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Pet deposit - non refundable - taken out of security deposit?

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renterinGA

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? GA

The subject basically says it all.

We have two small dogs. We have a 250/dog per year NON REFUNDABLE pet deposit.

We signed a two year lease, and the first year is up. Our landlord is by the book kinda guy. We pay 1350/rent and put down a $2000.00 security deposit. We received the letter today asking for the $500.00 NON refundable pet deposit.

Two part question - our rental agreement states that the pet deposit in NON-refundable- is this allowed in GA - I know deposit means refundable and fee means non refundable - but in this case, it states the deposit in non refundable.

second - since we dont really have 500 bucks lying around (wife lost her job - looking for new, etc etc.) Would it be fair/OK to ask our landlord to take it out of the $2000.00 security deposit we gave him last year?

Thanks for your time.

renterinGA
 


Alaska landlord

Senior Member
Check your state landlord act regarding deposits.
In PA and a few other states it would not be legal if it added up to twice the rent. In Alaska, it would be perfectly legal.
You can ask, but I doubt he will cave in. Pets usually are the main problem when it comes to returning the pet deposit. It might be worthwhile to ask instead for a rent increase of 50.00 a month.
 

Gail in Georgia

Senior Member
Georgia landlord tenant law has no stipulation as to whether non-refundable pet deposits are legal or not. Many landlords require non-refundable pet deposits; this is certainly not unusual.

However, most pet deposits are a one time fee, paid at the beginning of the tenancy (or when a tenant gets a pet).

On the other hand, it sounds as if your lease clearly stated the terms of the pet deposit. When you signed the lease, you agreed to this.

You can certainly ask your landlord to take this fee out of your security deposit. They don't have to agree to do this.

Gail
 

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