I hate to be one of those people, but I have some questions about pet fees and or deposits.

Got a dog so went into apartment leasing office with the intent of paying deposit. It was right before they closed at 5:30 so everything went quick. Employee told me it was $300, so I write out check, put "pet deposit apt#" in memo, tell her what breed it is, she looks it up, says cute! and then I leave.

Move out, and get our final account statement and everything looks great, except I don't see the $300 credit for my pet deposit. Roommate calls the office and they tell him it's a pet fee. Now, I understand the difference between the two, but it was my impression I was paying a pet deposit.

Look through lease our lease says nothing about pets, except the bit about service animals and that there is a separate pet addendum. I know they never had me sign this when I paid the $300.

I'm not trying to be petty, 300 isn't going to destroy me, but at the same time I'm not at a point in my life where I'm ok just writing that off if a little leg work can get it back.

We received our move out statement 1/28 and I emailed asking about the fee/deposit and requested a copy of the signed addendum for clarification. No response, so I followed up today 1/30.

Am I chasing my own tail here?

This is coming from someone with a lot of experience owning pets and renting: Unless they want to be very nice, and leasing offices never want to be nice, you will not see this money. If I read your post correctly, you said that they didn't have you sign a pet addendum, either. If that's the case, you're petty lucky to have been able to keep your pet in the apartment all of this time with no issue.

If your pet urinated/vomited/whatever on that carpet at all, do not be surprised if they try to send you an additional bill for replacing or cleaning the carpet. I understand your situation, but it's best assume that the money is gone. Sure, you never get what you don't ask for, but once you're denied, it's useless to fight it.

I was not expecting to get the 300 back at all, they replaced the carpet and a wood door frame that was damaged. I'm perfectly fine with that but my problem is I payed the money under the impression it was a security deposit against the increased possibility of damage because of a pet and would be applied as any security deposit would.
I'm not trying to get that exact 300 back, but have it count towards making the apartment rentable.

The pet addendum for our new place specifically spells out that the pet deposit is considered an additional security deposit. Which imho is how it should be. I would imagine had I signed the addendum at the old apt it would spell out that it was a nonrefundable fee and that would be the end of it. But what I'm curious about is if I can push the issue that the 300 was paid, and accepted as s security deposit since they have no proof otherwise.

If you never signed anything, you could theoretically take the complex to small claims court to try and win back the $300.

You're going to need to see what the active pet addendum for the date you signed the check said in reference to where the money goes. Usually the ones I see say $X goes to damages, $X amount is a non-refundable fee. Even if you didn't sign a pet addendum, the complex could argue that you at least knew what was in it because you paid the amount of money required to have a pet. There's at least some base for a verbal agreement between you and the agent of the complex.

However, stop emailing them. Go in person and talk to the manager of the complex and ask to see all copies of your paperwork while you are there.

It's $300. Every apt pretty much has a pet fee, plus refundable pet deposit, plus pet rent.

Just be happy it's only $300 and move on. Besides, you said they had to replace a door frame, I'm assuming from your pet chewing. Seems they'd be justified keeping the money

Meggy...

Not to be a bummer, but I'll wager that was a pet 'fee' and not a 'deposit'. I was a Landlord in Texas for five years (until this past August), and always charged a $300 FEE. Regardless of how well you maintained your place, Landlords almost always have to repair or replace or clean areas affected by that little four-legged darlin' run in' around your place (I'm with you by the way....we have three cats and two dogs in our house).

Probably best to look forward rather than behind. Sorry to be the bearer of that perspective.

I appreciate all the input, but feel I wasn't being very clear. I have absolutely no problem paying for any damages caused by my pet or otherwise. We paid a 1200 deposit before moving in. Then paid what I understood to be extra security deposit for a pet. I expected the repairs to be taken out of 1500, not just the 1200 with the 300 being sunk.

I am now 100% sure that they intended that 300 to be a fee only. At the time I 100% expected that 300 to be a deposit. It was never conveyed to me verbally or in writing that what I was paying was nonrefundable. We obviously entered into an agreement with the exchange of funds. Just both parties had opposite expectations.

$300 isn't a world changer, but it's maybe a months worth of beer and bullets. It would be nice for me, personally, to have back, especially after all necessary repairs have been made.

