I have lived in my apartment for six years and at that time I signed a pet addendum allowing me to have pets with a pet deposit of $150 and a"one time non-refundable fee" of $200. Recently my complex has changed management companies. I signed a seven month lease renewal a couple of days ago with no changed terms. I was informed verbally today that the new management is now charging a fee of $300 per pet (I have three cats) which they want me to pay. Is it legal for the new management to add this fee after I've signed a new lease that states there are no changed terms to my previous lease? I live in Houston, TX. Thank you, M

I have lived in my apartment for six years and at that time I signed a pet addendum allowing me to have pets with a pet deposit of $150 and a"one time non-refundable fee" of $200. Recently my complex has changed management companies. I signed a seven month lease renewal a couple of days ago with no changed terms. I was informed verbally today that the new management is now charging a fee of $300 per pet (I have three cats) which they want me to pay. Is it legal for the new management to add this fee after I've signed a new lease that states there are no changed terms to my previous lease? I live in Houston, TX. Thank you, M

Nope, they can change all of the terms prior to you signing, be sure to read all of the provisions of the lease, to be sure this is not allowed, but if the lease signed does not allow an additional pet fee to be added, then they have to abide by their contract.

This is assuming they signed and returned a signed copy to you to prove they accepted the new lease terms.

If your lease acctually says no changes then you will probably not have to pay this year, how ever they will most likely change that next year.

We each signed a copy of the lease renewal so I have a signed original.

You are not required to pay any increase until the term of your current lease ends. The management company can't create new conditions after the lease has been signed. However you can be sure that the management company will require this increase if/when you sign a new lease when the 7 months is up.

They can change it all they want next year, I plan on living elsewhere!

I just wanted to add something.

Did you sign an actual pet addendum to your lease? And if so, does it specifically list all 3 cats on there? If you only had one or two cats, or different cats when that paperwork was filled out, then they could come back and make changes, or charge additional for the extra pets, etc.

Otherwise, I agree with everyone else, they can't make changes or add charges after you and the landlord have signed.

Is it TAA forms?

Yes, it is a TAA form which has spots to dictate what animals I have, but at the time, six years ago, they didn't require me to fill in for specific animals. And the addendum doesn't state a maximum or minimum animal amount. -M

Hmmm, well, now you've got me curious, since no specific info was filled in.

I believe I will call my local chapter of the Texas Apartment Assn. tomorrow and ask them about this. If they don't know the answer they will call the TAA legal counsel and get their take on the issue.

Thank you. I would appreciate that. I tried to get on the HAA web site to find info but was unable to connect to it and I couldn't find my exact problem on the TAA site. If there is more information that you need, let me know. -M

I talked to the Executive Director at my local Apartment Association office. She said your situation is basically in a big, grey area... BECAUSE... the animal addendum uses all singular language in referring to the "animal" in question. Since it wasn't filled in she feels that they were basically giving you permission to have A pet, under whatever terms you and they set up. The fact that you have 3 animals could be seen as a violation of the agreement.

Ultimately, like just about everything else, it would come down to the descretion of a judge if they were to attempt to enforce the new fees by taking you to court.

What are they doing so far to try to get you to pay? Do you believe they'll pursue it?

I haven't been able to contact the apartment manager. He is never in the office and is bad about returning calls. This all came about because maintenance came in to the apartment to repair damage from hurricane Ike at my request. Afterward, I found damage to some of my property. Maintenance used a spray primer on a wall that had no damage from either the storm or anything else. When I gave notice of the property damage the manager met with me and stated that he couldn't find a pet addendum to any of my leases and that he would trade his "new" pet deposit for the damage maintenance caused. I then showed him my signed addendum and he magically found the original conveniently folded over behind my first lease. He then stated that since this was a new mgmt company I would have to pay the new pet deposit or be evicted. He said he would get me something in writing from the corporate office. I asked if this information had been sent to all tenants and was told that no, they were informing everyone by word of mouth whenever they came into the office. Mind you, when I had returned after Ike(Sept 18), I walked my apartment with the asst mgr. When I did, She informed me she had to leave my apartment because she had allergies to cats. Then on Sept 24 I signed my renewal in the office with the same asst mgr. On Sept 26 I went into the office and again spoke to the asst mgr about the maintenance damage. On all these dates the asst mgr never mentioned a new pet deposit. Whew! I have, I think, added everything from the full story! -M

Well, do you still need more interaction with them regarding the maintenance damage, or is that all straightened out?

I guess I'd have to see exactly what all you've signed since your original lease and pet addendum. Have you signed new leases, or lease renewal forms, or what. Is that one, original pet addendum that you signed the only one, ever?

If you're done with them for now as far as the maintenance stuff is concerned I'd probably just try to lay low and finish out your lease. I don't remember from your original post if you said what you paid as a security deposit, in addition to the pet stuff you paid. I would guess that if they don't follow through and try to make you pay the addtl pet fees now, they'll keep your deposit, saying that you owe these pet fees that you never paid.