Hide this face? Why on earth would you do such a thing? (And a few legal-related reasons why sneaking pets into your apartment is not a good idea.)
Your lease says “no pets,” but Fluffy and Fido are so well-behaved. (And soooo cute!) Fido never barks. Fluffy knows not to scratch the door trim. And both of them stay indoors.
If you snuck them in, your landlord would never know. Right?
But should you risk it?
In this article, we walk through the pro’s and con’s of sneaking pets into your apartment or home… as well as the potential consequences.
Advantages to Hiding Your Pet
Okay, this part is easy: The advantage to sneaking your dog/cat/gerbil into the apartment is that you’d get to live together!
You don’t need to worry about choosing your dream apartment (which has a strict no-pet policy) vs. picking some mediocre apartment that allows pets. You get to have your cake and eat it too!
And that $250 non-refundable pet deposit? If you sneak your pets into your unit, you get to skip out on the fee!
That fee is ridiculous, anyway. Ugh, it’s just typical landlord greed. Why should you pay that? Your pets aren’t going to cause the landlord to endure 10 hours of extra cleaning, at a payrate of $25 per hour …
Hold on, though. Before you decide, “Case closed!,” let’s look at this issue through a few other filters.
But What If…
Let’s walk through two examples:
Situation #1: Your landlord allows pets, but charges a non-refundable pet fee. You want to sneak your pets into the apartment so that you don’t need to pay.
Situation #2: Your apartment is strictly no-pets-allowed.
Let’s start with the first scenario. This situation presents two questions: What’s the purpose of that fee? And what’s the consequence of not paying it?
Yes, the pet fee sounds steep. But believe it or not, there’s a decent chance that your landlord is barely-breaking-even on the cost of cleaning up after your pet.
“What?”
Pets cause tremendous wear-and-tear to a dwelling. They wear down the carpet. They paw at the doors.
This doesn’t create “damage,” per se. A landlord can’t point to the carpet and say, “The fibers have lost an effective extra year of durability.” But it’s a cost burden, all the same.
Furthermore, even if you’re a spotless cleaner, your landlord will need to ultra-power-clean when you move-out. Fur will collect on the baseboards, on top of the fan blades, and get trapped in the air filters. Fleas or ticks might live in the curtains or carpet. Dander will collect in the air.
That might sound nit-picky. But a future tenant could be allergic to dog or cat dander.
In order to make the unit “move-in ready,” the landlord needs to prep the space so that it’s ready for even the worst allergy sufferer. Your landlord needs to flea-bomb the unit, vacuum the vents and clear out the air-return.
The pet fee sounds steep, yes. But it covers the cost of the added cleaning and the excessive wear-and-tear.
“But my building is managed by MegaCorp. They don’t need the money.”
Okay, fine. If your sense of fairness won’t compel you, perhaps the risk of punishment will.
Speaking of punishment…
Eviction? Lawsuits? Oh My!
This dovetails nicely with Scenario #2: Your apartment is strictly no-pets-allowed. (Or it does allow pets, but you want to sneak one into your apartment anyway.)
What’s the purpose of a no-pet policy? And what’s the worst that can happen if you get caught?
No-pet policies are usually created for a few reasons:
Other tenants in the apartment might be allergic to cats/dogs, and sensitive to the animals living in a shared space.
The landlord’s insurance policy doesn’t cover dogs.
The landlord doesn’t want to deal with the cleaning / wear-and-tear issues listed above.
If your landlord has decided to implement a no-pet policy, and you sneak one into your home, you might be evicted.
That’s right: Evicted.
You’ll forfeit your security deposit, you’ll be forced to move (in the middle of winter), and you’ll have an eviction on your credit report.
Hold on, it gets worse. Let’s imagine your landlord’s insurance policy doesn’t cover dogs, which is the reason your building instituted a no-pet policy. Now, imagine this worst-case-scenario:
Your dog bites another tenant. The tenant sues your landlord. Your landlord then sues you.
Yes, it can happen. Eviction is not the worst-case-scenario; getting served with court documents is.
Even if you win (or, more likely, settle), your cash will get eaten away by legal fees. Your hair will turn grey. You’ll have trouble sleeping. And your friends will stop calling, because you’ve become such a downer lately.
Realistically…
Admittedly, that’s an extreme worst-case scenario. Realistically, your chance of getting a lawsuit is fairly slim (unless your dog is a biter). And if Fido bites, even a legitimate pet declaration won’t protect you completely (although it certainly won’t hurt).
Your chance of getting evicted, however, is pretty strong. After all, you’ve broken the lease in a major way. And if your landlord bans pets completely, then there’s probably a compelling reason (like lack of insurance coverage) behind that decision.
So let’s walk through these pro’s and con’s again:
Advantages of Sneaking Your Pet:
Live in any building of your choice
Waive the pet fee
Disadvantages and/or Risks:
Eviction
Damaged credit
Loss of security deposit
Potential lawsuit
Hmm. Even after putting all issues of ethics/fairness aside, a simple risk-reward calculation shows that the answer is clear:
Don’t sneak a pet into your apartment. It’s not worth the risk to your credit, your finances, and your future.
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