Have You Ever Been Refused a Place to Live Because of Your pets?

Suze, I can really empathize... I recently had to try to find a place to live with my four cats and a small dog. I found that most landlords just about hang up on you if you have more than "two" of ANYthing. And I have FIVE, in all. All I can suggest is to be persistent. Always try to rent from an individual, rather than a management company... that's the best way to "get lucky" and come across a fellow pet lover who will be sympathetic to your situation. That's what happened for me... that, and I found a house that had all wood and tile floors, so there was no concern about damage to the carpets.

A lot of places have rules like that. I'm sorry. You'll probably have to find a pet friendly place and pay a huge deposit to keep your baby

i have. actually more of an inquiry because we had dogs and need to transfer / move to a place near our work. most of those we ask does not accept tenants wqith pets or little children because they think they are too noisy.

Yes, I have dealt with this several times! And my dog only weighs 45 pounds! If I were you, I would just have someone keep her until you get settled in the place and then 'sneak' her in. I know that's not the honest thing to do, but it's rediculous if they won't make any effort at all to even work with you. Now, before someone jumps all over me for saying so...I've been a Property Manager and a Landlord. And I still feel the same way. Good Luck!

i hear you loud and clear sister! i went through the exact same thing a few months ago when i decided to switch to a better location. All the landlords said no when i told them that i had a dog! btw i have a male golden retriever named Ariel, he is 2 years old and very well behaved! but the problem is in my country people are not so fond of dogs! I was offered houses that were good for me but i felt that Ariel wont have enough space to move around freely so i turned them down! After 6 months of continous looking i finally found a house large enough and the landlord had no problem with me keeping Ariel around! As for your problem keep looking for a landlord that would accept Daisy if you dont manage to find such landlord than you must send Daisy away to your friends like you mentioned! i know its going to be tough for you but thats the only logical solution! in the meantime you could look for a house where the landlord wont object to Daisy!

Hi Suze, Most young dog owners making their start, go through the same thing you do. My ex and I searched high and low for a house we could rent that would allow a Siberian Husky. Like with Great Danes, most potential landlords assumed they were too big and would shortlist us but give it to someone else with a smaller dog or no dogs at all. I can't believe your landlord is only giving you a month to find an alternate solution. Unfortunately, we ended up looking for a new place to live for over 6 months before we were approved for this house. My landlord had never rented to dog owners before, but met Summer and us before he gave us the ok, and has since lifted the 'No Dogs Allowed' restriction on all of his rental houses as long as the people seem responsible. He's actually allowed me 2 more dogs since, and has never once complained, and he lives next door. Are you leaving your old place on good terms.. can you get a reference from your landlord stating how well behaved your animals are? The most unfortunate thing is that most landlords own their properties as investment income and fear that pets could ruin their place for new tenants and they could be forced to put thousands of dollars of repairs into it before it's rentable again. The struggle for the dog owner is convincing the landlord that their dogs won't do this. Beware of the landlord that has been burned in the past, it's actually easier to convince someone who's always had a No Pets restriction on their rental. They've never had to clean a pee stained carpet or clean dog hair from the furnace ducts. Something else you might try doing is writing Puppy CVs -- essentially it's a resume from your dogs applying for the house with you. State any obedience training they might have, if they've ever been involved in any dog sport (agility, obedience, conformation) and if they have any titles from the sports. Potential landlords will appreciate the time it took to put into those and might open themselves to the possibility of calling you back for more information. Worst case scenario, and something I myself don't condone, but I do know people that have is just mentioning the cat or the cat and the smallest dog, getting more information (would the landlord want to pop by unexpectedly? Does he/she live close? Would they mind postdated cheques for rent, or that you stop by to drop them off?), getting approved and sneaking the other dog(s) in. One friend I have has a Bichon and a Mastiff, but according to his landlord, only has a Bichon. Like I said, this could really backfire, but if you were careful and used it only as a short term solution, it might work. Best of luck.. keep us posted!

