowed cats, but we never told our manager that we got him. I was paranoid about getting in trouble while we lived there, especially since he liked to sit at the window, but we were never found out.

I feel pretty lousy lieing to someone about anything, especially to a landlord or apartment manager, but I'm wondering if it's a common thing among cat owners. My cats aren't super destructive or messy, so I'm not worried about them trashing the apartment, and my boyfriend and I both agreed we would let management know the second we can afford to pay the deposit. Anyone think this is a good idea? Bad idea?

Side discussion: What's the deal with pet rent? How crazy is it to charge someone an extra $15-$20 a month just for having a pet?

I've never hid my cats. If the building doesn't allow them, I don't mention them, but I never hide them from management once I've moved in. 

My building has never allowed pets, and I've always had 1 to 3 cats in my apartment.  This last lease didn't have anything about pets in it, so they must have removed the restriction.

I would be concerned about maintenance coming in and seeing I have a pet. However, if the complex allows pets, the maintenance guys likely don't know who's paid and who hasn't. So that would likely only be a risk if it was a no pet complex.

That said, my apartment management only charges a $100 deposit, but it's $30/month pet rent. That seems pretty excessive, but they haven't added it to my rent yet, and I've paid rent twice since I adopted him. I'm hoping they let me slide on the pet rent since they know I'm a college student on a budget and had my reasons for getting the cat despite that.

I've found that the "no pet" clause tends to be relaxed when a potential landlord is told its a cat, especially if it's just one, neutered and declawed.

I failed to tell both apartments about any of my pets. No one ever noticed or cared.

I think it just depends on the type of apartment you are looking for. 

If it's a big complex and/or is run by a large property management company than I probably wouldn't have a problem not mentioning the fact that I had cats. You are right that the deposits can be outrageous, especially considering a little kid will cause way more wear and tear than my cats ever could yet there is no "kid" deposit.   I did tell my complex originally but only because I was adopting and the shelter was going to call them to make sure I was allowed to have a cat. But, when I adopted the second I didn't bother sharing. I also have a monthly pet rent that's $30/animal. No way I am paying an extra $60 a month! As far as the maintenance guys, they usually don't know who is "allowed" to have pets, what kind, and how many, and even if they did I have learned the majority really just don't care. One time they came in for routine maintenance and I had 8 kittens running around! I was terrified I was going to get in big trouble but they just laughed it off and grabbed a wand toy. 

So, in that type of situation I don't think there is anything wrong with not saying anything and then telling them later on your adopted and paying the deposit then when there is the money for it. 

But, if it was a smaller place, or owned by just one person, I think you should say something. There is currently a thread happening where the woman just moved into a new place and her downstairs neighbor is allergic to cats and seems to be having a problem with that because of hers. If she hadn't told them about the cats in advance then that would be a big problem. Also, an individual doesn't have the resources to replace carpet and things like that if/when you move out. And, that may limit the number of people they can later rent to if new potential tenants have similar cat allergies. 

In this latter scenario though, there may be more room for negotiation. If you explain the financial situation they may be more willing to pro-rate the deposit out over several months rent to make it more affordable, or may even be willing to waive it. 

The final scenario is a building where there are no pets allowed. Here, I would absolutely say something in advance as that would be grounds for eviction should they find out. It's also not very considerate to others living in the building, given they may have chosen a pet free residence for a reason. There are of course exceptions to this but it's not something I would chance! 

Alright, that's just my two cents on the matter. Good luck with the apartment hunting!

I guess I'm the first to disagree to hide the fact about cats. I think it's unfortunate that a lot of property managers don't allow pets, and for good reason. There is too much headache to deal with irresponsible pet owners (not saying any of you are!) so it's much simpler to just have a blanket No. Right now it's not illegal to discriminate against family pets, sadly.

