Quick Question - pets

feelpablo

Ok this might be a bit of a weird one and i have a feeling I know the answer all ready so please be patient with me!

So my girlfriend and myself are renting a property and love the place and will hopefully be there for a good while yet but part of the rental agreement was strictly no pets.

Now I'm a dog lover and she is just dying to get a dog so i was wondering that the next time i meet the landlord (who seems to be a very nice person) should I bring the subject up with him?

I was thinking around the lines of drawing up an agreement that any damage done by the dog would be settled by ourselfs and i have no pronlem with that at all.

Is it just a pipe dream or am I barking up the wrong tree

thanks in advance

athtrasna

Is it a house or an apartment? Is it in a managed estate? If so, chances are the owner's deeds say no pets and it's a non starter.

Otherwise, no harm in asking, but if they have gone to the trouble of putting in a strictly no pets clause in the contract...you probably know already what the answer is.

quaalude

feelpablo wrote: »

Ok this might be a bit of a weird one and i have a feeling I know the answer all ready so please be patient with me!

So my girlfriend and myself are renting a property and love the place and will hopefully be there for a good while yet but part of the rental agreement was strictly no pets.

Now I'm a dog lover and she is just dying to get a dog so i was wondering that the next time i meet the landlord (who seems to be a very nice person) should I bring the subject up with him?

I was thinking around the lines of drawing up an agreement that any damage done by the dog would be settled by ourselfs and i have no pronlem with that at all.

Is it just a pipe dream or am I barking up the wrong tree

thanks in advance

A friend of mine moved into a place a few months ago - it had a "no pet" clause in the lease. After a while, she really wanted a cat though, so she chanced her arm and asked the landlord very nicely if she could get one, and he said "Sure, no problem at all". I guess the "no pets" clause was standard in the contract and he didn't bother changing it.

feelpablo

Cheers for the replies folks.

The house is a detached house outside of a village on its own grounds.
A recent enough building with plenty of space in the backyard too.

I guess its just a matter of having a chat with the landlord at some stage and see what he reckons but he had problem tennats before us and that could be a factor.

Maybe if i should him a picture of some puppies it might soften him up to it!!

Duckjob

Can't hurt to ask.

Just be sure to emphasise that you would uphold fairness in the arrangement and in the event of any pet-related damage occurring you would of course bear any associated repair/replacement costs yourself.

If you already have a good relationship with the LL, then he probably won't want to risk losing you and having to replace you with a new tenant that could turn out to be a nightmare.

Penny Dreadful

As a landlord I'd say talk to him about it and you might get lucky. I recently had to evict tenants from my house for getting a dog.
There was a strict strict strict no pets allowed clause in the lease and they went ahead and got a puppy anyway.
Long story short, the place was ruined by the puppy and the tenants, while ok about leaving were really difficult about paying for the damage caused. They are now living at home with the parents of the boyfriend as they can't find anyone who will agree to take a pet.

Absolutely no harm in asking, my tenant's have a rabbit living in the apartment despite their original lease stating no pets

Victor

Puppies have accidents and do things they aren't meant to. Showing the landlord puppies might not be the best idea, especially if you intend it to be an indoors dog. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056387912

echosound

Absolutely no harm in asking. A lot of landlords have standard leases drawn up and the no pets stipulation is normally included, even though it may not have been a specific request of the landlord to have it included.

I've been renting for circa 14 years and have always had at least one pet (currently have 2) and never had too much hassle over it, as I tend to go for houses that would accommodate animals (detached houses with gardens rather than say, an apartment block).

In fact I first ended up having a cat in the first place as a student due to a LL's insistence - I found an abandoned helpless kitten dumped on the side of the road as I was walking home one day, so I carried him home so I could dump my college stuff off before going on down to the local vets to get it seen to and rehomed, and the LL (who lived beside me) saw me arrive with the kitten and insisted I had to keep the little dote after I got it seen to

Our current house - when we viewed, I was upfront with the LL and told him we had a small housetrained indoor dog and a lazy old housetrained cat when we expressed interest in renting the house, and told him we'd understand if he didn't want tenants with pets. He took out the lease, drew a line through the no pets allowed clause, and asked us when we wanted to move in (as an aside, he also had awfully problematic tenants before us, I'm talking months of unpaid rent and a destroyed house, so as you are already living there and proving yourself as reliable tenants, your LL may be happy to allow you have a pet).

You say you are renting a house in the country with large gardens etc, in my experience LLs in the country are far more accommodating of pets as they tend to have one themselves or are more used to being around animals than LLs of city houses/apartments. A complete generalisation, I know, but one which has held true in my experience.

