Pet Policy Clause
in Your Lease
How this page is sourced
Statutes verified against primary state sources
Every statute cited here was read in its published text before this page went live: on the state's own site where that site can be reached, otherwise on a republished copy of the code. Court decisions are quoted from the published opinion and linked to it, so you can read the original yourself.
Primary sourcesNot legal advice
Content verified against primary state statutes before publicationLast updated: October 2026
What it actually means, what Pennsylvania law says, what's specific to Philadelphia - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- No Pennsylvania section we read caps a nonrefundable pet fee or monthly pet rent.
- A refundable pet deposit counts inside the two months' rent escrow limit during your first year.
- From the second year on, that limit drops to one month's rent, pet deposit included.
- Philadelphia's Chapter 9-800 lets you pay any deposit above one month's rent in three monthly installments.
- Assistance animals are not pets: no pet deposit, fee or pet rent, though you owe for actual damage.
Step by step
How it plays out
- Before signingAdd up all the escrowSecurity plus a refundable pet deposit may not exceed two months' rent in the first year (68 P.S. § 250.511a).
- Paying the depositPay in three installmentsChapter 9-800 lets you pay any deposit above one month's rent in three monthly installments.
- Second year onLimit drops to one monthFrom the second year on, all escrow, pet deposit included, may not exceed one month's rent (68 P.S. § 250.511a).
Try your numbers
Is your security deposit plus refundable pet deposit over the limit?
Applies to the first year of the lease: the security deposit plus any refundable pet deposit, whatever the landlord calls it. Nonrefundable pet fees and monthly pet rent are not counted here, and the Pennsylvania sections we read do not cap them. From the second year on, the limit is one month's rent (68 P.S. § 250.511a). Arithmetic only, not legal advice.
Copy and send: Before you sign, when the deposit asked for is more than one month's rent
Ask for the installment schedule
Fill in the brackets and keep a copy of what you send.
How Pennsylvania compares
Maximum pet deposit, state by state
$300No figureGuide coming soonYou are here
See all 27 cities as a chart
Figures are the state rule, or the stronger city ordinance where one exists. Verify the current law for your own situation before relying on it.
Understanding the Pet Policy Clause
This page is for Philadelphia renters reading the pet paragraph of a lease before they sign. A pet clause can attach money to an animal in three ways: a refundable deposit, a one-time fee you will not get back, and monthly pet rent billed with the rent.
Sort every pet figure into one of those three before you sign. In Pennsylvania the label matters, because only the refundable deposit counts inside the state's escrow limit.
What renters assume
A pet deposit is a separate charge that sits outside the limit on the security deposit.
What is actually true
A refundable pet deposit is part of the security deposit. 68 P.S. § 250.511a counts it inside the first-year limit, whatever the landlord labels it.
Pennsylvania sits at the no-cap end of this chart with Texas, Florida, and Illinois, so nobody is going to tell your landlord the number is too high. Denver holds the same deposit to $300 and Seattle to 25% of the first month's rent - here, your leverage is the refundable label and Philadelphia's three-installment right.
Pet Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Philadelphia, PA
The sample clause below is real lease language - a court quoted it word for word, and then ruled on it. What the judge decided is at the bottom of this block.
Find the equivalent paragraph in your own lease and read the two side by side. The wording will differ; the moving parts rarely do.
PETS. NO PETS ARE PERMITTED. IF THERE ARE PETS, LESSEE(S) AGREES TO PAY AN ADDITIONAL $10 PER MONTH PER CAT OR DOG UNDER 40 POUNDS AND $20 PER MONTH PER DOG OVER 40 POUNDS. ONE DOG PERMITTED, NO ADDITIONAL FEE.
Quoted from the published opinion in Oldendick v. Crocker, 2016-Ohio-5621, 70 N.E.3d 1033 (Ohio Ct. App. 8th Dist.). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
What the 4 highlighted phrases mean
“IF THERE ARE PETS”
A conditional immediately after a ban, which is the drafting fault the Ohio court named. Our Pennsylvania record finds no statute regulating pet fees or pet rent at all - those terms are set entirely by the lease - so a self-contradictory paragraph is not a technicality here. It is the only text there is.
“LESSEE(S) AGREES TO PAY AN ADDITIONAL $10 PER MONTH”
Monthly pet rent is unregulated in Pennsylvania. It is not security, so it never touches the escrow cap, and nothing sets a ceiling on it. That makes pet rent the route a Philadelphia landlord will usually take - the money is unlimited, it arrives every month, and none of it comes back.
“$20 PER MONTH PER DOG OVER 40 POUNDS”
If instead the lease takes a refundable pet deposit, it is part of your security deposit and 68 P.S. § 250.511a applies: no escrow sum over two months' rent in the first year, and over one month's rent from the second year on. So a pet deposit added at renewal can push the total past a line the landlord is required to come back under - a refund you have to ask for, because it does not happen automatically.
See the example
“NO ADDITIONAL FEE”
Worth holding onto where our record finds no cap on pet fees. And there is one category the lease cannot price at all: an assistance or service animal is not a pet, and both the federal Fair Housing Act and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (43 P.S. § 955(h)) require a reasonable accommodation with no pet deposit and no pet rent. You remain responsible for damage the animal actually does - you are not chargeable for its presence. In Westmont Mirador LLC v. Shurtliff (Utah Ct. App. 2014) a renter argued exactly that, and lost: the court held a $200 nonrefundable fee plus $20 a month bought only “the privilege of keeping [a] pet in the apartment”, and pet damage still came out of the ordinary deposit. Utah law does not bind a court here, but the reasoning is the reasoning landlords use.
