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Pet Friendly Homes for Lease in Orange County, CA
Your dog or cat is part of the family, yet many people searching for homes to lease struggle to find homes that will take pets.

Pet Friendly Homes for Lease
in Orange County, CA

Your dog or cat is part of the family, yet many people searching for homes to lease struggle to find homes that will take pets. This page has been designed to help you locate homes for lease in South Orange County, CA that either allow pets, or are willing to consider them. Search for pet friendly, dog friendly, or cat friendly leases or rentals in Aliso Viejo, Coto de Caza, Irvine, Dove Canyon, Corona Del Mar, Rancho Santa Margarita, Mission Viejo, San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Dana Point, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Lake Forest, Portola Hills, Foothill Ranch, Tustin, Costa Mesa, North Tustin, Wagon Wheel, Las Flores, Robinson Ranch, and the canyon areas. Also, Orange, Fullerton, Anaheim Hills, Yorba Linda, Villa Park, and & Brea. These links will help you find a lease or home for rent in Orange County that will allow dogs, cats, or other pets. New-Pet leases in Corona and Murrieta, in Riverside County, CA.
Girl with a cat
If you are looking for a lease and do not have a pet, see my page for Orange County leasing, here.

Pet Friendly Lease Home Search - By city

Note: When contacting us, please let us know what type of pets) you have (breed, size, weight). We prefer to work with two, maximum. It is very difficult to get accepted for a lease with three or more pets, with very large pets, or certain breeds. Please see our showing instructions and application requirements below.

Please DO include your phone number. It is much easier for us to communicate about homes by phone than through e-mail.

Aliso Viejo

Anaheim

Anaheim Hills

Brea

Corona Del Mar

Costa Mesa

Coto de Caza

Dana Point

Dove Canyon

Fullerton

Huntington Beach (see below)

Irvine

Ladera Ranch

Laguna Beach

Laguna Hills & Laguna Niguel

Lake Forest (Portola Hills & Foothill Ranch)

Mission Viejo

Newport Beach & Newport Coast

Orange & Orange Park Acres

Placentia

Rancho Santa Margarita

Robinson Ranch

San Clemente

San Juan Capistrano

Santa Ana

Tustin and North Tustin

Wagon Wheel Canyon & Las Flores

Westminister

Yorba Linda

Corona

Murrieta

Note: Sorry, leases in the city of Huntington Beach will no longer be listed on my site. The reason is that many HB landlords and their listing agents are offering extremely low commissions to tenant's agents. These commissions are often well below our actual costs to show homes, pay for gas, pay our brokerage, and other expenses. I advise my clients to look for homes for lease in other cities!

Quick pet-friendly lease search

If you don't wish to search by individual city, try the search below, which is by price range and general area of Orange County, CA

South Orange County

$ 2,000 - $ 2,500 / mo

$ 2,500 - $ 3,000 / mo

$ 3,000 - $ 4,000 / mo

$ 4,000 and up

North Orange County

$ 2,000 - $ 2,500 / mo

$ 2,500 - $ 3,000 / mo

$ 3,000 - $ 4,000 / mo

$ 4,000 and up

Beach and coastal areas *

$ 2,000 - $ 2,500 / mo

$ 2,500 - $ 3,000 / mo

$ 3,000 - $ 4,000 / mo

$ 4,000 and up

* Beach area leases may be short term or vacation rentals. Please check each listing carefully.


Owner and the dog
Most leases will require a pet deposit, in addition to the standard security deposit. The amount of this deposit varies with the individual lease. In some cases, the deposit is "per pet", so for example, if the pet deposit is $500, they may charge $1,000 if you have 2 dogs. The pet deposit is fully refundable at the end of the lease term if your pets have not damaged the home. Please note also that if you do have a pet that damages a home, your liability will not be limited to just the pet deposit, if the damage exceeds that amount.

Most owners of pet-friendly leases will accept a dog or cat. Some also prefer a smaller pet. "Pet-friendly" does not necessarily mean that a landlord will accept multiple pets, very large pets, or pets that they may consider to be a liability (i.e., certain dog breeds). Although a few listings specify "Pets-Yes", most are listed as "Submit". This means that the landlord has the option of accepting or denying a pet (just because a home for rent states that they will allow pets, does not necessarily mean they will be willing to take your three, 60-pound German Shepherds!). Also, be fair to your pet and use common sense in your home search. Large dogs require a large home with a yard, while a small house dog may be fine in a condo.

Best friend dog

Home showings

Once you have found some homes, my team and I will be happy to arrange home viewings with you. We ask that you please note the following showing policies:

  • Lead time for leases is typically 30 to 45 days in advance of move-in. Be sure your move-in date is no later than 45 days from the time that we view properties.

  • Most leases require good credit. Please let us know your credit scores in advance.

  • For home showings, please limit your lease selections to 3 to 5 homes, maximum.

  • Please also limit the number of cities or areas for showings to same city, or adjoining ones. We will not accommodate requests to show homes all over Orange County.

  • For leases with pets, we prefer to work with two, maximum. It is very difficult to get accepted for a lease with three or more pets, with very large pets, or certain breeds.

  • Showing arrangements are typically made 24 hours in advance. While some homes are vacant, many others are occupied, so having confirmed appointments is essential.

  • It is important to be on time for showing appointments. Showing times are arranged with the home occupants, so being late may mean that we would have to re-schedule the showing.

  • We will not show properties that offer a sub-standard commission. Most leases are fine, but there are a small number of homes for lease that offer very low, "lump sum" commissions. The amount is often well below our actual costs to complete the transaction. Please understand that we will not be able to show these homes to you.

