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How to write a rental pet policy and addendum

DoorKeeping team

4 min read

A pet policy states which animals you allow, how many, any size or breed limits, the one-time fee or monthly pet rent, who pays for damage, and the care rules. Write it as a lease addendum and keep it separate from your process for assistance animals, which HUD treats as a different category from pets.

Decide the rules before the first request

Settle the policy while no pet is in question. Then every request is answered the same way, which is both easier and fairer. Think through these points:

  • Which animals are allowed: dogs, cats, small caged animals, fish. Which are not.
  • How many per unit.
  • Any size, weight or breed limits, and the reason for each. Check your insurance policy, because it may restrict breeds.
  • Whether pets are allowed in every unit or only some.
  • The cost: a refundable pet deposit, a one-time fee, monthly pet rent, or a mix. Many states limit these, so see the pet deposit and pet rent limits by state.

Clauses a pet addendum usually has

  1. The tenant's name, the unit and the animal described by type, name, age, weight and breed if you track it.
  2. The fee, deposit or rent, the amount and when it is due.
  3. Care rules: the animal is licensed and vaccinated as local law requires, kept on a leash in common areas, and not left unattended in a way that disturbs neighbors.
  4. Waste rules: cleaning up after the animal inside and outside.
  5. Damage: the tenant pays for damage the animal causes beyond normal wear.
  6. Removal: what happens if the animal causes repeated problems or poses a danger, as your state allows.
  7. A signature line for every adult on the lease.

Example a made-up building charges $35 a month of pet rent per cat, with a limit of two cats. A tenant with two cats pays 2 times $35, which is $70 a month on top of rent. A tenant with three cats is told the limit in the addendum before moving in.

Assistance animals are not pets

HUD's guidance on assistance animals explains that under the Fair Housing Act an assistance animal, such as a service animal or an animal that provides support for a disability, is not a pet. A housing provider generally cannot apply pet rules, fees, deposits or breed limits to an assistance animal, although the tenant remains responsible for damage the animal causes. Your pet policy should say a request for an assistance animal is handled separately, and you should treat such a request as a reasonable accommodation request under the Fair Housing Act.

Do not ask for a pet fee from an applicant who has said the animal is an assistance animal, and do not ask for details of the disability. The post on assistance animals and pet policies goes through the questions you may ask.

Apply it evenly

Give the policy to every applicant with the lease. Charge the same amount for the same animal. If you make an exception, write down why. Keep the signed addendum, any vaccination records and the date the animal moved in.

When a tenant gets a pet mid-lease

A tenant who adopts a pet during the lease should ask first. Reply in writing, send the addendum with the fee or pet rent, and ask for a signature before the animal moves in. If a tenant already has an unapproved animal, tell them in writing what the policy is and how to come into line, and treat the situation as a lease violation only as your state and lease allow.

Visiting animals are a gray area. Decide whether you allow them for a few days and say so in the policy: "Guests may bring a pet for up to seven days; longer than that needs approval."

How DoorKeeping handles it

Your pet policy is a lease addendum that is e-signed with the lease and filed under the unit. When a current tenant asks to get a pet, you can ask Claude or ChatGPT to draft the addendum from your policy, with the fee or pet rent filled in. You approve it before it goes out.

A monthly pet rent is a recurring charge on the tenant's ledger, next to rent. DoorKeeping does not decide whether a request is an assistance animal; you do, using your state's rules and HUD's guidance.

Sources

  1. HUD: Assistance animals, read Oct 30, 2026
  2. 42 U.S.C. 3604, Fair Housing Act, read Oct 30, 2026

Questions

Can a landlord charge a pet fee for an assistance animal?
HUD's guidance says an assistance animal is not a pet, so pet fees, pet rent and pet deposits generally cannot be charged. The tenant is still responsible for damage the animal causes.
Should a pet policy be a separate addendum?
A separate addendum is easy to update, easy to sign for a tenant who gets a pet mid-lease, and easy to find later.
Can I limit dog breeds?
Many landlords do, often because of insurance. Apply the limit to pets only, not assistance animals, and check your state and city for breed rules.

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