LogFAQs > #966644354

My lease is up for renewal, and thankfully I'll be out of here, possibly by the end of the year, but unfortunately not soon enough to avoid needing a new lease.
I should've known they'd pull yet another 1984 on me before I can finally escape.
Now we need to go on some 3rd party "Pet Screening" website in order to renew our lease.

Yet another wonderful creation from the Tech Bros Without Souls dream team!

https://www.curbed.com/2022/05/landlords-pet-revenue-dogs.html

Did you know that pets are one of the largest sources of ancillary revenue in the rental-housing industry and yet some operators are leaving potential revenue on the table by charging their future tenants a flat-fee pet deposit? PetScreening, a North Carolina startup that invented a credit score for pets (a FIDO score), wants you to know this. Its risk-assessment algorithm evaluates pets based on data entered by their owners name, breed, weight, sex, age, pictures, vaccination information, micro-chip data, and behavioral information which it claims is more accurate than unsophisticated landlord assessments. Those judgments often include stereotypes about sizes and breeds. This is unfair to both pitbulls and, possibly, the bichon frise.

Pretending to be an operator who is leaving potential revenue on the table, I entered myself into the sites revenue fetcher worksheet as a 20-unit building owner who charges a $200 flat pet fee. My personalized estimate showed I was only making $1,590 in pet revenue when I could be making a potential $6,201 with PetScreenings services. The automated company email signed off with woof regards.
A FIDO score can range from one paw (very bad) to five paws (very good). Landlords can then set a sliding scale; the more risky the pet is (inclined to bark or walk with a patter-patter-patter rhythm detectable to downstairs neighbors, among other sins), the more a building owner can justify charging their tenant pet rent and fees. (The incentive for prospective tenants to be honest about their pet, we assume, is that they will likely get caught trying to minimize Frank Jr.s tendency toward loud whimpering.)

For the honor of entering their pet into a database that will probably prompt their landlords to charge them more money, owners pay PetScreening a $20 fee for their first pet profile and $15 for each additional pet. (Landlords pay nothing to utilize the service.)

So apparently my cat, which has lived here for many years with no issue, that I already paid a one time non-refundable "pet deposit" for...a pet deposit that was later decreased but I was told I don't get a refund for the difference... that cat, which was grandfathered in when it was convenient for the apartment complex but not now when it's convenient for him not to be... needs all of this info provided at my own cost to some shady shit lord data collection company, for them to assess his "risk factor".

This company appears to be the personification of pond scum, and there BBB comments section is pretty amusing to read thru, including them replying to nearly everyone (1 star reviews, as far as the eye can see!) claiming everyone are liars and frauds (lol):

https://www.bbb.org/us/nc/mooresville/profile/animal-identification/pet-screening-inc-0473-811259/customer-reviews

Needless to say, I will not be doing this. Unfortunately my house hasn't started being built yet and will likely take at least 2 months beyond my current lease ending. So, I guess I will wait till the lease is almost over to see how the house is coming, and weigh my timetable out vs. the eviction process (for having an "illegal pet" -- that was legal until now) and riding it out until I can walk away anyway. I've always been a good tenant, paid on time, etc... Can't believe it's come to this.

Fuck renting. Fuck it so hard. You're so god damned powerless to every single Orwellian intrusion they foist upon you.

This is the future utopia the World Economic Forum wishes for us all.
You will own nothing, and be happy about it! (yikes...)

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/youll-own-nothing-and-be-happy
https://medium.com/illumination/in-2030-youll-own-nothing-and-be-happy-about-it-abb2835bd3d1

I wish I had made haste to escape from this dystopian nightmare sooner. Get the fuck out of renting if you can, it's going to keep getting worse.
Just needed to rant...