Los Angeles' city council is urging landlords to be more “pet-friendly” and has just voted unanimously on the issue. The idea is to help renters who're often faced with a tough decision of whether or not to give up their pets in order to secure their ideal home.
As such, the city council is hoping to work with landlords to enable renters to be able to live with their pets. However, as the motion is not legally binding, landlords still have the final say, though councilors believe the vote may help to persuade them to be more reasonable.
Laist.com reports that of the two million rental properties currently in Los Angeles, round two-thirds of them do not allow pets to stay. In contrast, 98 percent of apartment complexes in Denver allow cats, while 93 percent allow small dogs. Meanwhile 66 percent of apartments accept large dogs.
Authorities hope that landlords can be persuaded to be more reasonable regarding pets, and therefore help to reduce the number of animals being kept at pet shelters in the city. According to officials, the number one reason for people sending their pets to a shelter is because their landlord won't allow the animals to live with them.
“It’s a challenge for tenants with pets,” notes Maria Norris, a real estate agent at The Rental Girl in Los Angeles. “You may have to concede something else to simply find a place.”