I understand FEEs are designed to dissuade pets because of the extra problems involved with that. I was just curious if there was a good way for me, in my situation, to recoup that money seeing as the apartment has already been made whole from the initial deposit and this 300 is just gravy for them.

I also realize this is probably a losing battle, was just checking.


Thanks again!

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It was never conveyed to me verbally or in writing that what I was paying was nonrefundable. We obviously entered into an agreement with the exchange of funds. Just both parties had opposite expectations.

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You didn't ask to read and sign the pet addendum that is clearly mentioned in your lease agreement?

I don't think you have a case worth persuing. This is something you should have asked for in writing when signing the lead.

It sucks but live and learn.

Most places have a non-refundable pet fee, a possibly (but never actually) refundable pet deposit, and then a normal security deposit.

Be happy you only paid one of those. Any payments made for pets are usually sunk costs because they (should) go to carpet replacement/deep cleaning and repair work in case the next tenant has allergies or something like that. It sucks that it wasn't communicated better to you, but in the future you know to ask what payment is what.

I charge $500. $250 is non-refundable. $300 is reasonable as it is essentially $25 more a month in rent in order to have a pet.

A 'deposit' does not infer that it is refundable. There are non-refundable deposits. So your angle of saying this should be called a fee instead of deposit is kind of moot IMO.

I own five 3-2-2 homes in the southside historic area. When I read this type of story
I always wonder why people rent from this type of operation. I have been preleasing my homes for August the past couple of days and have had the chance to visit with some great young AGS.
I told this story twice yesterday. I have a $300.00 pet deposit and it is 100% refundable if there is no damage at the end of the lease. I love giving back 100% deposits. It makes for a really easy turn for me. (Does not happen very often but it does happen. Most college aged kids do not know what clean is much less how to do it.)
If you have animals and are looking for a place to rent try to find a local owner to deal with. Most of us have raised our families here and we love Aggies.

With apartments, I've found it's always just best to let things be after you move out. Unless they are keeping your entire security deposit for no reason, or actually trying to make you pay for something ridiculous, don't bother. And this is coming from an attorney. You can go to small claims court if you want, but after filing fees of somewhere between $75 and $150, plus the time you'll have to spend figuring out the process, plus no guarantee that you'll even win...what's the point.

The Texas Association of Realtors has an Addendum that's called the 'Pet Agreement.' As a former Landlord, I think this is critical to any new lease. Unless the dog weighs less than 15 pounds, there is almost always residual effects from leasing to someone with a pet. The tenant may complain, but in my experience, that $300 fee never went to my bottom line...it went to repairs and maintenance to cover that 'little' four-legged darlin'.

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A 'deposit' does not infer that it is refundable. There are non-refundable deposits. So your angle of saying this should be called a fee instead of deposit is kind of moot IMO.

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per merrriam-webster:
deposit: money that you pay when you buy or rent something and that you can get back if you return the thing or leave it in good condition

a "non-refundable deposit" should be called a fee

you chose one usage of the word. Deposit doesn't necessarily mean refundable. That ambiguity would make it very unlikely for a court to rule in the OP's favor.

Lesson learned...get everything in writing.

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I own five 3-2-2 homes in the southside historic area. When I read this type of story
I always wonder why people rent from this type of operation.

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My goodness, get off your high horse. You have five leases. That's adorable. It's an apples and oranges comparison until you know what it's like to deal with hundreds of leases at once, not to mention a wide variety of renters that can be much bigger pains in the butt than you may realize.

Figure I'd bump this as it has been resolved.

Waited 30 days with no response from leasing office (calls and e-mails). Sent certified letter asking for deposit return to the company listed on the tax records and they mailed me a check for the
$300.

Again I have no problem paying for any damages myself or my pet caused, I paid extra in rent for the animal as well. I just don't see having a fee for a pet and not using any of it to fix any of the increased wear and tear from the animal. I get that it can be a deterrent etc. just seems pretty crappy. It's also not my job to make sure they follow their SOP. We entered into an agreement for me to have a pet and they accepted payment that they couldn't prove was a fee vs deposit.


Also side note. There is very much so a difference between a fee and a deposit. Many states have made non-refundable deposits illegal, causing the need for the distinction between fee and deposit.

Congrats!