Silicon Valley Pet Policy
Depending on the location of your Silicon Valley rental, you might be losing some potential tenants if you don’t accept pets. However as we have written in the past, you could be creating some liabilities for yourself by accepting them. So, what is the right balance and what terms you need to include in your Silicon Valley pet policy.
These terms are:
1) Select Breeds: When it comes to dogs, you need to make sure you meet the dog nd it’s one of the friendly breeds. After all, you don’t want to responsible for any harm that might come from an aggressive dog on your rental property.
2) Leash Clause: Document the requirements that the dog needs to be leashed at all times when the dog is not inside the rental unit. You don’t want to see the repeat of a tragic attack in a San Francisco apartment building where a neighbor was killed by a tenant’s aggressive pit ball which was not on a leash.
3) Right to Change: Your Pet policy should allow you the option to change the policy if you get reports of any risks associated with your tenants pet ownership. This allows you to change the terms of your pet policy and allow your tenant the option to remove the dangerous pet.
4) Termination Right: Your Pet Policy should clearly identify your right to terminate the lease if the terms are violated.
5) Liability Coverage: If you are not comfortable about the liability coverage associated with your own rental property, you can require tenant to purchase additional coverage to help you mange the risk associated with their pets.
Bottom line is that a little bit of planning could go a long way to avoid huge problems with allowing pet on your rental properties. We can help you with drafting a storng pet policy for your San Jose, Campbell, Los Gatos or Saratoga rentals.