reasonable pet deposit (louisiana)

My landlord wants an $800 pet deposit. We live in a 1,000 square foot 3br3ba house that does not have any carpet. On top of this, he also wants for me to take care of having the floors polished when I move out, he says that this will cost about $400. In addition, we already paid a $1200 security deposit when we signed the lease. Help!

[sandyclaus]

Originally Posted by Unregistered My landlord wants an $800 pet deposit. We live in a 1,000 square foot 3br3ba house that does not have any carpet. On top of this, he also wants for me to take care of having the floors polished when I move out, he says that this will cost about $400. In addition, we already paid a $1200 security deposit when we signed the lease. Help!

The security deposit covers any damages you and other occupants or guests may cause during the course of your tenancy. On many states, a LL may charge the equivalent of up to 2 months rent for that deposit. It also covers any unpaid rent due at the end of your tenancy. Depending on your rental history, this $1200 amount could be very reasonable.

Many LLs are wary of renting to tenants with pets because of the liability and risk issues. Dogs can be hard on wood floors, which could explain their condition of you having the floors polished on your departure. The other $800 should apply exclusively to any damages specifically attributable to having the pet there. There is usually no limit on the amount a LL can charge for a pet deposit because of the potentially high risk of allowing the pet in the 1st place.

If you are unable to negotiate a lower pet deposit, you may want to consider that this expense is likely caused by previous irresponsible pet owners this LL has dealt with before. Perhaps you can ask for a conditional deposit that could be refunded after the lease is up once you have proven to handle your pet in the rental responsibly. Or obtain some type of pet damage insurance that covers the property during your tenancy.

We cannot help, I'm afraid. LA law states there is no statutory limit to the amount of deposits a LL can require in your state. He can ask for whatever deposit he sees fit based on your credit and your risk factors (water beds, pets, smoking, etc.). As the other poster has explained, he has probably had pet damages form other tenants as is cautious in permitting pets in the property.

You have 3 choices:
-Negotiate whatever agreement you can with him to your mutual satisfactions.
-Refrain from having pets in the rental.
-Refuse to rent from this individual.

Ha! you must live in the same place i do!!

A landlord can charge any amount of pet deposit he sees reasonably fit. Just because the place doesn't have carpets means squat. I have hardwood floors and a German Shepherd and the floors take a beating.

Landlords have the right to protect themselves financially. After all, it is their investment and their property.

If you don't want to pay the fee, find another place to live that will not charge as much.

I think $800 is more than reasonable, considering most places these days won't even accept pets at all.

Wow, that is cheap $400 for buffing up the floors. Here in the DC metro area it costs 2k to domy dining room,living room. I ask for 1k pet deposit to basically split the cost between myself and the tenant.

I've been searching many websites regarding this issue:

We lived in an apartment for just over 4 years here in Louisiana. We paid a $400 pet deposit and a $100 non-refundable pet fee. We also paid a $250 security deposit.

I completed my move out inspection today and the landlord said that she could smell pet urine odors in the apartment. We did have the pet the entire time that we lived there and, being pets, they did leave spots. I did promptly clean all spots and the only stains visible on the carpet were from when the upper units dishwasher leaked through our ceiling and soaked our carpet and walls (which they told me to air out and they returned to paint over?! but that's another story)

The landlord told me that she would attempt to get the carpets cleaned and if they couldn't clean it satisfactorily, that they would have to replace it. She stated that she'd have to retain the full security deposit, retain the full pet deposit AND charge us whatever additional fees necessary to replace the whole carpet.

The second part of this issue is that, they've been steadily renovating all of the other units around us when the tenants move out (we've outlasted many of our neighbors many times over) with higher grade carpet/appliances/baseboards/window treatments while we've been living with the same low grade carpet (even the landlord admitted that it was a poor grade carpet) and outdated appliances for the entirety of our lease.

It is my belief that damage or no damage, they are going to replace the carpets anyway so that our unit can now live up to the standards of the others in the complex. If this is the case, are we still liable for monies over the pet and security deposits that we paid if they do in fact replace the carpet?

sorry it's so long and i appreciate any advice you can give me, especially if there are any legal precedents or specific laws/rulings that i can cite.

Thanks!