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Archived Message

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
by Princess

Is it me, or is it becoming harder to find an apartment that accepts pets! I am now forced to sneak my Maltese in. Anyone in the same boat?

DISCUSSION:

Yes, It is most definetly harder to find an apartment in my area to find an apartment that accepts dogs. Here in San Diego, California a local company publishes a magazine that I can get free at any grocery store. The magazine is called "For Rent". It is usually located on a rack in the front of the store with a bunch of other free junk magazines/flyers. It lists most apartments in the area (who are willing to advertise) and it lists each one's attributes (i.e., pool, sauna, accepts dogs/cats, etc.) Reading that magazine made it easy for me to find an apartment that I liked and accepted dogs. Are there similar magazines in other areas that people would like to share about.
-Chuck Norman

I move quite frequently(about every year),mainly while I was attending college. The no pets allowed topic was a very big concern of mine while searching for an an apartment. Usually when contacting a landlord or apt complex office, that was one of the first questions I asked (along with the age,color and wear of the carpet!). I know what you are going through. It's very difficult to find a nice apartment that will accept pets. A question I often will ask the apt manager is "even though your lease specifies no pets, is it possible to pay an extra deposit you feel would be fair and state in the lease that if at the time of vacating the premises, any portion of the apartment that they felt needed repaired or replaced(ex..carpet) due to the pet, I would agree to pay for." Usually the biggest concern by landlords is the carpet issue. If you tell them that you would be willing to pay for the replacement of the carpet if the dog ruined it, some landlords may consider the offer. If you do get one to agree (and I have gotten some to), make sure you include on the lease what the carpet looked like in detail, including wear and stains when you moved in! Good luck in finding one!!
-Angie Ellis