Rental housing with pets allowed

Pets allowed / Pets not allowed?

In many places, the landlord will point out that you are not allowed to have pets. What exactly does that mean? In § 10 of the lease, you can see whether pets are allowed or not. If it says yes, pets are allowed. However, you must also check § 11, because here you can find conditions for the pet. It can be stated which pets are allowed, how many pets are allowed, and whether, for example, only small dog breeds.

It can be difficult to find out what the rules are for rental housing. Often, by pets is meant dogs and cats. Today, however, many Danes have birds, fish or other small animals - and how are they defined?

It must be assumed that small animals do not go under pet, and they are therefore allowed. It must be stated in the lease § 11, if small animals are not allowed. You should also check the house rules for whether it is allowed or not.

It is best to talk to your landlord openly about having small animals or considering getting it, when pets are prohibited. Many will be inclined to accept fish or other small animals.

What are house rules and how does it affect me?

First of all, you need to know that the lease is valid over the house rules. You must therefore relate to the lease first. The lease is the agreement you as a tenant have with the landlord. If the landlord wants to make changes to the lease, he must make a new one, which you must agree to and sign.

The house rules are the landlord's regulations for the property. These can be rules about how late you can make noise, rules for using washing machines or the like. The house rules can be changed in the future, but not retroactively. Maybe the house rules are that you must not have pets in the future, but if you already have a pet, it cannot be removed. If your pet dies, you are not allowed to get a new one. 

The rule will thus only apply to future pets. Unless, of course, that's the rule when you move in.

What are the rules regarding visiting pets?

If you are not allowed to have pets according to your lease, it does not mean that you are not allowed to have visits from people who bring their pets. If you get visits from your parents and they have their dog with them, it is accepted. However, you may be unlucky that your pet or house rules prohibit the visit of a pet. You still have to adjust to the two.

It goes without saying that you cannot have a visit from the pet every single day. It must not be confused with the fact that you own the pet. You should therefore be aware that it can have consequences if you are visited too often by the same pet.

May the landlord charge a fee to have pets?

No, the landlord must not. Some landlords verbally allow tenants to have pets for a little extra per month, but this is illegal.

As already mentioned, the landlord cannot ban the pet you already have, even if the landlord makes changes to the house rules. You must not acquire new ones, but your pet must stay until its death. If the lease or a supplement to it says that you are welcome to have pets, the lease will be above the house rules. In that case, you can easily buy a new pet if the other should happen to die.

What about the tenancy law?

There is nothing about pets in the Rent Act. It makes good sense, because it would be unfair if the tenancy law determined for landlords whether it was allowed or not to have pets.

Can there be different rules for different tenants?

It may be that it becomes relevant for you to comply with Act § 22 (lejeloven). It states here that the tenant must not be subject to terms other than the terms that apply to other tenants. 

If you experience that others in the property, who are tenants, have been allowed to have pets, but you have not, the landlord is going against the law. The rules must apply to everyone in the property. However, it's a little tricky here. For the landlord may in some cases be allowed to have different rules for different properties. Perhaps a property has been newly renovated and therefore the landlord does not want pets in this property. However, if the apartments are comparable, there should be equal rules for all parties.

If you go against the rule, and still acquire a pet, your tenancy may be conditional or the landlord has the right to terminate you. It appears from "Lejeloven" Act § 153. However, this can only happen after the landlord has given a reminder to the tenant.

Conclusion

We would always recommend that you take an open talk with your landlord. If you are looking for a home and pets are not allowed, you can always ask anyway. Maybe you get a yes. The worst that can happen is that you get a no.

So are pets allowed in rental housing? It can be very different and you should always look in the lease or relate to the house rules.