California bill would require landlords to accept pets

A new California bill would require landlords to accept pets.

The bill, formally known as AB 2216, was introduced by Assemblymember Matt Haney (D- San Francisco) and is considered to be the first legislation of its kind in the nation.

The bill is intended to “bar property owners from asking about pets on applications, prohibit additional monthly fees for pet owners, also known as ‘pet rent,’ and limit pet deposits,” KQED reported.

Haney’s communications director, Nate Allbee, confirmed this news to KTLA.

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The bill would also address a problem Haney sees in the rental world: an overabundance of tenants with pets and a shortage of landlords willing to accept pets.

Haney said his staff analyzed Zillow apartment listings and found that many rental units won’t allow tenants to have dogs and cats of all sizes. Specifically, only 26% of apartment listings in Los Angeles, 20% in San Francisco and 18% in Sacramento would accept such pets, according to KQED.

However, other surveys found that two in three households own pets nationwide and 72% of renters say that finding pet-friendly housing is difficult.

“A two-tiered system that punishes people for having pets, or treats them differently, or has a greater burden on them just for that fact should not be allowed in the law,” Haney told KQED.

According to Allbee, The Humane Society of the United States is a sponsor of the bill since they say apartments unwilling to accept tenants with pets are one of the main reasons pets are abandoned at shelters.

While some support the bill, others like the Berkeley Property Owners Association, are against it.

Krista Gulbransen, executive director of the Berkeley Property Owners Association, told KQED that risk is the driving factor behind her opposition.

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“Pets have the potential to damage property, and limiting owners’ discretion to take on that added risk while stripping them of the pet deposit safeguard puts them in a terrible position.”

Exceptions to the proposed bill will be made for landlords “who have a reasonable rationale for excluding pets from their properties” such as health reasons.

The proposed legislation is expected to be fleshed out more in the coming weeks and months.

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