A newly proposed bill would require landlords to allow tenants with pets by preventing them from asking about pet ownership until a rental application is approved. LA Times reporter Andrew Campa wrote about how the bill could affect California's renters and landlords. He joined Lisa McRee on "LA Times Today."

Campa discovered in his reporting that nearly 70% of California renters have a pet of some kind. That includes three million renters in Los Angeles County who own animals like dogs, cats or even fish. But, he said, there are more pet-owners than there are pet-friendly apartments.

"If you look at the Zillow listings for the Bay Area, for Los Angeles, the rates fluctuate daily. But you're looking at places that allow pets [makeup] anywhere from about 20% to 25% [of listings]. So a huge chunk of pet owners are not privy to a lot of these listings. And it's very difficult to find openings if you own pets," Campa explained. "We've heard these stories and anecdotes from people who say taking them, whereas those who don't have pets are just finding homes and apartments a lot quicker."

State Assemblymember Matt Haney introduced a bill that would help ease the struggles pet owners face. 

"It stops apartment owners and landlords from prohibiting applications from coming to them from people who have pets. And so, right now, California law allows landlords to just bypass and not even have to consider housing applications from people who own pets. And this [bill] wants to stop that. At least for certain pets," Campa said. 

Many landlords have expressed concerns because tenants with pets can lead to higher maintenance costs.

"Landlords in California, they have several issues with this. One is extra damage that could potentially happen, noise issues that could potentially happen, liability if there is some sort of attack. So you see a range of how landlords deal with this. Charging large security deposits... charging monthly, rent increases, $50 to $100  depending on the type of pet, depending on type of breed," he said. 

Campa explained that the bill would likely be passed sometime in 2025 if it passes hurdles in the state legislature. 

Watch the full interview above.

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