so....not allowed to have pets

[Luci]

before i start, im not exactly asking questions or looking for answers, i just had to put my worries into writing/typing(?).

anyways, my roommate and i will be moving to a new apartment in the same apartment complex. hopefully today or tomorrow. my roommate works at the leasing office and told me yesterday that the manager is gonna be sending maintenance around to change air vents and make sure smoke detectors are working...and to check for pets. yea, we're not allowed to have pets. we used to be able to last year before hurricane Ike hit, but after that, a new manager began working and changed the rules. even the owner fought her but somehow she got her way. its only by her personal preference that pets arent allowed.

i knew pets werent allowed when i got Gizmo. my parents even knew. but since ive had him, hes not destructive whatsoever. the only sign of a chin being in my room is the droppings. no smell, no chewed carpet, walls are untouched. its like he knows to be good. my roommate assured me that the maintenance guys wont "search" for pets, but if theyre visible, they need to write it up, then i have to pay a fee and need to get rid of him. im set on not letting that happen. the closet in my new room will be big enough to hide him, i just have to put a curtain in front of it and pray he wont make noise for the few minutes theyre there.

but the possibility of him being found scares me. bleh, im gonna be tense for a while :frown2:

 

[mishellyshel]

cant you just cover his cage with a sheet and stack some luggage on it or something?
i took my chin to an overnight scrapbook getaway in a hotel for 2 nites and no one even knew he was there! and people were walking in and out the whole time.
i just covered the cage with a thin fleece sheet.

 

[cintistatern2005]

If it was me i would hide him, or take him to your moms for a day or so!! :tease:

 

[theCHIBIkitten]

Aw, that sucks. Luckily, my apartment is very pet friendly.

Make sure you keep the radio playing or something as well, might help to hide any noises.

 

[nicky]

I would just take his wheel and toys out before they get there. Also, take his ledges out so that he can't jump and won't make any noise. Then cover the closet like you said and they probably will never know. Chances are they'll be there during the day and if he's a day sleeper (like most) he really won't make noise. Maybe you could turn a radio on in that room just in case, though. That might drown out noise if there is any? Good luck. I bet they won't notice though!:thumbsup:

 

[Ash]

And the reason why you shouldn't keep a pet in a no-pet situation... I'm sorry, but that's immature and selfish on your part. And Michelle, a hotel room is different than an apartment. A hotel room, they can simply charge you an extra fee, you don't have to get rid of the pet, however in a "No Pet" lease, you're violating the lease, can be fined, and either are going to have to move or get rid of the pet. Again, IMO, immature and selfish.

If I were you, I'd start looking either for a new home for him(keeping him with your parents maybe), or start finding a new apartment where you CAN have pets. I know you're not looking for answers, but crap like this peeves me off. It's just one of the reasons why so many pets are in rescues. My cat who I adopted's reason for being there was "Landlord issues". It's just idiotic to think you can hide an animal.

 

[Luci]

ahhh im definitely hoping they wont notice! its crazy cuz we dont know when they'll be coming. they'll just come whenever theyre not filling work orders. oh and they can go inside even if we're not there. wtf, is that legal/allowed? im thinking of putting him in my closet while im gone for classes and then bringing out his cage when im home. he usually only makes noise at night so i should be safe...hopefully.

oh and as a side note, my closet is an open indention in my room, he'd still be getting ac.

 

[Luci]

ashley, i can understand where you are coming from and i know on the surface it seems like im immature and selfish. not to be pointing fingers or playing blame games, our manager changes the rules without actually having written addendums in the lease. technically its not legal unless its in writing and the lease i signed had no mention of having no pets. i only know about this rule change because my roommate works there and until this semester, it was not written (but still not the lease I signed).

of course this doesnt ignore the fact that i knew the manager had a spoken rule of no pets. if i do need to re-home him, he'll have a temporary house at my friends place (i live a good 800 miles from "home").

but thank you ashley for your concern. and let me just say, i hit myself in the head a few times when i learned they would be doing inspections. definitely not my ideal situation but i'll see it through and figure out how to deal with it without sending gizmo to a rescue.

 

[tunes]

I had a long winded comment typed up, but I deleted it. People are going to do what they are going to do, but I would never put at animal at risk by having them somewhere where they have been expressly forbidden.

 

[AZChins]

You really are at the mercy of the apartment management. When I lived in an apartment we weren't allowed to have cats and dogs, but we could have animals in tanks and cages without a problem. Are you sure that they won't let you have any pets at all?

But, hey, I suppose you could hide the cage in the closet and put some clothes around it so no one can see.

I think it's strange that they would do an inspection for pets... If there's no damage and no one is complaining, why would they care? What it comes down to is that someone else owns the place where you live and you have to play by their rules.

 

[Bethany2386]

I don't really think that it is fair for everyone to attack her. Like she said, they changed rules. That sucks for her. Who would WANT to give up their pet? It's not fair to attack people when you do not know the situation. Like she said, the lease she signed does not have any mention of having no pets. In the apartment I had lived in, there was a statement about what pets you could have and couldn't. When it's a situation like this, it really sucks for the owner. If she was able to have him there before, she should still be able to have him.