Good luck with asking!

Knine

I'm renting and have a small zoo in my house

When I decided I wanted to get some pets I discussed it with the landlord and he never had any issues with it. In fact I ended up adopting one of his pets too that the kids got fed up with it.

Of course I'm very careful and would never let the dogs do any damage and crate them at night when I'm not able to watch them.

When I was looking for somewhere to rent, I found once the landlords of houses I was viewing met me, they didnt have any issues with pets.

I would suggest you have a chat with your landlord and maybe offer him a Pets deposit that is non refundable should the dog do any damage.

Ray Palmer

I love dogs but would be very unlikely let somebody have a puppy in a rented place. They are really destructive for quite a while especially when teething. I wouldn't think much of somebody having the dog alone a lot either.

Worth asking but you probably will lose your deposit as the puppy will definitely cause damage

ABajaninCork

Ray Palmer wrote: »

I love dogs but would be very unlikely let somebody have a puppy in a rented place. They are really destructive for quite a while especially when teething. I wouldn't think much of somebody having the dog alone a lot either.

Worth asking but you probably will lose your deposit as the puppy will definitely cause damage

Sorry, but cannot agree with the last part of your sentence. If you'd said kittens, then yes, they can be very destructive even with the best efforts of the owner (scratching posts, closing off rooms, etc).

But with puppies? If you know what you're doing, and spend plenty of time and effort with them especially when teething, then damage can be limited, or even none at all. I have had several puppies and have a dog now. NONE have ever destroyed my house - rented or otherwise.

I've also had three cats (all raised from kittens). My 3 piece suites could tell you a story or two!

But I do agree with the others. Ask the landlord's permission - you might just get lucky!

Hope all goes well for you and the new family member.

Lawrence1895

I would suggest to get a pet insurance with third party liability. As far as I know, this should cover any possible damage to the rented property, eg. furniture. Nothing might happen though, but it eases the landlord's mind in many cases.

borderlinemeath

Ray Palmer wrote: »

I love dogs but would be very unlikely let somebody have a puppy in a rented place. They are really destructive for quite a while especially when teething. I wouldn't think much of somebody having the dog alone a lot either.

Worth asking but you probably will lose your deposit as the puppy will definitely cause damage

I would much sooner let a house to renters with pets than a family with children. My OH currently has a house let out to a tenant with 3 dogs, she's been there years, no problems. (two of them since they were puppies). He has let other houses out to families and the damage and destruction done by kids has been far worse - such as -

Carpets destroyed with paint, curtain rails pulled down by kids (4 year old!) swinging out of it, rip in the sofa (allegedly from a childs shoe catching in it), repainting two rooms because of scribbles on walls, rehanging and fixing kitchen door cupboard as it had come of hinges, a large dent in the fridge, the list goes on. And sure it's only kids..

Ray Palmer

borderlinemeath wrote: »

I would much sooner let a house to renters with pets than a family with children. My OH currently has a house let out to a tenant with 3 dogs, she's been there years, no problems. (two of them since they were puppies). He has let other houses out to families and the damage and destruction done by kids has been far worse - such as -

Carpets destroyed with paint, curtain rails pulled down by kids (4 year old!) swinging out of it, rip in the sofa (allegedly from a childs shoe catching in it), repainting two rooms because of scribbles on walls, rehanging and fixing kitchen door cupboard as it had come of hinges, a large dent in the fridge, the list goes on. And sure it's only kids..

Had lots of puppies had lots of tenants.
Young children most destructive force.
Dogs caused massive damage, puppies casued more. Tenants being careless with children and pets means damage. Rather not rent to anybody with them from experience. Cats strangely have never casued any damage and a number of tenants had them.

borderlinemeath

Ray Palmer wrote: »

Had lots of puppies had lots of tenants.
Young children most destructive force.
Dogs caused massive damage, puppies casued more. Tenants being careless with children and pets means damage. Rather not rent to anybody with them from experience. Cats strangely have never casued any damage and a number of tenants had them.

If you want to limit your market by all means do.

I just find it strange that tenants offer and are more willing to give a "pet deposit" when kids do as much, if not more damage.

Ray Palmer

borderlinemeath wrote: »

If you want to limit your market by all means do.

Don't worry I am doing fine and never had a place vacant longer than a week unless I wanted it that way

feelpablo

Thanks for all the replies folks, looks like I'll have a bit of mulling over to do in the n3ext few months