Landlords tend to have a lot of leeway in determining what kinds of pets their tenants can have. Many don’t allow pets at all, and those that do often have breed restrictions and/or additional fees. This has led many pet-owning low-income earners to give up their pets in order to secure housing. In order to combat this issue, California has decided to standardize some pet restrictions for low-income rentals.
What landlords will no longer be able to do is ban pets outright, prohibit certain breeds, impose pet weight limitations, or collect additional monthly fees for pets. Landlords can still require a security deposit for pet owners or ban specific individual pets that are vicious or dangerous. The new law also sets forth a list of some reasonable restrictions. These include policies regarding nuisance behavior, leashing, liability insurance, and number of pets. The latter should be based on the unit’s size and not personal factors.
Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash