Pets and Apartment Restrictions

Call it the hidden variable of an apartment community’s pet population—visiting pets. While community teams have steadily gravitated toward crafting pet policies more reflective of the modern resident, these policies oftentimes omit this crucial component.

Citing a joint PetScreening-J Turner Research study, only one in four apartment residents supports breed restrictions while just one in five is in favor of weight restrictions. In addition, many insurance companies have removed pet breed restrictions from their general liability policies.

Apartment operators didn’t always have a bevy of data at their fingertips to help steer them toward more intuitive property procedures. But that’s no longer an excuse, as newfound pet data has made a compelling case for operators to overhaul their policies.

Apartment residents, like people everywhere, are absolutely crazy about their pets. Although it may sound cliché, renters feel like their dogs and cats truly are members of their families. The bond between owner and pet is unmistakable.

As apartment operators slowly abandon antiquated pet policies in favor of forward-thinking procedures that reflect the preferences of the modern-day renter, pet owners and non-pet owners tend to agree on several issues that conventional wisdom suggests they’d typically be divided on.

When non-pet owners were asked what their top three pet-related concerns are, it wasn’t fear, aggression or biting that topped the list. It was nuisance issues such as pet waste, excessive barking and unleashed dogs that perturb them the most.

While 76% of operators identify their property as being pet-friendly, a staggering 72% of renters say that pet-friendly housing is hard to find. As these numbers seem to contradict one another, finding the cause of this disconnect is crucial to creating a community that is pet-inclusive.

Property management is a liability-rich endeavor. So much so that the National Apartment Association Education Institute (NAAEI) offers a Certified Apartment Manager (CAM) course, and there is one full module on risk management. The CAM program is worth your consideration.