I think hiding cats and then having the manager or maintenance find out about it is going to sort of reinforce the idea that pet owners are irresponsible. My current landlady is part of a large property management company, and she has cats of her own, so we're allowed up to two cats per apartment. When I move in the future, I am going to have my current landlady write a recommendation letter about what an awesome pet owner I am. I was told that many property owners (mostly applying to the small owners) can be persuaded to make a pet exception, and showing your future landlord/landlady that you are indeed responsible is the best way.

Fhi09 said:

I guess I'm the first to disagree to hide the fact about cats. I think it's unfortunate that a lot of property managers don't allow pets, and for good reason. There is too much headache to deal with irresponsible pet owners (not saying any of you are!) so it's much simpler to just have a blanket No. Right now it's not illegal to discriminate against family pets, sadly.

I think hiding cats and then having the manager or maintenance find out about it is going to sort of reinforce the idea that pet owners are irresponsible. My current landlady is part of a large property management company, and she has cats of her own, so we're allowed up to two cats per apartment. When I move in the future, I am going to have my current landlady write a recommendation letter about what an awesome pet owner I am. I was told that many property owners (mostly applying to the small owners) can be persuaded to make a pet exception, and showing your future landlord/landlady that you are indeed responsible is the best way.

Click to expand...

I think you make an excellent point, and I do agree that it is always best to just be honest. But, I do see the room for the argument that when funds are exceptionally tight and pet deposits are exorbitant there may be some wiggle room about disclosing the fact that you have a reasonable number of cats. But, as I mentioned, only in certain circumstances. If it is a community where pets are not allowed that should absolutely be respected, or at least permission asked in advance. Each situation is unique and needs to be evaluated as such. 

Fhi09 said:

I guess I'm the first to disagree to hide the fact about cats. I think it's unfortunate that a lot of property managers don't allow pets, and for good reason. There is too much headache to deal with irresponsible pet owners (not saying any of you are!) so it's much simpler to just have a blanket No. Right now it's not illegal to discriminate against family pets, sadly.

I think hiding cats and then having the manager or maintenance find out about it is going to sort of reinforce the idea that pet owners are irresponsible. My current landlady is part of a large property management company, and she has cats of her own, so we're allowed up to two cats per apartment. When I move in the future, I am going to have my current landlady write a recommendation letter about what an awesome pet owner I am. I was told that many property owners (mostly applying to the small owners) can be persuaded to make a pet exception, and showing your future landlord/landlady that you are indeed responsible is the best way.

Click to expand...

 I hate the idea of lying about having cats, simply because of what Cory has already said, that it tends to reinforce the idea that pet owners are irresponsible. Especially since you're not telling the truth about cats....cats already have a bad reputation with landlords and this just makes it worse.

If you don't tell your landlord you have a cat and then the maintenance people come in for whatever reason and accidentally let the cat out, it's your fault because how are they supposed to know there's a cat there?

I think every cat owner who rents should keep a file on each cat they have. In that file would be copies of vet bills (as proof of rabies and other vaccines and also to serve as proof that you're a responsible pet owner because your cats go to the vet regularly, are spayed, neutered), any letter that has been written about the cat (from former landlords, pet sitters, etc. about what good pets they are, etc. Anything that you can include in that cat's file should be there. As silly as it may sound, we have half of a drawer in our filing cabinet that is strictly for the cats. We keep anything and everything; we have stuff on the furkids that go back for years, mainly vet invoices for rabies shots and lists of prescriptions, things like that.  

We rented a house for a year while our house was being built and the owner was strictly anti-cat. Not anti-pet, but really anti-cat. He hated cats with a passion and it was a No Cats house. I told the guy right up front that we had Hydrox, we had had him for years and he was part of our family. I said I'd pay for any damage AND I would pay for professional carpet cleaning when we moved out. Thankfully, he rented to us anyway (probably because it was just for a year). With no increased security deposit....we were shocked. When we moved out, I hired the carpet people, they came in and cleaned the house from top to bottom and that was in addition to cleaning that I did, too. And we got our security deposit back, along with a really nice letter from the guy. (When he and I met at the house to do the inspection, he told me that he still didn't like cats, but he was sorry to see us leave.)

