The cost of pet rent is rising — and contributing to a crisis

For several years, I have considered leaving New York City. Maybe I can take advantage of the high rents in my Brooklyn neighborhood to rent out my co-op, move somewhere cheaper, and get some cash in my pocket.

The first area I started looking at was Lancaster, PA, which recently came in at no. 14 on Realtor.com’s Hottest Markets list.

I visit a friend there often and fell in love with its green and gold landscape, rustic farmland and historic buildings, and the quaint aesthetic of regularly seeing Amish horses and buggies on the road.

Also, it must be cheaper than NYC, right?

Is it cheaper to rent? Not if you have pets

As I searched through the rental sites, things looked promising – at first. Rents in Lancaster averaged $1,600. Compare that to the Brooklyn average of $3,800!

I was happy to see that all the newer buildings had plenty of amenities (decks, pools, gyms) and were described as “pet friendly.” This was a must because I am the proud servant of three cats.

But a deeper dive revealed that this supposed pet-friendliness came with a price — and a steep one: All the rental buildings I looked at required a nonrefundable pet fee of $350 to $500 and also they required me to pay monthly – €œPet rent.â€

What is a pet lease?

“Pet rent is an additional monthly fee charged by the landlord on top of the regular rent,” says Property Club’s 2024 pet rent guide. “This is intended to cover increased wear and tear and potential damage caused by pets over time – pet rent is non-refundable, as it is considered part of the monthly rent payment. It is an additional cost that many apartment complexes are increasingly charging tenants.â€

Average pet rent per pet can be as low as $25 per month and up to $100 per month for more upscale buildings, according to Property Club.

Two complexes I looked at in downtown Lancaster, 202 Queen and The Foundry, charged $35 and $50 per pet, per month, respectively, and that was on top of a non-refundable pet fee of $300 per pet and $500 for two pets. (All the buildings I looked at had a two pet limit. Dogs were often more expensive than cats.)

The high cost of pet ownership leads to pet surrenders

Beyond the monetary costs, there is the larger societal cost of such expensive pet policies. Pets are being thrown onto the streets at alarming rates. I know because I am a long time volunteer for animal rescue groups and often rescue abandoned pets myself.

For the past year, I haven’t gone a month without finding a former friendly pet who is desperately trying to live outside – infested with parasites and fleas, sometimes sick or injured, and usually exhausted.

Often a cat will be dumped by a former owner who moved away, leaving the animal behind to fend for itself. Dogs are found tied to trees or fences, a note attached stating that the dogs can no longer be cared for.

Then there is shelter overcrowding. Nationwide, animal shelters are in crisis. In 2023, according to the National Animal Welfare Statistics, 6.5 million animals entered shelters, and the number of animals waiting to leave shelters increased by 177,000 in one year.

With home ownership costs skyrocketing, Americans are increasingly forced to rent. And with high pet rental fees, it stands to reason that these extra costs are contributing to a pet abandonment crisis.

“Most of us consider our pets to be part of the family; but unfortunately, these bonds are being tested by the tight housing market,” says Susan Riggs, senior director of housing policy for the ASPCA. “While most renters are feeling the pinch of rising rental rates, lower-income renters are particularly hard-pressed when life circumstances force a move, as the combination of moving costs, rising rents and deposits leaves families with pets household with few possible options on the market. When landlords allow pets, they often require additional pet fees, deposits and/or rent, forcing tenants to make the difficult choice between keeping a roof over their heads or giving up a beloved family member.â€

A small animal rescue group in Brooklyn often feels the brunt of these policies.

“The most common reasons we get for people giving up their pets are cost and moving,” says Sean Casey, founder of Sean Casey Animal Rescue. “Pet rentals combine both things at once. A one-time pet deposit should be sufficient to cover potential damage from a pet. Renting animals on top of that seems excessive.â€

These pet-unfriendly policies not only place a financial burden on renters — especially low-income renters — but will discourage or make it impossible for people to care for homeless pets. This makes it difficult for rescue teams to pick them up, which increases the likelihood of pets being dumped on the street.

At least one state hopes to mitigate some of the damage. Colorado recently passed a law that limits the amount an owner can pay for pets in a refundable $300 deposit and $35 per month – per unit note per pet – or 1.5% of rent, whichever is greater.

Goodbye, for rent

I gave up looking for an apartment in Lancaster pretty quickly.

My cats are family and there’s no way I’m going to rehome one of them because most rental buildings have a two pet limit. (Tenants aren’t the only ones being told how many pets they can have. Increasingly, HOAs are also enforcing pet limits.)

Even if a building allows three cats, having to cough up $500 on top of paying $1,800 a year just to keep my cats is not an expense I’m willing to pay.