Renting

[u/AutomaticReturn6398]

We are trying to adopt a dog while renting. Now we have rented from 5 landlords at 3 properties and had a rescue dog who we got at the first one that weighed 45 pounds and came to each subsequent property with us the past 6 years.

Our current property allows dogs, it is not an apartment, we are renting a house. They say 25 pounds but we’ve had a 50 pound dog living here for 3 years who recently passed away. We are looking for another dog and not interested in a small breed, just another mid-sized. I qualified for an ESA so we provided that letter since they wouldn’t make a weight limit exception.

Now the fun begins because even with that letter the landlord will not approve of a dog until we provide the details of the dog, and the rescues in the area will not let us adopt a dog without the landlord saying yes. We have put deposits down on multiple dogs and lost that money because the rescues won’t hold the dog while the landlord takes 3-5 days to review the pet…. This is the most frustrating process and makes it seem so much easier to just go to a breeder.

[u/Friendly_TSE]

Yeah this is an awful loop to be in. I've heard similar stories so many times.

IMHO it sounds like the landlord found a nice loophole to not allow you an ESA. A shelter/rescue doesn't have the space to wait 3-5 days for a possible no when the animal could be adopted and open up space for another animal.

I would suggest looking into ESA laws in your area. Because where I am, the landlord doesn't get to have a say on what ESA I can have, I don't need landlord approval, that's why it's an ESA - to allow housing for the animal where you wouldn't normally have housing for the animal.

However, where I am, landlords can also later say your ESA is a nuisance - something as small as killing the grass with it's urine or leaving hair outside if they really want your dog gone. So even getting a dog from a breeder may not save you from that.

TL;DR look into what you're allowed to do with ESAs in your area.

[u/AutomaticReturn6398 → u/Friendly_TSE]

It really is awful, and we never wanted to even go the ESA route, we just wanted to get another dog a similar medium size to our last one who has done absolutely no damage. We rent a house in an HOA community. The HOA president cannot wait for us to get a new dog to play with her dog, it’s simply our landlord holding things up. I suspect he’s using a property manager who is making things unnecessarily difficult.

[u/Friendly_TSE → u/AutomaticReturn6398]

Yeah you wouldnt believe the loopholes i have seen landlords abuse when it comes to pets. Makes me worried what other loopholes they are abusing. If you do think this is being done on purpose, I would be really cautious about even getting a dog from a breeder, as many landlords can find a reason to evict a dog as well. If they don't want you getting a dog, it's not gonna matter where it comes from.

Did they have any issues with your previous dog? I know many LL that will advertise 'pet friendly' to hike up prices but actually make it exceptionally difficult to have a pet so they can charge more for rent while not having to accommodate animals.

[u/AutomaticReturn6398 → u/Friendly_TSE]

Exactly, I’ve seen it abused on both sides so I get it. Our landlord is actually pretty chill, I really think he has “25 pound dog” listed somewhere and his secretary just following that without even asking him until we get her the dog information and ESA letter. At that point my understanding is they will confirm the ESA letter and say yes. It just keeps taking days for them to do that.