I would never lie about having cats. It may come back to bite you later on.

I haven't hidden cats, I have always just paid the deposit and the extra for rent.  I pay an extra $40 a month for two cats and the deposit was $350.  My apartment complex allows dogs and cats.  I didn't check because this is an area I wanted to live in but I wonder if cat's only apartments would have smaller deposits and less for pet rent?

Landlords are not legally allowed to discriminate against pet owners here now. lf the tenant has already signed a lease that originally didn't allow pets and they do have pets, that is not grounds for eviction unless  there is a complaint from someone in the building with allergies. They are not allowed to charge extra rent, and are not allowed to charge a security or damage deposit. they can only ask for first and last, and last cannot be used for repairs or damages.

l rent my townhouse from a personal owner who bought it as an investment. l told him l had 2 cats and a small dog (now 3 + 1), and l pay the regular rent, no security, etc. Before, when landlords could forbid pets, l was honest. l looked only for townhouses that allowed pets, disclosed my pets, and never paid any security deposits etc.

Well...I told them I had 2 when I really had 14.  Takes alot to pull that off.

I think I paid 250 per cat non refundable and 25 per cat monthly.  They knew I had 3 or 4 but I am clean and quiet and it was first floor so that probably helped. I know others who had 2 dogs and a cat or two and it was fairly obvious to anyone fixing something in apartment but really not much was said.  It was a little higher end for the area.  Most apartments there were 800-1000 and it was 11 something.  Had washer/dryer in unit which was a bit extra but well worth it allergy wise.

EB24 said:

I think you make an excellent point, and I do agree that it is always best to just be honest. But, I do see the room for the argument that when funds are exceptionally tight and pet deposits are exorbitant there may be some wiggle room about disclosing the fact that you have a reasonable number of cats. But, as I mentioned, only in certain circumstances.

Click to expand...

Oh definitely. I wasn't replaying directly to OP, but rather the general thought that "if they don't allow pets, I'm just going to hide it". What I said about being upfront may be great for 2-3 cats, but I'm sure the deposit and such for 7, 10 cats is going to be sky high. I can't say I know what to do if I had that many cats. Right now I pay $20 extra per month for up to two cats. No additional deposit.

Pam's post is precisely what I believe pet owners should try to do when it comes to no-pet policies. I think it's discrimination (reading A andrya post, starting to think I should move to Canada instead :lol3, but I'm going to try to "fight" for our furkids, not by hiding them.

Thankfully I have never had a problem with renting with cats.  I had two cats while renting my last apt. but they allowed pets so no problem.  When I rented my first mobile home no pets were allowed unless you owned the home.  I told them I only had one cat (which I did) and said I could not rent unless I kept my cat with me, they rented it to me without an animal deposit or anything like that. 

I still live in the same mobile park but in a larger home and now have Autumn and still no extra deposit or rent.  I keep Autumn indoors as I always have and there has never been a problem.  Today a lot of things have changed with pets and apartments and I think that's really a shame. 

Winchester said:

I would never lie about having cats. It may come back to bite you later on.

Click to expand...

I think this is a good thing to keep in mind. I never thought about giving the management or landlord a copy of vet records and vaccines, that sounds like a good way to show to them that you're a reliable renter and responsible pet owner.

EB24 said:

 

Click to expand...

I definitely agree about the small vs big complex. I was hoping to find a small more personal complex so that I could explain the situation honestly, but it seems like everything that's available right now is in big complexes. I'm only looking at places that allow pets in the first place, I don't think it's a good idea to bring pets into a place that says no. That's just asking for trouble, unless you know what you're doing.

Fhi09 said:

 

Click to expand...

