Back in 2012, the NYC Economic Development Corp said there were 1.1 million pets living in the city with a break down between 600,000 dogs and 500,000 cats with approximately one pet for every three households. You would assume that number has either stayed flat or increased over time. There is no way that number went down. So where are these pet friendly apartments in NYC that houses all those pets? One struggle that would be residents of NYC often experience is finding a rental apartment where the landlord/property management company allows pets. There are no city laws that prevent pets in any apartment building so the rules are determined at the ownership level. Buildings that are wholly operated by property management companies can dictate whether or not to allow pets in general. In Condos or Coops, even if the building board allows pets in the building as a whole, it is usually left to the discretion of the individual owners of the apartments to choose whether or not to allow renters to bring in a pet. The situation varies on a case by case which makes it difficult for prospective renters to determine where to start an apartment search when they have a pet. At transparentcity.co we have researched, validated and provided the proof in the form of property managers websites when a building allows for pets. We have compiled a list of no broker fee pet friendly apartments in NYC.
Beware Of The Broker Bait And Switch
NYC Renters are often skeptical about apartment listings posted by brokers in general because there has been years of accumulated distrust. The simplest form of distrust is often whether or not a listing is even real because often it is not. We've outlined general skepticism in a separate blogpost. But as you start an apartment search with your furry friend, you can't leave it up to chance that the listing information is fake. Imagine you're about to sign a lease when all of a sudden you find out that pets are not allowed? Then what?
Check out this example where the broker hid the fact that the tenant was bringing in a pet to the apartment. Fortunately it didn't escalate to the point where the management forced the pet out of the building even though they easily could have.
The Key Is To Find Proof
The only way to 100% believe anything is to get proof, see the sources of information or hear directly from the source. If a broker is listing an apartment on behalf of an owner, there is an opportunity for the broker to fake information on the listing in order to close a deal. More often than not, you give the broker the benefit of the doubt but what if you fall into the unlucky group of people? How do you actually get proof? If you're looking to rent in a condo or coop, can you force the broker to reconfirm with the landlord/owner that they allow pets? To be 100% certain, you should always try to get confirmation. As for no broker fee building property managers, the proof is on their websites where they list their availabilities. They explicitly say they allow pets. We compiled a list of examples of the variations of proof on property manager websites saying they allow pets.
