You can't stay where you are for the time being? Even with the baby? Your husband's gonna be on "Easier Street" in a bit so you cannot wait it out until then and buy your own house?

Billy I will snap you pictures of where I live and PM them to you. Then you decide if you would want a baby to live in this house.

Fair enough.

I work for Bell Partners, Inc. We have about 230 properties in the southeast. I work at the second largest property in our portfolio-we have 605 units and over 1,000 residents.

Almost any complex of a good size (30,50,70 units etc) with any sort of amenities (pools, fitness centers, etc) will most likely be managed by a property management company of some size. The maintenance, paperwork etc is too much for one person once you get past 10-15 units. Any management company will have stricter rules than private landlords.

However, there are a lot of smaller duplexes, four plexes, and townhomes for rent in almost any city in America. These are usually private landlords who own the property and rent it out without the assistance of the National Apartment Association. They can make their own rules and own leases.

I would just start driving around and calling the numbers on the signs. I would let anyone that I talk to know about the dogs right upfront, so if it's not going to work you don't waste your time with viewing the property or the application process if they later decide the dogs are a no-go.

Start saving your $$ now. Pet fees/deposits are never cheap and are hard to get back once you move out. Once you lease an apartment, do the move in inspection with the landlord and take good notes of any pre-existing damages or cosmetic problems. Sign it together and get yourself a copy. You have to be able to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that your dogs didn't cause any damages to get your pet deposit back.

Once you find something you like, feel free to PM me about any of the paperwork/policies. I can definitely let you know if anything is BS, illegal, or unfair.

Eh, not really. Basically all that bolded sentence is saying is: "All pets must be pre-approved by us." The fact that it goes on to say that pitbulls are restricted would also be a no go for you guys. I work for one of the largest property management companies in the nation, and our company restricts all pitbull-type breeds (Amstaffs, APBTs, and Staffys), as well as their mixes. Our entire resticted lists has 10 or 11 breeds we cannot allow, along with their mixes.

We are now requiring verification of breed for every dog that lives here (ie, vet paperwork stating the breed or breed mix), as well as a current photo of each dog for the file.

It's tough being in property management and being an "aggressive breed" lover. I know all too well that the statistics are skewed and unfair. But truthfully, dogs in apartments can make for shitty situations regardless of breed. Everyone in my office is a dog lover, but we have all had to deal with dogs with behavior problems or damage caused by dogs.

Funny story. We have this little old scruffy dog that lives in one of the apartments. He HATES everyone but me. Like neurotic chasing, barking, attacking maintenance, etc. The owners are never willing to work with us as far as being present during inspections, or crating him when we have work orders to complete in the apartment. Our new maintenance supervisor is slowly trying to win him over, but I don't think it's going so well. We were in the apt last week (Tim was doing repairs, I was basically sitting in the floor loving on the dog-crazy thing loves me.) I went outside to take a phone call and came back inside, when Tim called me upstairs. The little dog had run up there while he was working on the water heater, shot him a death glare, and proceeded to take a shit right in front of Tim http://www.pitbull-chat.com/images/smilies/lol.gif Good times.

I almost forgot! Most larger management companies will not allow 3 dogs either. I would definitely recommend that you search for private landlords. I don't think a large management company would be a good fit for you all.

craigslist is a very good place to find rental homes and things, im renting a room in a home, i have one good roomie and one who is now, after he attacked calvin, staying contained, but i saw a lot of adds for houses for rent when i was looking, and alot of them are private owned and will allow pitublls, it wouldnt hurt to look, just a suggestion,

Yeah gator. I posted this hoping to get that exact information. ^^ I actually am working on getting my printer working again so I can print it out! LOL

Before I bought my house we lived in an apartment complex owned by Bell Partners in Cary, NC (didn't have Nitro then) ... The management there sucked lol I even wrote Bell Corp a couple times to complain... Ppl below me were drug dealers and a wife beater and child abuser. They lost their kids, had police at the house constantly for domestic violence and the guy sold drugs right in the parking lot and smoked weed on the patio all day so I couldn't leave my windows open... And they never got in trouble no matter how much we all (everyone, not just me, called the office) complained... However, there were 3 young guys, responsible pet owners, that lived above us and had 3 very sweet pit bulls... The drug dealers below us called the office and told them the guys had pit bulls and THEY got evicted... Wtf???

We bought our house and moved shortly after that!!!

craigslist is the best bet. find the ones that are in smaller complexes. usually these are the ones that will not mind.


FYI on the breed title that you have to fill out put American bull terrier. leave the pit out of it. if they have a problem with it later in the future you can sue them for voiding your contract becuase you put the breeds name down although tricky you did. if its 50#'s and the dog is 60 just put 50... they will not weigh your dog believe me lol. be curtious to your neigborrs in the building too and use a muzzle and make sure its on before entering in the hall with the dog. this will make the ones that are scared of your dog feel more comfortable with having a APBT in the building. show your good with the dog and there will be no complaints. i used to live in a apartment with an APBT for 4 years. had no problems, but i made sure to avoid the office building though. no harm in that, but you never want to push your buttons when renting.

When Looking at Apartments ...?
 

Is it something good when they write that they want to interview your pet prior to you being accepted or not?

