Pets Prohibited

Once upon a time, a lessor leased out a condo unit. The lease contract explicitly stated that pets were NOT allowed in the unit.

When the lease ended, the owner visited the unit and found a foul stench. The owner had the unit professionally cleaned, yet the stench remained. The owner asked for help from the engineering team.

The engineer said the smell was from animal pee that had seeped through the wooden floor. He advised the owner to sand the floor and repaint the whole unit to remove the smell.

The owner asked the tenant if he had a pet living in the unit, which the tenant confirmed.

End of story.

Here are some lessons from this.

1. Most lease contracts have clauses stating whether or not pets are allowed in the unit. Most contracts (if not all) that prohibit pets mention that having a pet is a breach of contract and would mean pre-termination.

But what if the owner only finds out AFTER the lease has expired? I believe these “pet clauses” should be amended to state that if a pet is discovered living in the unit, a monetary penalty would automatically be imposed. This penalty should include the rent when the unit is unavailable during the repair.

2. When negotiating the security deposit amount, these unexpected repairs should be considered. If you aren’t familiar, floor sanding is expensive and takes a long time. For a 90 sqm area, we were once quoted Php90,000.

3. Lastly, it’s best to include a “smell test” in your move-out checklist. The last thing you would want to happen is to find out about the stench after you’ve returned the security deposit.