The court called it what it is - an “internally inconsistent pet clause”. It bans pets and prices them in the same breath, so the court refused to read the rent out of it at all and used the parties' own stipulation instead. The tenant then won the part that matters: because the pet fee paid for pet-related risk, and the next tenant had no pet, the landlord suffered no actual loss and had no business keeping that money out of her deposit. She recovered the $640 balance plus $640 more in statutory double damages - $1,280 - under Ohio's deposit statute.
How this state's law treats this clause
One court, one lease, one state. That answer is not automatically yours, and your lease may be worded to land differently. Use this to know what to look for and what to ask - your state's tenant hotline or a local tenant attorney can answer it for your document.
Pennsylvania Law on Pet Policy Clause
- Our Pennsylvania record finds no statute regulating nonrefundable pet fees or monthly pet rent, so check what your lease says about those; a refundable pet deposit is a different matter (next point).
- A refundable pet deposit is part of the security deposit: 68 P.S.
Read the law's words
§ 250.511a bars any escrow sum over two months' rent in the first year and over one month's rent from the second year on, whatever the landlord labels it. - Nonrefundable pet fees and recurring pet rent fall outside that escrow cap, and the Pennsylvania sections we read do not limit them.
- Assistance and service animals are not pets: the federal Fair Housing Act and the PA Human Relations Act (43 P.S.
Read the law's words
§ 955(h)) require a reasonable accommodation with no pet deposit, fee, or rent, though the tenant still owes for actual damage the animal causes.
Sources include 68 P.S. § 250.511a - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
Our Pennsylvania record finds no statute on nonrefundable pet fees or monthly pet rent, and no section we read sets a dollar cap on a pet deposit. Three rules we read reach pet money:
- Escrow limit (68 P.S. § 250.511a). A refundable pet deposit is part of the security deposit. The section bars any escrow sum over two months' rent in the first year and over one month's rent from the second year on, whatever the landlord labels it.
- Fees and pet rent. Nonrefundable pet fees and recurring pet rent fall outside that escrow cap, and the Pennsylvania sections we read do not limit them. Your lease is the document that names those amounts.
- Assistance animals (43 P.S. § 955(h)). Service and assistance animals are not pets. The federal Fair Housing Act and the PA Human Relations Act require a reasonable accommodation with no pet deposit, fee or rent, though you still owe for actual damage the animal causes.
Read the current text of 68 P.S. § 250.511a before you rely on it.
What's Specific to Philadelphia
Our record finds no Philadelphia pet fee or pet rent cap either. What the city adds is timing.
Under Chapter 9-800 (Bill 250044-A, effective December 2, 2025), you may pay any deposit above one month's rent in three monthly installments, including a refundable pet deposit folded into it. The Pennsylvania sections we read give no such installment right.
A nonrefundable pet fee charged instead of a deposit sits outside both the escrow cap and the installment right.
Only refundable money counts inside the escrow limit in 68 P.S. § 250.511a. A nonrefundable fee does not come back.
A signed addendum with name, breed and weight helps stop a later manager from calling your approved animal an unauthorized pet.
In year one, security plus a refundable pet deposit may not exceed two months' rent. Add it up before you sign.
Chapter 9-800 lets you pay anything above one month's rent in three monthly installments. Ask for the schedule in writing.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- 68 P.S. § 250.511a, read on codes.findlaw.com. Pennsylvania publishes the official text at www.palegis.us. FindLaw marks its copy of this section current as of January 1, 2026.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
-
A deposit relabeled as a nonrefundable fee
Only refundable money counts inside the two months' rent escrow limit. Call it a pet fee and it sits outside the limit and outside your refund.
-
Monthly pet rent with no limit
No Pennsylvania section we read limits pet rent, and it is billed every month. Multiply it by the months in your lease before you sign.
-
Full deposit demanded at signing
Chapter 9-800 lets you spread anything over one month's rent across three monthly installments, a refundable pet deposit included.
-
Per-day unauthorized pet penalties
Daily fines for an animal management says was never approved add up fast. Get written approval of your animal before move-in.
-
No carve-out for assistance animals
A no-pets clause does not settle an assistance animal request. Under the Fair Housing Act and 43 P.S. § 955(h), no pet deposit, fee or rent applies.
Your Rights as a Philadelphia Tenant
-
A cap on everything held in escrow
In your first year, security plus a refundable pet deposit may not exceed two months' rent (68 P.S. § 250.511a).
-
One month's rent after year one
From the second year on, the escrow limit drops to one month's rent, pet deposit included.
-
Installments in Philadelphia
Pay any deposit above one month's rent in three monthly installments under Chapter 9-800.
-
No pet charges for assistance animals
No pet deposit, fee or pet rent applies to a service or assistance animal, though you still owe for actual damage it causes.
What To Do - Step by Step
Copy each pet figure off the lease
List the refundable deposit, any one-time fee and any monthly pet rent separately. Each one follows a different rule.
Add up the escrow total
Security plus a refundable pet deposit may not exceed two months' rent in year one. Do the math before you sign.
Ask for installments in writing
Get the three-installment schedule for anything above one month's rent into the lease or a signed addendum.
Get the animal approved on paper
Name the animal, breed and weight in a signed addendum. Verbal approval from a leasing agent can vanish when the building changes hands.
Photograph the unit at move-in and move-out
Dated photos of floors, trim and carpet give you proof to answer a pet damage claim.
Object in writing, then get help
If your deposit does not come back properly, send a dated demand letter and call a Philadelphia legal aid office or tenant hotline.
Why renters trust LeaseDecoded
Frequently Asked Questions
Pet Policy rules near Pennsylvania
The same clause in the nearest states we cover.
Was this guide helpful?Your answer is anonymous and helps us fix what is unclear.