Considering how many people in this world have cats and dogs, it is very inconsiderate for landlords to ask pet lovers to get rid of their pet. My advice to you would be to look for another place to rent meanwhile keeping your dog at your buddies house until you find the right landlord. I know how you feel, I have 7 cats and even though other people have cats in the apartment complex, because it was taken over by a new company they are allowed to have cats but no one new is (me). Its really unreasonable considering YOU are renting the home, you are putting your blood and sweat into paying those monthly payments yet your land lord is not even trying to work with you. I can understand that they like to keep the place clean, but dont they understand, that we do too.

when we were younger we once tried to rent a house with us two, two cats and a dog but the no pets rule was applied. I do think some people are very narrow minded

well a lot of places are like that not wanting you to have animals, i have never had this happen to me. i have been in a caravan park once (i had a pup aged about 7 wks old) and my partner was working so we living in the caravan park for the few wks, and they tried kicking me out of the park

I recently went through almost the exact same thing. I have 3 dogs and a cat. One of my dogs is a St Bernard. And I had a month to move, and a baby due in a month. I was panicking. I did finally find someone. At first they told me 2 dogs, and I could sneak the cat in under the radar. But I told them I would get back to them because I wasnt ready to give up yet, and I didnt want to split my babies up. They called me back a couple days later and said that if I was willing to pay an extra $100 sometime before my lease was up in a year, or longer if I extended it, they would allow it. I was so glad I was persistent. I hope that you are able to find something. I know how terrible it feels to think you are going to have to split your "family" up. Good luck with your search.

I know excactly what you are going through.I think leaving her with a friend until you find a place is a very good solution....at least you know where she is and you can get her back.I had been forced to give my dogs away a few years ago....simply because we could not find a place that would allow dogs in a short period of time and didn't know anybody that was willing to keep them for us. The other thing I have done before is putting up a $1000 deposit....no that is not a mistake....this Lady really wanted that much and it was either pay or get rid of my dogs.Since I have been through that ones.....I decided I'd rather pay. I'm sorry i can't give you any better advice....but I do hope that you will be able to find a place where you can keep her.Best of luck to you!!!

I'm so sorry that you have to go through that! Some people just don't understand that big dogs usually do less damage than little dogs. I'd find a new place to live if I was you. Don't get rid of your furbaby! We had our apartment search limited to a couple of places because of our dog. Luckly, we found a nice place that encouraged pet ownership. We did have to pay a deposit, and a little extra each month, but they had walking areas and doggie "bags" for cleanup.

I have been somewhat limited in my apartment search (that I did just recently) because some places don't take cats (usually in that case they don't take any pets). Most places that do take pets want a pet deposit for them in addition to the security deposit you already pay. But sometimes they will work with you on this. For example, in the place in which I am about to move, they said they would bill me on the pet deposit and I can make payments on it, instead of having to pay it all at once. This helps quite a bit. It's even harder when you have a large dog. I hope that the sites suggested by another commenter have been of help to you.

We have been and the strange thing is that our pets are caged in aquariums. We have a bearded dragon (a reptile) and a Ball Python and both stay in their aquariums except when being directly handled by a family member. When potental landlords hear the kinds of pets we have, you should see the expression on their face. You would think that we told them that we had some vicious animal. I won't live somewhere without our reptile babies. We have had both for several years and they are members of our family.

no but I did look at a house one time and the guy that owned it said that he would not rent it to me and my boyfriend because we were not married, and one that would not rent to me because I was a smoker. but my dog comes first.

i've had this happen when i had 1 cat. their issue was "oh he might spray" (he was fixed,i had the papers),then it was might claw,it went on.. i've found some people just don't want pets,even tho they'll rent to people with kids who systematically destroy the place once they've moved in. i kept looking and eventually found a place,but you might also contact local animal groups and ask if they know any pet friendly places.