Pet Peeve

I am doing my best to put a positive spin on not renting to Heather. But, today's pool of callers is a bit discouraging. The highlight of today's calls was a guy who had marginal communication skills and a pit bull.

His communication skills became worse after I told him I don't rent to people with pit bulls. Or, perhaps his communication skills improved. I certainly understood what he was saying after I broke the news to him. Honestly! Am I the first landlord he has ever encountered who has this issue?

My pet reasoning is pretty basic. The bigger or meaner the animal, the more likely the critter is to cause problems. Dogs bred for aggression have the extra stigma of possibly hurting someone. That causes additional liabilities for the landlord.

Most of the time pet damage is only a few stray potholes in the back yard, stained carpet (which will probably be replaced when they move out anyway) or a chewed-on door jam. All fixable. People actually tend to do much more damage.

The difference is people--no matter who owns the home--are responsible for their actions. The person with the asset is responsible for the pet's actions.