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Pet Policy Basics – St. Louis Property Management Education for Landlords

selectstl • Oct 05, 2016

When you’re leasing your St. Louis rental property, you’ll need to decide whether you want to allow pets. It’s your decision as a homeowner, but at Select Leasing & Management, we always recommend that you do, simply because of the large number of St. Louis tenants who do have pets. As long as you have a great pet policy in place, you’ll be able to protect your home against any potential pet damage.

Benefits of Allowing Pets

When you decide not to allow pets, you’ll have to prepare for a decreased pool of potential tenants. That means you’ll have a longer vacancy time, and you may need to accept less money for your property. We have found that generally, people with pets stay longer in the property. Pet owners typically make great tenants.

Setting a Pet Deposit

You can do one of two things with your pet deposit. Some landlords will charge a non-refundable pet deposit. We like to make our pet deposits half non-refundable and half refundable. This gives tenants the opportunity to get something back if they take better care of the property while living there with their animal. It provides incentive.

Pet Restrictions

Your St. Louis pet policy can include restrictions on what you will allow. For example, we say no to any exotic pets. You can charge a pet rent that might be an increase of between $25 and $50 to the regular monthly rent. You can also restrict the size of the dog or cat you’ll allow. Some landlords will allow pets up to a certain weight, but not allow larger animals.


Putting together a great pet policy is an excellent way to allow pets while still protecting your investment. If you have any questions about your St. Louis pet policy or anything at all pertaining to St. Louis property management, please contact us at Select Leasing & Management.

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