Will People bring their dogs to my Big Bear Vacation Rental?
The short answer is Yes! Can we stop them, No and here is why.
The State of California allows service dogs and now Emotional Support Animals (ESA) into Vacation Rentals. Quick Facts below;
There is no state documentation, it is all private companies that certify a dog can provide a service.
There are two questions we can ask 1) Does the dog provide a service? 2) Has it been trained to provide that service? So basically anyone can state their dog is an ESA and we have to allow them into a NON Pet Friendly home.
- Can we stop them? No
- Can we charge any fee? No
- Can we keep their deposit? No unless their is damaged.
- Can we keep their deposit to clean the carpets and furniture? No
We have had to defend ourselves against a lawsuit. We do have the most knowledge in this area.
Our best solution is to put all over the ads that the home owner’s family is severely allergic and please work with us to find a home that does allow pets.
We do our best to keep deposits and provide cleaning. But when state we are keeping your deposit due to a non pet friendly home if they state it is a Service Dog or ESA, we can not go any further.
Our biggest issues with Pets in NON pet Friendly homes are during the Holidays…… the last homes to rent out are always NON Pet Friendly homes and once all Pet-Friendly homes have rented, people with animals rent anything they can find and then just state it is an ESA.
For home owners, I know this is not the info you want to hear but there is really nothing I can do, If this is a deal breaker we understand and please let us know if you want us to cancel your future bookings and the contract. Nick Cargill
We are not happy with how California treats this situation at all. If you wish to speak to Nick (owner of DBB) about this he is very happy too, he owns this home;
Wolf Creek Luxury Estate – Big Bear Lake, CA
which does not accept pets but still pets are brought to his home.
Revenue and Pet Friendly Homes
Pet Friendly homes will always make more money then non pet Friendly Homes.
#1) Non Pet Friendly homes does not mean a pet has not been in the home, many times it is just the opposite. Many of our home owners have set their homes to NON pet Friendly home because they actually own a pet and do not want their pet to smell other animals. I am actually one of those home owners 😉 We have been asked will their home make more money if it is non pet friendly. Answer is just the opposite.
#2) Guests will search for a home that accepts pets and if they can not find one, they will then just rent a home that does not accept pets and then they will say the dog is a ESA (Emotional Support Animal).
Here are the stats of a survey we did about 3 years ago;
80% of reservations that have 16 people have a pet.
70% of reservations that have 14 people have a pet.
60% of reservations that have 12 people have a pet.
50% of reservations that have 10 people have a pet.
25 % of reservations that have 8 people have a pet.
These numbers seem to be pure probability. The more likely a reservation has a pet is based upon the more guests the more chances somebody has a pet. The drop off at 8 guests we have attributed to reservations are more likely to be single family households.