I was recently searching for a pet-friendly apartment in Los Angeles and found it to be a significant challenge. I have a friendly cat named Boots, who doesn’t do much but lay around the house. The number of pet-friendly apartments in Los Angeles was tiny and required a great deal of searching. I was primarily looking for something in the North Santa Monica Bay area (Santa Monica, Venice, Marina Del Rey) or West Hollywood. Another part of the problem is the expensive pet deposits that many apartment complexes want for tenants with pets. While the risk of the issues and damage from my cat is much less than tenants with dogs, the apartment management companies see no distinction. Rent in Los Angeles is already so high that I really had a tough time paying extra for a pet deposit, and some of the apartments even wanted a monthly amount as “pet rent.”
I eventually found an apartment in Brentwood, though I decided not to let the property manager know that I have a cat. The building is smaller, and I figure the risk was low, so I went ahead and leased the apartment without mentioning my cat. So far, as I expected, I haven’t had any problems. The only people who know I even have a cat are those that come into my apartment, so my neighbors and the property manager don’t have any idea, and I figure they don’t need to know if my cat isn’t causing a problem. I would share my experience with other pet owners in Los Angeles who may be struggling with the same issue. I am an honest person by nature and don’t like deceiving people, but I can live with a little lie of commission considering the alternatives. While this method certainly wouldn’t work for someone with a dog, cat owners may want to keep this in mind.