I can definitely understand that. I would be totally for talking it over with management and figuring something out, I'm just nervous about that because a lot of the places I'm looking at are big complexes owned by a company. I'm afraid they wouldn't be as likely to make exceptions.But I have visited one complex that would let you pay the deposit over a couple of months if needed, so maybe that's something I could ask about at other places. I had also never thought about getting a recommendation letter from a previous landlord, that's a good idea.

LaraLove said:

 

Click to expand...

Yeah I put off having my dishwasher fixed for a few days at my old apartment because I was worried about the maintenance guy seeing the cat lol. Then I realized, like you said, the maintenance guy probably doesn't even know or even care if I have cats.

We lived in a apartments for over 20 years prior to buying our house. I never had any issues.We never told them we had cat's either.They never asked for a deposit.However when I was a teenager and still

living at home, my parents were renting a townhouse. They had a no pet's policy. They didn't tell the landlord that they had a single cat. When the maintenance guy came in to fix the furnace one day,he decided

to rat them out! Jerk. There was no damage to the place either. They were told to get rid of the cat by the Friday. 

Since they were packing to go to the cottage for the weekend, they took the cat with them, as they  would have done anyways. So technically they did remove the cat. However they

snuck it back in when they came back on the Sunday. They never bothered calling the maintenance after that. However it is illegal for a landlord to evict a person just for owning a cat in an apartment in Ontario, might even be in Canada period, I don't know.

There was a landmark case that went to court on this very issue, where a couple had an elderly cat that wasn't doing anything but sleeping, that's all it did. So they got evicted. The couple took them to court and you know what hit the fan!!!  With all the negative publicity, the court sided with the couple, saying just having an animal wasn't enough to evict a person for. It was called the"Fluffy law"! True story! Unfortunately, most people here don't even know the law is in their favor!   

Unfortunately the U.S. still allows enforceable no pets rules.  It really hasn't been that long ago that no children rules were allowed.  That was finally struck down as discrimination by the courts.  Complexes can have separate no children areas as long as the areas aren't so large as to constitute discrimination and landlords don't have to rent a property that is too small for the number of people who want to live there.

I paid $150.00 ( $10.00 each month til it was paid off)  but now my manager doesn't know I have Bella & Thunder unless he sees them in the sliding glass door when he is cutting the grass, and just not saying anything.to the owner. There are others who have cats & 1 dog around here. So if I get blamed, I'm blabbing on others too.I just don't think it's fair. Cats don't tear up an apartment like a dog would. Time will tell I guess.

My husband and I live in an apartment with our new cat and we also lived here with our old cat too. I guess I have it easy since my aunt is the leasing manager becuase we don't have to pay for any cat deposit or anything extra a month for Mia. 

We were looking to move and when I found out the cost of the pet deposits, I nearly fainted!. It's very expensive...The month cost wasn't that bad for most apartments we found. Some charged $25 on top of rent.. Some charged $100+ on top of rent. It's pretty insane and I never understood why a lot of these leasing managers/owners want so much money for a cat... They don't do much.....

Anywho, I stayed with a cousin of mine a few years back and she had her cat in the apartment without management knowing about it and they never found out either. 

A lot of people disagree with not telling management and a lot of people will agree.. Me on the other hand... I'm too scared to "break the rules" I have such a guilty conscious it's ridiculous and it would bother me if I was constantly looking over my shoulder trying to hide my cat...

I would not rat anyone out.  For what to have more pets end in shelter/fast rehomes?

When we got our first cat we lived in a 3bed house and landlord was hours away.  We did not see point in telling.  When they put house on market they did find out we had some.  think they found out of 3 of the 6 inside cats.  We were there from late 80's till 2000 so the carpet needed replacing anyway(was few years old when we moved in) but only thing cats damaged was the carpet under doors from scratching to get in/out of bed room.

Obviously you do not tell landlord you have 5-15 cats...if you did almost no one would rent to you.  2 sounds so much better.  I would NEVER want to go through stress of saying no cats and having even just one as to me all is a hiding game-food litter,dishes and random toys if someone comes.