For profitable property management, dealing with pets is inevitable. Landlording would be so nice if every tenant was a middle-aged couple who lead quiet lives, make plenty of money, are extremely OCD about cleanliness, have no kids, no pets, hate house parties…well you get my point.
If tenants were, well, robots, then everybody would be in rental properties…and it may be someday soon with Ai technology…but for now, we’ve got to deal with people and their love of a four-letter word that makes some landlords’ skin crawl.
P-E-T-S!
They dig holes in the new lawn you planted, leave scratch marks all over the walls you just had painted, they urinate and go ‘number 2’ on the pristine new carpet – and dig holes in that too!
They take you newly renovated rental unit and leave it a hairball, stinky mess, right?
Most landlords have nightmare stories of dealing with pets who do all of the above and don’t recoup all the expense they cost.
On the other hand, landlords who hire Utz Property Management to manage their units and tenants, just get to cash those monthly checks without worrying about nuances, such as pet damage.
They can rest easy because of the top of line…
Utz Property Management Pet Screening Process
You see, we partner with petscreening.com to offer the most detailed pet screening process available. If you don’t allow pets in your you could filter out a lot of really good tenants who have great pets that don’t come with a long rap-sheet.
And if you do allow pets without the RIGHT screening process, you just may accidentally invite Pet Cemetery into your home…oops!
This is why screening pets AND tenants is important. Plus, when you screen pets you add another layer of liability protection for your investment property.
Our pet screening service vets pets and validates assistant animals.
ABC Method for Detailed Pet Screening
Screening pets the right way is done methodically, using a method called the ‘ABC.’
A – Affirmation – This is where information on the general care of the pet is gathered from the owner. As should be expected, 99% of owners will not tell the whole story of a pet, so we gather more information.
B – Behavior – In this part of the screening, the history of the pet’s manner towards humans is taken into consideration. The big question here is, “Has this pet ever been aggressive towards humans?” Inviting Cujo in by accident can bring a lot of liability!
C – Compatibility – Here, we consider the pet’s breed, sex, age, vet history, weight, illnesses, and other factors.
FICO Score
These screening factors are used to calculate the pet’s “FICO” score – also called a paw rating. Pets are given a score on a scale from 1 to 5. It’s a shame, even pets are judged by their credit!
This will help us understand the risks related to housing the pet in consideration. Obviously, the more compatible pets have higher paw ratings than non-compatible pets.
We want pets that are not aggressive, have had all their vaccinations, are friendly and disciplined. We don’t want dogs the size of ponies, bark around the clock at the slightest sounds, and prefer human meat over Alpo!
Assistance Animals
Assistant animals are validated. Owners have documentation for these animals, which is required to validate them. Assistant animals help their owners get around, fetch things, deal with emotional stress, and other tasks.
Assistant animals are not considered ‘pets,’ which is why you cannot charge pet deposits for them, under the FHA guidelines. So, we ensure if an animal is touted as an assistant animal, that it actually is by checking the registration and paperwork on the animal.
Takeaway
Going through this process will ensure that you maximize rents by getting in plenty of tenant options and land on the best tenant.
It also ensures that your liability is minimized on the other hand by not inadvertently inviting in Evan Almighty as your next tenant.
