Pet owners struggle as fewer S.F. landlords allow dogs, cats Struggle for affordable units as few landlords allow animals

Kim Oja plays with her rescue dog, Jack, at their home in Orinda. The graduate nursing student at UCSF commutes three hours a day because she could not find an apartment in San Francisco that would take Jack. Kim Oja plays with her rescue dog, Jack, at their home in Orinda. The graduate nursing student at UCSF commutes three hours a day because she could not find an apartment in San Francisco that would take Jack. Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 23 Caption Close Pet owners struggle as fewer S.F. landlords allow dogs, cats 1 / 23 Back to Gallery

Kim Oja lives a quiet life, has solid references and a dog sweet enough to be teaching a puppy obedience class. By just about any measure, she should be a San Francisco landlord's dream tenant.

Instead, she's commuting from Orinda to UCSF, spending three hours a day on her bike and BART. The graduate nursing student, who had cruised into good apartments in Los Angeles, Berkeley and Orinda, can't even land an overpriced crash pad in San Francisco. All because of Jack, Oja's fluffy white mutt she adopted from the pound two years ago.

"I always got my first choice. I have sterling credit, I have money in the bank, I present fairly well and former landlords give a good recommendation," Oja says. "Naively, that's what I thought was going to happen in the city."

San Francisco has long been known as a pet-friendly city - U.S. census data confirm that the dogs outnumber children by about 1.7 to 1. But for years it has been increasingly challenging to find a pet-friendly home to rent. Now with the recent influx of wealthy residents, many with tech sector money to burn, renters are reporting that an affordable apartment in San Francisco allowing dogs is close to becoming a myth.

Rental search startup Lovely reports that just 17 percent of the rental apartments on their site specifically indicate that dogs are accepted, compared with 40 percent in Los Angeles and 48 percent in Chicago. (Seattle is below San Francisco at 12 percent.)

"When you look at other cities and metros across the United States, San Francisco is on the extreme low end in terms of listings that allow pets," says Lovely co-founder Blake Pierson. "Which is odd, because you see so many pets in San Francisco. It's such an outdoorsy area. You wonder where all these pets live."

She Moves You founder Wendy Willbanks, a rental concierge in San Francisco, says finding homes for pet owners is her No. 1 challenge.

"I have a heart attack every single pet client I get," Willbanks says. "People show up to me without a pet, and it's a miracle to place them in this market. Then you add a pet ..."

Pet owners' desperation

The Chronicle blog The Big Event urged readers to share stories about finding a dog-friendly apartment in San Francisco. More than 150 responded, many with memorable tales that seemed to support an increasing level of desperation on the part of pet owners in recent years.

Dog owner Stephen Smith tried to move back to the Mission District in 2010 and found few options. He pleaded his case to landlords individually, explaining that his dog was cat-size.

"The dog turned on the charm, and we got the apartment," Smith writes. "We're still there now, and with the skyrocketing of rents, may stay here forever."

Another San Francisco homeowner has a reciprocal deal with a friend in the city. If either one has to sell her house and rent an apartment because of job loss, the remaining homeowner will take all the dogs.

"We're that convinced that there's no rental accessible to people earning average salaries that will allow even one dog, let alone two or three," Laura Ryan writes.

Constant disappointments

Oja has visited more than 15 apartments in her search and looked into dozens more through e-mail, her expectations dropping considerably along the way. She visited one $1,800-per-month apartment, learning upon arrival that other tenants would be allowed to walk through her living space to get to the backyard. Nonetheless, Oja still wanted the apartment but was rejected. Another supposedly dog-friendly space was advertised at $2,200 per month. When Oja arrived, she learned the rate would be hiked to $3,500, and she might have to dishonestly try to qualify Jack as an "emotional support animal," a step she's not willing to take.

The effect of fewer properties that allow dogs can be seen at the San Francisco SPCA. When renters get evicted from pet-friendly apartments and have trouble finding affordable alternatives in San Francisco, the dogs and cats sometimes wind up at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals - desirable because it enforces a "no kill" policy. SF SPCA adoptions director Suzanne Hollis says the trend of these "surrenders" picked up steam in 2008 and continues in the current economic climate.

"I have personally handled numerous surrenders for landlord restrictions, and it is absolutely heartrending to see the tears streaming down the guardians' faces, especially when there are children present," Hollis says.

Pierson says the dog rental dilemma is a simple matter of supply and demand, especially for more competitive lower-priced San Francisco housing. (Pierson notes that Lovely, a pet-friendly workplace, recently had its own trouble finding a new commercial rental space that would accept dogs.) And sometimes the few listings that say "your furry friends are welcome" still end up going to tenants who don't have pets.

"If a landlord has 30 tenants showing up at an open house, and there are 15 tenants that have pets and 15 that don't, it's rational for them to prioritize people," Pierson says. "They don't have to worry about the neighbors getting upset about the animals. They don't have to worry about damage to the property."

Landlords reluctant

There are other issues specific to San Francisco. Willbanks says many of the older buildings have intricate, expensive flooring, and owners are reluctant to take their chances with a dog.

Despite the challenges, Willbanks says that in the end she has been successful finding rentals for clients with pets. Among other strategies, she shows up with certifications and training documents, and assurances that the animal won't be cooped up in the house all day.

Pierson and the San Francisco SPCA both suggest putting together the oh-so-San Francisco-sounding "pet resume" to hand to landlords; the SPCA offers tips on its website, www.sfspca.org.

Extra effort helps

As expected, money can sometimes solve even the toughest dog rental problems. Some landlords charge "pet rent" - usually an extra $50 to $150 per pet - while others increase deposits by thousands of dollars. Many of the dog rental success stories submitted by Chronicle readers came from people who are renting in larger buildings, where $4,000-plus per month might include a doorman who welcomes your dog with a pat on the head and a treat.

Pierson and Willbanks both emphasize that meeting with landlords and explaining an individual case - even if the property isn't specifically listed as pet-friendly - is worth the effort.

Carol Sughrue agrees. The landlord of several properties in San Francisco, Sacramento and Elk Grove says she makes an effort to work with renters who have pets, in part because of her own experiences as a renter in San Francisco in the 1970s.

"I had a little tiny teacup poodle that somebody gave me. He couldn't be destructive if he wanted to," Sughrue says. "But no one would rent to me because of the dog. I was rejected time after time after time. When I got into the rental business myself, I thought, 'How could I do the same thing to somebody else?' "

Sughrue recalls one case more than a decade ago, when a renter left her barking dog outside and then received a complaint on legal letterhead from a lawyer neighbor. After the renter admitted she had second thoughts about owning the dog, Sughrue offered to buy the animal for twice the price the renter paid.

"My intent was to give it to the San Francisco SPCA," Sughrue says. "And then after a couple of weeks I fell in love with the dog. I ended up keeping it until she died 13 or 14 years later."

Time lost to commute

Back in Orinda, Oja still hasn't found her Carol Sughrue. But she tries to look on the bright side. Orinda is beautiful, the biking is good exercise, and her current landlord has two other small dogs, which run through Oja's in-law unit apartment during an interview like an avalanche of white fur. But the commute is still time that she can't get back.

"That's three hours lost for homework or walking Jack," Oja says. "None of that changes the bottom line for the pet lover.

"If I had to commute from Fresno to have this dog, I would do it."