Andrew-Schultz.com

I was speaking to my mother today, on the phone.  My mom, who owned several rental properties at one point, decided to tell me about one of the tenants that she thought was just peachy, until they moved out.

These were the model tenants, the kind that every landlord and investor hopes to get, for every unit, every time.  They were a younger couple with no kids, but they had 2 cats.  Their rent was always in on time (if not early!) every month.  They kept the place well.  He did a lot of the little repairs himself, and there were never any problems.

Now, generally my mom didn’t want pets in the apartment, but the couple said the cats were both litter trained, and declawed.  My mother, being the trusting soul that she is, decided to let them have their cats, sight unseen.  This turned out to be a huge mistake.

When the tenants moved out, my mom went in to inspect the apartment.  The smell of cat urine that smacked her in the face the moment she walked in told her she was in for a treat.  The “litter trained” cats had been using the brand new carpeting as a toilet for the year and a half the tenants were in the property.  In addition, the cats had clawed through the wall and had been in and out of the wall, doing whatever they pleased.  Needless to say my mother was furious, and the tenants didn’t get their security deposit back.  Their security deposit didn’t cover even half the damages that were caused by the stinky cat smells and waste-soaked hole with newly installed cat door that needed to be replaced.

What sort of lessons should a new landlord or investor take from this little horror story?

1.    Make regular inspections of the property, inside and out. Your lease should allow for access with 24 hours notice for maintenance issues.  Changing an air filter, checking smoke alarm batteries, or getting a meter reading is a good opportunity to make sure your investments are being treated fairly by the tenants!  I’m not suggesting you snoop, but you should know that the tenants aren’t tearing the place down around you.

2.    Always have a pet deposit or monthly pet fee as I had described in the article on lease clauses (here).  The extra fee or deposit will help cover the incidental damages of even the “perfect pet”.

3.    Make sure you meet the pets that are moving in. You should be writing the specifics of the pet into your pet clause, but making sure that the litter trained and declawed cat is really declawed can save you a lot of headaches down the road.