When a pain point arrives, one of two things typically occurs. Either a solution is presented, or people work around the problem.
For instance, imagine if grocery stores were suddenly outlawed. Otherwise-well-intentioned individuals would suddenly be forced to find ways to feed their families—even if that meant bending the rules.
The same concept was occurring in the rental housing world about 10 years ago. Permitting pets at rental properties wasn’t as common as it is today, but for pet-owning residents, living without their furry family member wasn’t a viable option. That led many typically rule-following residents to work around the problem, such as moving the pet in without disclosing it.
As properties loosened the reins on allowing pets to address that problem, many did so with restrictions—particularly regarding breed, but sometimes also including weight, number of pets, and age, such as not allowing puppies or kittens. As with the pain point above, residents found ways to work around the problem. That led to an influx of assistance animal requests for property teams to navigate, as residents would sometimes aim to pass their household pet off as service animal or an emotional support animal.
Not coincidentally, most of the top 10 dog breeds requested as ESAs are among the ones that are most frequently prohibited in rental housing. Residents with these types of pets don’t have a solution, so they aim to sidestep the problem. For property management teams, the mission should be less about policing the situation and more about devising a solution.
Potential Pet-Centric Solutions
As with many solutions, progress often occurs when you’re willing to reimagine the original process. That certainly rings true with pets in the rental housing world, as initial processes were hardly pet-friendly—if pets were allowed at all.
One of today’s most pronounced pain points is the issue of restricted breeds and resident attempts to skirt those rules, whether that means sneaking the pet into their home or trying to pass them off as an assistance animal. Properties can consider these solution-based alternatives to address the issue:
- Choose to evaluate pets on an individual basis: Rather than dismissing pets simply due to their breed, operators can choose to evaluate pets on a per-case basis. Tools are available to track the behavior history of the pet and its owner, which helps uncover any red flags. The property can maintain the right to deny the pet if any risks are determined, but this approach gives all pets a chance rather than being placed into a blanket risk category based upon breed. Well-intentioned pet owners will be willing to pay more to have their “family member” live with them, knowing many properties don’t allow them.
- Revisit insurance options: The general perception is that most general liability insurance providers operate based upon a banned breeds list. That is not always the case and definitely falls into the “myth” category. Property owners should be encouraged to check with their current carrier, as they might be surprised to learn that no such list is contained within their policy. If the insurance provider does utilize a banned breeds list, it might be time to shop around for one that doesn’t.
- Revamp your assistance animal evaluation process: For many property teams, determining whether an assistance animal is legitimate is a challenging process. You can’t legislate morality, of course, as a few bad actors are still going to lie. But that determination doesn’t have to fall on the shoulders of the on-site team, as owners can choose to outsource the practice to a team specifically trained for the various nuances of a reasonable accommodation request—the details of which we’ve discussed more thoroughly in previous columns. For properties that choose to evaluate pets and animals on a per-case basis, residents with insufficient assistant animal requests maintain the opportunity to live with their pet under regular household pet guidelines.
Just as it’s difficult to find a hotel that isn’t pet-friendly any longer, fewer and fewer rental communities do not welcome pets in any capacity. Pet-welcoming sentiment goes beyond traditional multifamily, as military bases, single-family, vacation rentals, short-term rentals and manufactured housing all experience pet demand.
Within any of these verticals, properties that choose to stick to the archaic practice of standard restrictions are being surpassed by those with forward-thinking pet policies.