If you have verifiable income, no criminal record, excellent credit, and no pets, you are an ideal tenant for any landlord. However, many individuals looking to rent an apartment do not possess all of these qualities. Even if an apartment does accept pets, they may hesitate to accept your type of pet or the number you have.
Although you may feel tempted to lie about your pet situation, this can have dire consequences, such as getting evicted or potentially having a lawsuit filed against you. Exercising honesty is essential, and doing this is easier when you know how to maximize your chances of getting your application approved.
Quarterly Inspections
Many landlords are hesitant to accept tenants with multiple pets because of the increased risk of damage, but not every pet owner is irresponsible with unwieldy pets. The reckless few often spoil it for the many responsible individuals, but you can entice a landlord by inviting them to inspect the place each quarter.
Higher Deposit
Refundable deposits are fair for both the tenant and the landlord. If you have enough money saved up, you can offer to pay a higher deposit, which they can use to cover for any pet-related damages.
Longer Lease
Just as landlords like when they are able to sign a 12-month lease compared to a 6-month lease, they will almost always welcome the idea of signing a 24-month lease in exchange for accepting all of your pets.
Pet Interview
Offering to have a pet interview is a great way to show confidence to a landlord. If you demonstrate that you have nothing to hide, they will most likely believe that you do not have anything to hide. If they accept the offer and the interview goes well, you are almost guaranteed to get the apartment.
Landlord Reference
Another way to make a landlord feel better is by showing up with a landlord reference. It is even better when you had this landlord with your pets and they are mentioned in the letter.
Paying Pet Rent
If you are not worried about paying a little more to live in a specific apartment, you can offer to pay pet rent for the extra pet, or for all of them to put your landlord at ease. It is best when you use this as a last resort, mainly because the monthly costs can add up, but it is a powerful bargaining chip.
It is unlikely that you will need to exercise all of these options to get into an apartment, but following your favorites tips is an effective way to find an approving apartment in a reasonable period of time.
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