Unapproved Pets

Despite a tenancy agreement having a ‘no pets’ clause, some tenants are still keeping pets in their rental homes. This is a breach of the agreement and often tenants sneak a pet into a property if they are worried that the owner will not approve this.

Landlords are entitled to refuse or allow smoking or pets in their property, this is a landlord’s choice and is classified as lawful discrimination. As a landlord you should be specific as to whether the property will allow pets on the advertisement.

It is also worth considering if your property is likely to attract and be suitable for tenants with a pet. For example, if your property is fully fenced, we recommend you consider allowing pets. This will attract a bigger pool of prospective tenants and increase the chance of your property being tenanted quicker.

In this case, it is advisable to get the tenants to complete a pet application form and supply a photo with specific details of the pet. If your property is part of a body corporate, you will also need body corporate approval for each pet. It is also advisable to include a special term in the tenancy agreement that would require tenants to keep their pets outside only or require them to carry out pest control for fleas brought by their pets.

These special terms can only be set by either the landlord or a lawyer. Property managers are not allowed to write special terms to add to the tenancy agreement.

You must take note that you cannot insert a new special term to a fixed term tenancy renewal, otherwise, the tenant may dispute the new term as provisioned in section 70 of the RTRA Act.