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Pet addendum template

A pet addendum turns “yes, you can have the dog” into terms you can enforce: which animal, what it costs, the rules it lives by, and who pays when the carpet goes. It attaches to the lease you already have.

Edit any field or rule; the addendum rewrites itself. Pre-filled with a worked example, not a recommended price.

Pet addendum

Pet rules

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Preview

PET ADDENDUM
18 October 2026

This addendum forms part of the lease dated 1 June 2026 between M. Reyes ("Landlord") and Dana Whitfield ("Tenant") for 1412 Ashgrove Ave, Unit 2.

Approved pet: Juniper — Dog, beagle mix, 24 lb, 4 years.
Records: County dog license and rabies certificate, copies attached.

Pet deposit: $300, held with the security deposit and returned, less itemised lawful deductions for pet damage, under the same rules and deadline.
Pet rent: $25 a month, payable with rent.

Rules:
1. Only the pet named above is approved. Any other animal, including a replacement, needs a new written approval.
2. The pet is leashed or carried in all common areas and never left unattended outside the unit.
3. Tenant picks up and disposes of all waste the same day, indoors and out.
4. Tenant keeps the pet from disturbing neighbors through noise, smell or aggression.
5. Tenant pays for any damage the pet causes to the unit, common areas or other residents' property, beyond the deposit if necessary.
6. Landlord may inspect for pet damage on the same notice the lease requires for any other entry.
7. A breach of these rules is a breach of the lease. Landlord may withdraw approval for the pet after written notice and a reasonable chance to cure, as the lease and state law allow.

Assistance animals: this addendum covers pets only. A request to keep an animal as a reasonable accommodation for a disability is a separate request, decided separately under the Fair Housing Act and state law, and is not approved or refused by this addendum.

Landlord: ______________________  Date: ________
M. Reyes

Tenant:   ______________________  Date: ________
Dana Whitfield

Check your state's statute before setting the deposit: if security deposits are capped, find out whether a pet deposit counts toward the cap.

What a pet addendum has to pin down

  • The animal, by name and description. Approval of “a dog” becomes approval of whichever dog arrives next.
  • The money, each item separately. Deposit, monthly pet rent and any fee are three different things with three different legal treatments.
  • House rules for leashes, waste, noise and unattended animals, written as obligations, not hopes.
  • Damage. Who pays, and that the deposit is not a ceiling on what is owed.
  • The way out. What happens on a breach, with a chance to cure, tied back to the lease.

Screen the animal the way you screened the household: ask about it on the rental application, and see tenant screening questions for the wording.

Deposit, pet rent or fee

ChargeWhat it isCheck before using it
Pet depositRefundable security for pet damageYour state's deposit cap and return deadline
Pet rentA monthly addition to rentAny local rent regulation that counts it as rent
One-time pet feeA non-refundable chargeWhether your state allows non-refundable fees at all

Treat a pet deposit like the rest of the deposit: same records, same deadline, same itemised statement. See what a security deposit is, the state-by-state rules, and which deductions hold up.

Assistance animals sit outside the addendum

A request to keep an animal because of a disability is a request for a reasonable accommodation under the Fair Housing Act, and it is decided on its own, not by your pet policy. HUD's regulation gives the example directly: refusing a blind applicant with a seeing eye dog in a no-pets building is a violation (24 CFR § 100.204, checked 2026-10-18). HUD's pet-ownership rules for assisted housing for the elderly and people with disabilities say the same in their own words: “This subpart C does not apply to animals that are used to assist, support, or provide service to persons with disabilities” (24 CFR § 5.303).

What changed is HUD's guidance on emotional support animals. In a memorandum dated May 22, 2026, HUD's fair housing office permanently rescinded its 2020 assistance-animal notice, the one that said support animals “are not pets” and could not be charged pet fees, and set out its new enforcement position (HUD FHEO enforcement guidance, read 2026-10-18):

  • Requests to waive pet policies for animals trained to perform disability-related tasks are “presumptively reasonable”; requests for untrained emotional support animals are not.
  • The trained animal need not be a dog.
  • The memo covers HUD's own enforcement under the Fair Housing Act. It does not address complaints under Section 504 or the ADA, and it states that it does not affect anyone's right to sue privately.

An enforcement memo is not a safe harbor

Courts decide accommodation cases on their facts, tenants keep their right to sue, and your state's own fair-housing law may go further than the federal position. Answer every animal request in writing, on its own facts, and keep it out of this addendum. If you are unsure, ask a local fair-housing attorney before you refuse or charge.

How to use the sheet

  1. 01Check the lease's own pet clause; the addendum should amend it, not contradict it. The lease-writing guide covers where it sits.
  2. 02Fill in the animal and the charges, then edit the rules to fit the building.
  3. 03Both sides sign; staple it to the lease and photograph the unit's floors and doors that day.
  4. 04At move-out, check pet damage on the move-out inspection checklist.

Sources read for this page

Related in the binder