• Restrictions: Dogs & cats only; Maximum 2 / apartment. Must be older than 6 months of age & less than 50 lbs. fully grown. Pet Interview and signed Pet Addendum required prior to occupancy of pet. Pet Deposit: $300 / pet; refundable; Pet Rent: $10 / pet / month. Aggressive breeds such as Pit Bull, Doberman Pinscher, Rottweiler, Chow, German Shepherd, etc. are restricted.
• Weight: 50
• Deposit: $300.00, Rent: $10.00

With Robby's new job around the corner and the baby going to be here in December, we plan on getting our own place before the baby is born. As an extended part of keeping our options open (even though we both do not want apartments) if it came down to it, we will get an apartment. I have been slowly putting a portfolio together for Snow and Jud that shows that they have been kept UTD on all Law required shots. I plan on starting obedience training on both Snow and Jud and continuing until they both get their CGC.

I do plan on calling what ever apartment complexes hold our interest and are located close to where Robby will be working. So aside from looking at the pet policies closely, is there anything else I need to ask? This also applies for other rental landlords like a rented house.

I personally want to just buy a house. But I do realize that we might not get to do that for a little while. So I am keeping my options open. I live in Louisiana, Caddo Parish. So If you see anything I don't please let me know. And if you have any ideas or plans, I would love to hear them.

Yeah i'm not about lying about what I got. Not even my dogs weight. And I am going to stay away from Craigslist.

Koi is staying with family (Actually my SIL really really wants her). The Shepherd isn't up for option since he belongs to MIL and is like 11 years old.

Thanks MM! I plan on putting back money ASAP. I plan on looking around some more and seeing what I can find. I also am not limiting to just Apartments. I am looking into Rental homes and so forth. I really want to just buy my own place. But reality is saying that might not happen for a while, so settle with what we can get. Make sense? I personally am not picky as long as I can have my dogs. My husband however ... He's the one I need to please LOL!

With Gas Prices the way they are I am looking for places closer to where he is going to be working.

Anyways, again, thanks MM! You have been very helpful and If I have any questions on Policies I'll be sure to shoot you a PM about it. ^^

Craigslist is a very good place to find housing. Friend of mine just retired from the Army. Needs a place within the next few days so the Army can have an address to ship his stuff. Also has 3 kids and 2 dogs, so he needs 3 bedrooms and a landlord that will take his dogs. On CL he found a nice house in a beautiful area with a landlord willing to take the dogs and let him move in immediately because her son is in the service and she wants to help out a vet.

CL is a great resource for renters simply because its free ads, so every landlord and property management company under the sun posts their vacancies there. Sure, people still pay for ads in the newspaper, but a lot less than posting on CL and when renting with dogs you need to leave no stone unturned.

A lot of the time any breed restrictions are insurance based issues. Get a renters insurance policy that covers your dogs and let potential landlords know that your dogs are trained and insured.

Some landlords will have a blanket "no pet" policy. Doesn't mean you shouldn't inquire anyways. If you get to actually talk with a landlord and explain that your dogs are trained, not aggressive, kept under direct control at all times, insured, and that you are willing to pay a pet deposit and an additional lil bit monthly, you may be able to convince them to take you anyways. Just make sure to get the pets on the lease in writing.

When we were trying to move we made up folders for each dog with their vet records, their city license papers, their obedience class certificates, a letter from our vet and one from our trainer vouching for their temperaments, and a copy of our insurance policy showing the dogs were covered. We hadn't rented in years as we owned, but if we were moving from one rental to another I'd have included a letter from our current landlord stating the dogs haven't done any damage to the property and that they hadn't caused any problems.

For sure get into obedience class asap. The standard class is 6 weeks, one hour per week. If you want a certificate for each dog before you move it will take a while.

No problem! And good luck!

That's a fine line to walk.

People use that logic all the time with us, and guess what? We still deny them. We reserve the right to make the decision based on the dog's appearance. A vet's statement is not the end all do all for us. Whenever people sign our rental qualifications, they are agreeing that "x,y, and z are breeds restricted at our communities. Any dogs of these breeds (or clear mixes) are restricted. We reserve the right to decide if a dog resembles a restricted breed too closely to be allowed at our communities."

And guess what? No one has ever tried to sue us or fight us on this. Fortunately we have had very few people go to the extreme of lying about their dog's breed.

Again, I'm not saying it's fair. It is what it is. But I would never put myself and my dog in a situation where my credibility could be called into question, or where I would have to go out of my way to deceive someone about my dog. It further perpetuates the negative stereotypes surrounding these breeds. Be upfront about your dog's possible breed, mix, or type, and prove to your landlord that you are a responsible and HONEST owner.

Is it right that we can restrict a non-pedigreed dog? No, I don't think it is. I raised all kinds of hell with my regional manager when they added the mix restriction a couple of years ago because of it. But finer legal minds than mine made sure that the management company's ass was covered, so it's not worth arguing the semantics.

Sorry for the double post.

What is an example of a Large Management?

I'm glad I'm looking now @.@ I have tons of homework LOL!

I would rather stay away from places that I would have to argue my right that way. They might come in with a key one day and poison my dogs. And Can't prove who it was because I wasn't home to catch them ^^;

I talked it over with my husband and he doesn't like the restrictions placed on Apartments, as well as the limited space. So My next step is a rent home or Rent to own. Still, policies and policies and I need to keep my chin up!

I think I know the property you're talking about...we are in negotiations to sell it lol. I'm sorry you had such a poor experience with Bell. We have bought many properties over the years that are not up to our standards and don't last long in the portfolio. Sometimes we are property 'flippers'. It's a big corporation, with plenty of good and bad, and I count myself lucky that I work at one of our top properties lol. Sorry to derail!!