Having a pet owner as a potential tenant may be more common than you think. There are over 80 million households in the United States that own a dog or a cat.
Some of those people may be looking for a place to live. If you run an HOA and are reading this, you are likely on the fence about whether you want to allow pets in a community.
Before you do, here are five things that you should know.
1. Remember the Health Certificate
In most states, pets are required to have some sort of health certificate. California is no exception to this as there are certain requirements for dogs and cats before they can settle into a home in the state.
For dogs, they have to have a vaccination for rabies once they turn four months old. If you are a new dog owner, you have to have a health certificate for the dog as well.
However, know that this is not required for every pet in California. If someone is adopting a cat to live in their home, there are no specific health certificate requirements for those pets.
If you are managing an HOA, make sure you are aware of which pets need documents.
2. Think About Leashes
This next point mainly applies to people that own dogs. If you are part of an HOA, you may throw in the suggestion of allowing people to have dogs as long as they are on leashes when they are outside.
Theoretically, this would minimize the chances of a dog going rogue and biting somebody. For those that are worried about their safety in the neighborhood from undisciplined dogs, this could be a good compromise.
3. Picking Up After Pets
Something else that may need to be addressed if you are going to allow pets is the owners picking up after pets that they take outside.
Let's face it, no homeowner wants to step outside and see another dog's poop on their front lawn. An HOA needs to state clear rules about this and have zero tolerance for it because it will result in complaints from homeowners that do not have pets.
If possible, you may have to enforce fines for pet owners caught in the act.
4. Maximum Pet Limits
One thing you may think about doing is enforcing the maximum amount of pets that one household can have. You may decide to only do this for animals that you take outside such as dogs. Or, an HOA may do this for general pets if they are afraid of the pets causing damage to the house.
5. Talk to Your Community
Finally, have an open dialogue with your community about pets if you do not currently have set rules on this subject. Get a sense of how homeowners feel about this and try to cater to what most homeowners want.
Prepare for Pets in a Community
These are some things that you should know about allowing pets in a community. Get a good idea of how your homeowners feel about pets, enforce rules for pets that are taken outside to common areas, and make sure that pets in your neighborhood have the proper documentation.
Do you need help forming pet policies? Message us here with your questions.
