Make sure any agreement is in writing, experts advise

Brian Morton
Sun

Finding a rental home that takes pets — particularly dogs — isn’t that easy. Pet-friendly apartments sometimes charge more for the privilege. Photograph by: Mark van Manen, Vancouver Sun files

So you’ve got a reasonably well-behaved, occasionally quiet, much-loved cairn terrier — Ruby, we’ll call her — who has been your best friend and soulmate for the better part of a decade.

But you’ve finally decided to move out of Mom and Dad’s house and are on the lookout for your first apartment.

However, with a vacancy rate of just 0.5 per cent, it’s hard enough already these days to find a place in Vancouver. How can you ensure that the new landlord will let little Ruby join you in your new abode?

Many Vancouver residents face a terrible choice when looking for a new apartment: Their home or their pet.

While Ontario, for example, has rules stipulating that landlords — without a very good reason — cannot refuse or reject tenants because of their animal companions, that’s not the case in B.C., as seven tenants of a West End apartment building found out recently when they were issued eviction notices because they had pets.

People who say they have a verbal agreement to keep a pet can quickly run into trouble.

“It’s better to have a written agreement,” Tom Durning, a senior staff member with the Tenant Resource & Advisory Centre (TRAC), a Vancouver-based non-profit organization working on behalf of B.C. tenants, said in an interview. “That way they have proof.”

Durning — who said most landlords are leery of dogs but not cats — also suggested getting a reference when moving from a place where you previously lived with your pet. That way, the new landlord knows you’re a responsible pet owner.

Suzanne Bell, executive director of the Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB), said the law requires landlord-tenant pet agreements to be in writing, although she added that oral agreements are sometimes accepted by dispute-resolution officers.

With so few apartment buildings allowing pets, many pet-friendly properties are more expensive than other properties.

In addition to paying higher rents, pet owners may also be required to submit a pet-damage deposit (a maximum of half a month’s rent) at their new place. Pet-damage deposits cannot be charged for guide animals.

Both the Residential Tenancy Act (RTA) and the Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act do not have any provisions that say whether pets are, or are not allowed. The landlord owns the property and can decide that pets are prohibited or allowed.

Under both acts, a landlord can include a term in the tenancy agreement that prohibits pets, restricts the size, kind and number of pets that may be kept on the premises, and establish rules about the tenants’ obligations with regard to pets kept on the property. A landlord and tenant can also negotiate a pet clause.

Where there is not a no-pets clause in the tenancy agreement, a landlord can still issue a notice to end the tenancy for several reasons, including if the tenant’s pet is unreasonably disturbing other tenants, seriously interferes with the safety of other occupants of the property, or has caused extraordinary damage to the property.

Factors that will be taken into consideration if a tenant disputes a notice to end tenancy because of a pet include whether the landlord has applied the same rules about pets to all tenants, and whether the landlord knew the tenant had a pet but failed to take any action right away. (For more information, visit the RTB’s website at www.rto.gov.bc.ca.)

Another way to avoid many problems is to search out pet-friendly apartments at mywestend.ca/rental-guide/pets.asp; or doghouserental.com/vancouver.

Durning says things may soon improve for renters, partly because of an increasing number of investor-owned condos sitting idle. “You could bargain with the landlord if you have a pet.”

LOOKING FOR A DOG’S HOUSE

These tools can help you find pet-friendly apartments:

– mywestend.ca/rental-guide/pets.asp

– doghouserental.com/vancouver

– Tenant Resource & Advisory Centre (TRAC): www.tenants.bc.ca; or 604-255-0546

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This entry was posted on Thursday, March 12th, 2009 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Real Estate Related. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.