With more landlords opening their doors to pet-friendly rentals, finding tenants has never been easier. Pet-friendly properties attract a larger pool of renters, helping you fill vacancies faster. But with the benefits come concerns—how do you manage potential noise issues and property damage caused by pets?
That’s where pet screening comes in. But what is a pet screening, why does it matter, and how do you implement it effectively? Let’s break it all down.
Main Takeaways
- A pet screening is an assessment of whether a pet is suited to live in a rental property based on their behaviors and species-related traits. It’s intended to ensure the pet doesn’t pose a danger or nuisance on people or the property. A thorough pet screening should include questions about the pet’s training status, health, behaviors, and other points.
What is Pet Screening?
As one of the top property management companies in Baltimore, we’ll explain what pet screening is. Pet screening is like a background check, but for animals. It helps landlords assess whether a pet is suitable for living in a rental property based on their behaviors. For example, the landlord would want to ensure that the pet doesn’t have any aggressive behaviors, like biting or growling. They also would want to check that the pet wouldn’t disturb anyone else, such as barking throughout the night.
In addition, pet screenings typically factor in species-specific factors. As an idea, with cats, you might consider scratching habits; for birds, noise levels; and for reptiles, the type of enclosure they require. Essentially, pet screening ensures that the pet wouldn’t pose a threat or nuisance to other people or your property.
Why is Pet Screening Important?
Now that we have established what pet screening is, we need to explain just why it’s so critical for your property. Here are numerous reasons why it matters:
1. Protecting Your Property
Pets can cause untold damage, like scratched floors, chewed carpets, and worse-than-normal wear and tear. Having a pet screening process helps you reduce these risks by ensuring your property only has well-behaved pets. This helps you have the best of both worlds: you can keep your property in good shape while benefiting from the marketability of pet-friendly rentals.
2. Considering the Neighbors
Not everyone is a pet person, and even those who are still want a quiet, comfortable home. A pet that barks all night or causes disruptions can stir up tension between your tenants and leave them unsatisfied with their arrangement. Screening helps prevent such strife by making sure the pets in your rentals are a good fit for the community in the first place. All in all, it keeps things peaceful for everyone.
3. Mitigating Legal Risks
Some pets—like certain exotic animals or restricted dog breeds—might be illegal or come with liability risks. For example, as a not-so-fun-fact, monkeys can carry herpes B. This is lethal for humans, which is why monkeys cannot be legal pets in many states. Without proper screening, landlords could end up dealing with lawsuits or legal violations they never saw coming. A thorough pet screening process helps landlords create a pet-friendly but well-managed rental space, one that is safe and secure for tenants and property owners alike.
Now, let’s talk about how pet screening works.
The Pet Screening Process
Having a simple, structured pet screening process ensures that unsuitable pets don’t slip through the cracks. It lets you keep your practices streamlined and standardized. Here’s how it works:
1. Go Over Pet Policies with the Tenant
First, sit down with the tenant and explain your pet policies to them. Give them the policies in writing, such as areas the pets aren’t allowed in, any pet deposits the tenant must pay, or other key rules you should implement. Since every property is different, setting clear expectations for yours early helps you avoid any misunderstandings.
2. Pet Screening Application
This step helps you gather key details about the pet. Ask essential questions, such as:
Basic Information: First, you should ask them which type of pet they have, how old they are, their weight and breed, and how long the tenant has had them.
Training Status: Now, you can ask if the pet’s been house-trained and/or trained through training programs, as well as if they understand (and respond to) simple commands.
3. Conduct a Pet Interview
This is a face-to-face check to confirm the details in the application. You’ll see if the pet matches the information your tenant gave—like breed, size, and photo—while also clearing up any concerns from the screening.
4. Make an Informed Decision
Once you’ve gathered all the necessary information, you can decide whether the pet meets your rental criteria. A thorough pet screening process helps you confidently approve pets that are a good fit while minimizing potential risks.
Extra Tip: Service and Emotional Support Animals
Under the Fair Housing Act (FHA), tenants have the right to request reasonable accommodations, which can include keeping an assistance animal in a pet-free property.
Unlike regular pets, service animals and emotional support animals (ESAs) are not subject to pet screening fees, pet rent, or breed restrictions. However, landlords can request documentation to verify the need for an assistance animal.
Make Sure Your Property is Pet-Friendly and Protected with BMG
It’s critical to have a thorough pet screening process in place. To do this, you should go over your pet policies with your tenant, create a meticulously crafted pet screening application, and finally, meet the pet in-person. By weeding out misbehaving, ruckus-causing pets, you can ensure your rental stays clean and quiet for all residents.
That said, drafting an ironclad, airtight pet screening process is easier said than done. Implementing that process for each and every pet in your rental, even more so. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Beyond that, you have to deal with tenant screenings, inspections, rent collection (for humans and pets alike!), legal compliance, and so much more. Needless to say, it’s all a lot for one person to juggle alone.
That’s why Bay Property Management Group exists. Our specially trained professionals take care of those responsibilities on your behalf. We handle the details of your property’s day-to-day operations. That way, you can focus your time and energy on generating a profitable investment. Contact us today to have less on your plate.
