Understanding Pet Screening in Rental Properties

When a landlord or property manager is contemplating introducing a pet screening process in a flood prone area, there are important considerations to be aware of. Depending on the outcome of a potential flood situation, a pet screening requirement could have serious implications for both the tenant’s animal and the property manager.

Pet screening is defined as the policies, procedures, and tools used to assess the suitability of a tenant’s pet (or service animal) for the rental property.

As a high percentage of Americans own pets, having clear policies on pets can be a significant factor for tenants who are choosing a place to live. It’s vital for landlords and property managers to understand the laws and legal precedents for pet screening protocols to ensure that a potentially litigious situation can be avoided. Understanding the answer to questions like the legality of pet screening should be a top priority for any landlord or property manager. Failing to have appropriate screening procedures in place could lead to an animal allergy sufferer or phobic tenant becoming a new owner of a large dog, which could pose a risk to the policyholders, customers, and other tenants. In addition, it’s important to note that the presence of large or threatening animals in office buildings provides potential liability exposure for the landlord, occupant, and management company.

In some cases, there may be local or state laws regulating pet screening requirements for public buildings.

Natural disaster issues, including floods, often have an impact on housing policies. For example, landlords and property managers should be aware of Fair Housing Amendments Act (FHAA) issues that could affect policies surrounding multiple pet ownership. State laws also provide a framework for pet issue guidelines.

Many jurisdictions have pet screening management policies and/or laws stating that an animal that is considered to be a threat to public health or safety can be denied from entering a rental property.

When renting to a tenant with a disability, it is important to understand the legal obligations of the landlord. For example, under the Fair Housing Act, landlords may not enforce pet screening policies based on stereotypes, appearances or audible indications of association with dangerous/mischievous breeds.

Flooding issues can have a big impact on a tenant’s living area, and in these cases having pet screening policies in place can mean the difference between a safe or tragic situation. Many of the government funded or subsidized apartments in the country’s flood prone areas have safety structures and assistance personnel in place to support residents during a natural disaster. Unfortunately, some privately owned properties do not have the same safeguards and will rely on the pet screening process to determine whether desired tenants are likely to be safe residents in their complex.

Sometimes, there could be underlying causes that lead to inconsistent pet screening policies in a multifamily building. For example, when one neighbor has an unauthorized dog, other tenants may have a tendency to overlook the violation since they may not want to jeopardize their lease by pointing out the issue. However, if this unauthorized pet causes an incident, the entire building could be impacted.

Installing a pet screening app is a highly effective way to integrate this program into your regular application management process. Having a system that is integrated with your property management system means that you won’t have to manually process each request.

Ultimately, the best practices for balancing pet screening legality with environmental risk management is to have clear policies in place and to make sure that your leasing agreements include all of the details that can impact the tenant, the property, and other residents.