Most landlords fear pets!
Many landlords dismiss the idea of allowing pets in their rental property for fear of the damage they may cause and subsequent loss of value to their homes.
Yet Australia has one of the highest incidents of pet ownership in the world, with 63% of all households owning a pet. These pets are often very much loved and seen as integral members of the family unit.
Well worth consideration…
With a shortage of pet friendly homes, tenants are often prepared to pay a premium to secure a property that will accept their pet. So by not accepting pets, landlords can often be often doing themselves out of money or just simply missing out on an excellent tenant only because they own a pet.
At Investors Edge, we recommend that you consider pets. We have rarely had a problem with a pet and never had an incident that was not rectifiable and paid for by the tenant. Prior to allowing pets in properties ‘reference checks’ are done to find out how they have behaved in previous properties and whether there was any problems or damage.
We have also inserted extra clauses into our lease agreement to protect the landlords property (see attachment).
So next time your property is coming up for lease, maybe pets are worth considering.
Investors Edge additional lease agreement clause for pets
Pets at the Property – Should the landlord have granted permission to keep pets as indicated in the tenancy schedule of this agreement, the following conditions apply for the duration of this tenancy, and any renewal or extension thereof:
a) The yard is to be kept clean and free from animal faeces.
b) Tenant agrees to clean up any rubbish/items scattered by the pet.
c) The animal is not permitted to be inside the residence at any time.
d) Any and all damage to the premises caused by the animal will be repaired at the cost of the tenant,who also accepts responsibility to protect and immediately rectify any damage caused to garden irrigation systems and fittings.
e) The tenant agrees to replace plants or vegetation damaged or destroyed by the pet either directly, or indirectly (ie. Plants died because garden irrigation system was damaged by pet).
f) Other than any pet listed on the lease and approved by the owner, the tenant will not keep any other animals of any kind on the rental property, (even on a short-term or temporary basis), including dogs,cats, birds, fish, reptiles, or any other animals.
i) The pet shall not cause any sort of nuisance or disturbance to neighbours. Noise, day or night, must not disturb others. The tenant agrees to do whatever is necessary to keep the pet from making noise that would cause a nuisance, and will take steps to immediately rectify complaints made by neighbours or other tenants.
Read an article on: “Attention Landlords: It can pay to allow pets in your Perth rental property”
