Pet owners struggle finding housing options

By Barbara Platts

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Looking for an apartment can be a difficult process, and bringing a house pet along is another, more expensive obstacle.

Every housing complex has a different policy on house pets. Meadowbrook Apartments, a popular housing community at the intersection of Bob Billings Parkway and Crestline Road, puts a 50-pound weight limit on pets and does not allow any in its new buildings. Another well-known set of apartments, The Reserve on 31st Street, has a no-pet policy, with the exception of fish in a tank with a capacity of 10 gallons or less.

Joe Wertzberger, Manhattan senior and current owner of an Australian shepherd mix, named Murphy, said many difficulties arose when trying to find an apartment that allowed pets.

“When you have a dog you have to get that out in the first couple questions to the landlord,” Wertzberger said. “Fifty percent of the time they don’t allow pets, and a lot of the time they have weight limits for them, as well as a pretty hefty deposit.”

Wertzberger and his two roommates rent a house from personal owners, who Wertzberger said are easier to work with than a managing company.

“At our current house there is no weight limit (for the dog),” Wertzberger said. “Personal owners usually allow pets and can be more lenient about the situation.”

It may be harder to accommodate a pet when renting from a managing company. Hilary Leibold, Chicago senior, faced a 25-pound weight limit and many other problems when it came to housing her husky-German shepherd mix, Josephine.

“A big obstacle was the pet deposit,” Leibold said. “I had to give half of a month’s rent for the dog.”

By law, half a month’s rent is the most a landlord can charge for a pet deposit. Robert Baker, director of education at Housing and Credit Counseling Inc., said that although landlords were restricted in the amount of money they could charge on a pet deposit, the law did not restrict the number of pets.

“The only thing that is clearly defined in the Kansas Tenants Handbook is the amount you can charge for the pet deposit,” Baker said. “However, pet could be singular or plural.”

Each landlord is able to decide if they want to allow pets in the space they are renting. They are also able to determine the standards and requirements for the pets.

“There are often odd requirements,” Baker said. “I have seen one that limits a pet to being no taller than six inches off the ground.”

A pet can often be a difficult roommate for a college student. Leibold said she had to give up her canine friend because her current environment didn’t work with a dog.

“I decided to give the dog to my parents. It’s hard to have a dog in college, especially in an apartment,” Leibold said.

But for those who want to have a dog, finding a place that fits the pet’s criteria is crucial. Wertzberger recommended looking at places with fences.

“If you are driving around looking for ‘for rent’ signs and you see a fence in the backyard, that is often a good sign that they allow pets,” he said.

After a year in an apartment with her dog, Leibold said her best piece of advice was to make sure the pet always had enough room.

“Space. Lots of space,” Leibold said. “It’s less about the apartment and more about the dog.”

— — Edited by Sam Speer

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