  • We would like to avoid "double showings". Because we service all of Orange County, showing the same home twice can be costly in time, travel, gas, and also because of the low commissions associated with leases. We often receive requests to show the same house over again because 1) All of the "decision makers" were not present at the first showing, or 2) because the client forgot details about an individual home. We suggest that you: 1) Make sure all of the "decision makers" are present when we tour the homes. 2) take your time at each home. Make notes, take photos or videos to help you remember each unit.

  • We work very hard for you, so we do ask that work with us exclusively. We respect you as a client, so please respect our time as well. We ask that you do not work with other brokers, Craigslist, or other lease sources while you are working with us -- Allow us to get the job done for you!

  • Last note for 2021 - Many people now have a pet that has been designated as an "emotional support animal". Some of these are legitimate, but many others are not, meaning the tenant was able to get a note from a doctor, so that they could avoid paying a pet deposit and worse, insisting that a "no pets" lease must legally take the pet. To be clear, I will not work with someone who insists that I work with a "no pets" lease and then threaten legal action if the landlord does not accept the pet. There have been many cases of real estate agents getting embroiled in a legal case when the tenant threatens legal action against one party or another.

What's next?

Once we have found the right home, you will need to provide a complete lease application package. For each occupant 18+ years of age, you will need to provide:

  • A completed lease application (I can send you the application form)

  • All applicants sign the "AD" form (disclosure for agency relationships)

  • A full credit report with FICO scores.

  • Proof of income and employment (usually a couple of pay stubs will suffice).

  • Two recent bank statements to also verify income

  • Also, during the pandemic you'll have to sign a COVID form called PEAD-V. I can send that to you to sign on-line, Listing agents all insist on having a signed PEAD form before they allow you to see a home. Update - This is no longer needed as of 8/01/2021.

  • Some listing agents use a tenant screening tool like "Rentspree". There is usually a $30 charge to each applicant for Rentspree. Even with this tool, you will still need to provide the documents listed above for verification of income, etc.

It is very important to put a complete package together as soon as possible in order to secure the home. Please be sure that there are no missing documents for any of the applicants. Once I have the package, I will submit it to the listing agent and if approved, the agent will draft all of the lease forms for you to sign. You will also need to provide a cashier's check for the first month's rent, security deposit, and pet deposit. Note: it will be easiest and fastest if you send us all of the documentation in .pdf format. I have often had people try to photograph a document with their cell phone or scan and send as individual graphics (typically .jpeg format). This creates a huge headache for us, trying to re-organize the pages and save as .pdf files. The easiest way, if you are not good at sending documents is to go to a local store like a Staples. They will scan everything for you and send to your e-mail as .pdf files.

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ SECTION

The homes listed on this web page are homes for lease listed in the MLS that state that they will consider pets. This does not mean that any pet will be automatically accepted or that they will accept multiple pets, large dogs, or all breeds.
1 - I ask for your move-in date because many homes have an occupancy date, so I need to be sure you are looking at the right time and that the house will be available for you.
2 - I need to know what types of pets up front, as many homes have restrictions on type of pet (cat or dog). size and weight, and on breed. Many landlords will not accept pit bulls, German shepherds, or other breeds that may be restricted by the landlord, property manager, or home owner association.
3 - Good or decent credit is usually a must for leasing a home. If you have sub-par credit, I prefer to know that before we go out looking at homes.
My team does not have any specific pet policies. Pet policies are up to each individual landlord, so we have no way of knowing in advance whether a particular landlord will accept your pet (or pets). Having said that, most landlords do have discretion over accepting pets. Generally, they can reject certain breeds (Pit Bulls, Rottweiler's, etc), animals of a certain weight, or multiple pets.
Yes, some do. They will state this in the MLS agent remarks. Typical examples include "One cat allowed - No dogs" or "One dog 15 pounds or less allowed". Most listings do not state a preference however.
In most cases, yes. Once we have your contact information and the details of your pet(s) and credit scores, we will be happy to set up a home search for you. The home listings will come to you by e-mail, so that you can select which homes to visit once you are here. We may decline to help if you have pets that are not allowed in some HOA complexes or could be potential liability for a landlord. Also, if the rent amount or commission is too low, as it may cost too much to show the home and do all of the paperwork.
No. All we can do is ask the listing agents at any of the homes that you are interested in if that is acceptable to the owner. We prefer to do this prior to visiting any of the homes, for obvious reasons. Generally, it is more difficult to get accepted with multiple pets. This is especially true for larger dogs. Again, we will check with the homes first, before showing any of them.
This is a relatively new law and technically, a landlord does have to allow the animal, even if it states "no pets", etc. Also, no extra pet deposit is allowed. Having said that, you the tenant are still responsible for any damage to the home caused by you or your pet, and you are liable for all damage, even it's over the amount of the security deposit. Also, I choose not to work with tenants who want to force a landlord to take an ES pet in a "no pets" lease. In this case, it can quickly become a legal issue and I don't wish to become embroiled in a legal fight between the tenant and a landlord - Thanks for your understanding on this.

Pet allowed codes in the Multiple Listing Service


The MLS in the Orange County area allows listing agents to choose several options for pets when they set up their lease listing. A listing agent may choose to select several of these codes for additional clarity. These codes have shifted over the years, but here are the latest ones in the MLS that pertain to pets in homes for lease:

Breed Restrictions - Mainly applying to dogs, it means that the landlord may restrict certain breeds, which typically includes pet bulls and other breeds.

Call - This is the most common status and it means call with your pet information and the agent will run it by the landlord.

Cats OK

Dogs OK

No - Agent is specifying that no pets are allowed (the other "no pets" clue is that there will usually be no amount specified for the pet deposit).

Number Limit

Size Limit

Yes - Not frequently used alone, but means that that landlord is OK with pets.

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