[Durbkat]

You may want to look away from the fancy apartments that look really nice and have a high rent and look at rundown apartments that have rent for $425 or something like that. The fancy apartments in our city either don't allow pets or have a high deposit and high rent for them. The run down ones, like the one I live in, don't care at all what kinds of pets or how many you have as long as they don't destroy anything or harm anybody. Also on our rental company's website they say that water beds and aquariums aren't allowed. Well I have 5 aquariums and 2 of them are large aquariums. The landlord looked in my room and saw the tanks but did not say anything.

[ACampbell]

Originally Posted by Durbkat

You may want to look away from the fancy apartments that look really nice and have a high rent and look at rundown apartments that have rent for $425 or something like that. The fancy apartments in our city either don't allow pets or have a high deposit and high rent for them. The run down ones, like the one I live in, don't care at all what kinds of pets or how many you have as long as they don't destroy anything or harm anybody. Also on our rental company's website they say that water beds and aquariums aren't allowed. Well I have 5 aquariums and 2 of them are large aquariums. The landlord looked in my room and saw the tanks but did not say anything.

I think it depends on the area and the owner. I have a nice 2 story 3br 1.5 bath townhouse that allows pets of any size (big deposit though $250 per pet) the rent isn't bad for the area ($945 a month including water,sewer, trash) but, I live in a tiny little village. My townhouse is well kept (they cut off if I do maintenance on it myself for the little things) but was once Section 8 (low income) housing. We also help around the complex (hubby knows how to cut down trees and stuff) and that also helps to offset the cost. The best thing is that nobody cares about our dogs - i.e. breed or size. Some of the neighbors are afraid, but it keeps them away from my backyard when they are out on their tethers.
I have found sometimes the sacrafices you have to make seem to be, extensive. I had to sacrafice having a fenced yard, and we have to make a 60 mile a day commute for my husband to go back and forth to work (and if I want to shop anywhere but the local drugstore) but it seems to work for us (for now) until we can get into military housing on the base.
Some of the other places I looked at were more expensive, but closer to work, but then a lot of them said "Oh no, not a 90+ lb dog" so I had to look elsewhere...I try to mention weight before breed...doesn't help much in my case though, LOL.

I used Craigslist for most of my house hunting - I found this place by looking through the military housing network (which 99.9% of the time is garbage and wrong) but got lucky...prayers for the OP to get as lucky as me!

[volleyballgk]

Hi Guys. I finally have news. My mother-in-law found a place for her and her dogs. We never could find a dog friendly place, but fortunatley her mother had a rental that came vacant all of a sudden. Since it's her mom, obviously she knows the dog and will allow her to keep it. We didn't think this was an option before because the previous tenant was a long time one with (we thought) no plans of moving. Anyways, all turned out well in the end. Thanks to everyone for your advice and support! This has been an interesting learning experience if nothing else!

[ACampbell]

WOOHOO, you guys got lucky like me! CHEER!

[FriendsOfZoe]

So glad to hear it worked out...so many times knowing someone is the best bet.

I'm sorry I didn't see this thread a little earlier, as I have experience renting with animals...specifically, one dog, a golden retriever. Trust me, it hasn't been fun--and goldens are not on any banned breed list, but the truth is that 99% of places near me that allow dogs have weight limits--and the highest I've ever seen is 40 lbs. (some places even have a 10 lb. weight limit!! Gah! To me, that's hardly a dog).

If others look at this thread in the future for advice, I want to add that ACampbell had some of the best advice on here. DON'T LIE about breeds, because you can get evicted and have legal action taken against you. Even if you lie a bit about size (for instance, our last building was 40 lbs., but they basically had a policy of if no one complains about your bigger dog, they don't care--but I realized fully the whole time we lived there that if the management company was forced from above to crack down, we'd be out in a flash), you have to be ready to get kicked out...lying isn't good; it's better to find a place that understands. We just moved about a month ago and had much much more success with private landlords who owned just a couple of properties than managed places or landlords who owned a lot of properties. When the landlord will actually take the time to meet your dog and see your references, you have a much better chance. We found our place on craigslist, and I highly recommend it--or similar classified type places--for searching for rentals.

And finally, remember that BSL is not always a landlord decision. There are plenty of places in the US (and Canada) where you cannot have any dog considered a "pit bull type" (which I have seen to include even BOXERS) even in your own home. You can't just blame landlords as being ignorant, because they have to pay the insurance on their properties and abide by local laws as well. It's not fair, of course, but the problem is with BSL AND landlords, not just landlords. If there were no BSL, I don't think you would find so many landlords banning pit bulls.

[ACampbell]

Yeah I knew the frustration all too well..."Pet friendly" is just a marketing ploy, it doesn't mean that "we're friendly with all pets" it means "we pick and chose what pets we allow" which sucks. I think there should be made some legal definition of that so as to not waste a renters time in searching for a truly pet friendly area.
We don't have BSL up here, but I was told that I couldn't have Smokey at several places because "we just don't allow your type up here" - WTF!
"My" type. Hmmmmm. I'm sure if I had had the choice to walk into the office (not calling from 3000 miles away) they wouldn't have said that.
Granted, I have tattoos (tasteful ones that can be covered up by sleeves - definetely thought about that one - no "gangbanger 4 life" kind of crap, lol) but it's like a job interview, if you got them, cover them up for it so it doesn't detract from your general appearance. Other than that you'd think I work in an office building when I go looking for an apartment...I'm not dressed in baggy clothes (cuz I don't wear that stuff) etc...but because of the breed I pick I get lump summed into the same group as the guy carrying a 9mm in his pants that are falling down...gah.

Actually going into their office helps...sometimes it's not an option, like in my case, wher eyou need somewhere when you get there and you're so far away it's not feasible to show up in their office.
Sometimes your job speaks for you as well...seems like these days renting from someone is like applying for a job - if you look presentable you are more likely than the person that called in to ask...

I'm so happy the OP found a place...it's so depressing for me to hear about someone else having the problem that I did when I moved - I remember how frustrating and depressing it was to be told "no" constantly and some of the things people said were just really freaking cruel.