Sorry that your apartment manager changed the rules, I totally understand that one. We changed managers and she started to change the rules verbally as well. And I told her how it was. Then shortly after, I chose to move out to somewhere that didn't have rules that were ever changing...

 

[threewingedfury]

Now I don't know the entire situation, but from what I read, she does not say that her lease stated "no pets allowed". She stated:

i knew pets werent allowed when i got Gizmo. my parents even knew.

So, in other words, the rules were changed BEFORE she got Gizmo.

Now, I ran into a situation that was sort of the same a few years back. About 4 years ago, I went off to college and got married and the only apartment I could find in a reasonable price range would not allow pets. Not even fish. I left my animals back at home with my parents until I moved back entirely. I went back home 4 days out of the week to make sure everything was fine. I wouldn't have put my animals in danger by bringing them to my apartment. I don't care how bad I wanted them there - I couldn't afford apartments with $5000 deposits for my pets due to the number of pets I had. I had to find a middle that would work out. If I couldn't leave them at home, then I would have had to have rehomed them, simple as that.

The way I see this situation is that if you knew ahead of time that you couldn't have pets, then you shouldn't have brought Gizmo in. I would consider asking your parents if Gizmo could stay with them until you find a place that allows pets, or rehome Gizmo. Either you do that or you find out the hard way - you could be kicked out of your apartment (and have to pay the rest of the lease) or have to get rid of Gizmo either way. My apartment complex would do weekly checks for pets and would come in all the time to check the heater and so forth without even a notice. Twice I woke up with a man in my hallway - didn't hear a knock on the door or see a note saying "we're coming by in the morning". It's not worth risking, I hate to say it.

A friend of mine lived in Charlotte for 6 months and paid $1000 non-refundable deposit and $50 a month to have 2 ferrets. Her lease was for a year and she purchased another ferret after about 5 months. They came in for a routine check and found the other ferret (which the $500 deposit and the $25 a month fee had not been paid on) and she got kicked out of her apartment and had to pay the rest of the 6 months rent for breaching her lease agreement. Don't get caught up in something so dramatic. It's avoidable and the poor chin shouldn't suffer.

 

[Bethany2386]

Sorry, I didn't see that part.

 

[Luci]

i know the situation is a mess. we were allowed pets before the hurricane hit. that was the lease i signed. when the new management came in, she changed the leases from then on out but the previous leases still remained the same. one of my roommates had a rabbit and everything was ok because she was on the old lease (that roommate moved to a house a month ago). but the management is treating everyone under the new leases regardless of which ones they signed. when i say i knew that pets werent allowed, i meant under the new lease. i didnt think this would affect my lease though.
yesterday i found out it did.

 

[mishellyshel]

i would be nervous that they would do some type of extermination like for bugs or mice or whatever and them not knowing you had pets and sprayed your apartment, you pets could die.
i would either be up front with them and see if they are ok with one small caged animal and if not, either find a temp home until you straighten out or rehome them. sorry.

 

[Bethany2386]

I don't think that is right. That's what happened to me at my apt. Our owners sold the place with the agreement that the leases would stay in effect for the people who signed before they sold the place. Well, the new manager was horrible. She changed rules and was very nasty with us when we complained about the kids who were outside throwing rocks and hangers right by our cars... She told us it was our responsibility to talk to the kids' parents. It was much more but this is what started my bad experience. I will never live in a place that will not allow pets. I don't care what it takes for me. I just simply refuse to have to give up my chin.

 

[Ash]

i would be nervous that they would do some type of extermination like for bugs or mice or whatever and them not knowing you had pets and sprayed your apartment, you pets could die.
i would either be up front with them and see if they are ok with one small caged animal and if not, either find a temp home until you straighten out or rehome them. sorry.

This is what I was thinking. Because you can clean EVERY nook and cranny but there's still always chin poop around. What if they see that and think "Oh hey, there's rats." Well, they're gonna have an exterminator come in, and get rid of them. Well, if they use chemicals, there goes your chin.

 

[Ash]

Leases generally only run year to year. Hurrican Ike ran through September of '08. Your old lease probably ran out.

Not to mention, moving into a NEW apartment, you're going to have to sign a NEW lease. What're your plans for the chinchilla then?

 

[Bethany2386]

My old apt.'s rules were that once you have lived there a year, you will not have to sign a new one, but the rules that are on your lease remain the same.

 

[Ash]

Every place I've ever lived or heard of living is a 1 year lease, resigned every year. It's safer that way on SO many ways for both the landlord and the tennant. The tennant has proof that they are still supposed to be living there and what the conditions are, and the landlord has that same proof.

Apartments change rules all the time, based on the tennants and wanting to keep their buildings fair. You can't say "no pets" to one tennant and then say "well this person is OK". What if that person moved into a "no pet" apartment complex due to allergies? By the landlord allowing that pet to live there still, they gave a false advertisement to their new tennant and could probably be successfuly sued.

Apartments either are or aren't pet friendly. There's generally not an "in between."