my SO and i have had a broad range of experience with renting.  one thing
has always been required for us: they *must* be in the lease.  if there
is no clause about them, or pets in general, we have it added or edited
to include the fuzzies.  this covers our butts legally, and at least we
know that if the landlord comes by to do anything, he's aware of the
fuzzies being there, so they won't be in danger.
 
we were already in an apartment in nj when we got our first fuzzies.
corey and i had already been tossing around the idea of fuzzies, so we
brought it up to the landlord, and he approved ahead of time.
 
in the next apartment we moved to, our landlord was fine with pets of any
kind, so we didn't hafta worry, and adding them to the lease was a sinch.
when we moved, he wrote us a letter of recommendation for our pets so
that we could have it for future renting.
 
our apartment here in somerville, ma was a tough one.  we saw the
apartment through a broker and wanted it, but the landlord was staunch on
his "no pets" policy.  he didn't even know what a ferret was, which made
it harder.  we were up against another person who'd seen the apartment,
and we really wanted it, so i said (and i don't know what i was
thinking), "we'll pay more."  this, miraculously, made it all ok ;D, and
so they were added to the lease, but the letter of recommendation was
required as well.  the landlord met our fuzzies the first day we moved
in, and thought they were beautiful.  i proposed that, if we could prove
the ferrets were non-destructive pets, perhaps we could negotiate back
down to the original rent.  4 months later, our rent was reduced to the
original amount, and all is well.
 
i don't think we'll be moving out of this place for a while.  i'm hoping
to finish my MLIS by may of next year, so i'll be pretty busy and student
poor til then :\.  i do dread looking for another place, since the boston
metro area is notorious for being hostile to pets.  but stick to your
guns, look long and early, and don't be afraid to negotiate.  also,
sometimes money talks louder than reason unfortunately, so a pet deposit
or a few months of more expensive rent may do the trick.  pictures help
sometimes, too, and i know some apartment complexes require a pet
interview.
 
andrea and the somerville dynamic duo, lucy and gabe
[Posted in FML issue 4039]