Also, company says pet owners can use a temporary warranty, which is free, to try to convince unwilling landlords to accept their pets - along with themselves - as tenants.

The pet deposit warranties will cover soiled, chewed and destroyed carpets, linoleum, woodwork, drapes and doors for units that house cats and dogs that are one year old or older.

The cost for one pet is $200 per year plus a one time partially refundable deposit of $275.

Properties that already require pet deposits can benefit from leasewithpets.com as well. These apartments can be further protected with pet warranties, without charging tenants twice. The properties can simply pay for pet warranties with already collected funds.

Snow says that according to Humane Society figures, there are 6.5 million animals living in shelters because their owners were not allowed to keep them in rented properties. He hopes that leasewithpets.com will "change pet acceptance in apartment communities."

Leasewithpets.com plans to work with animal shelters nationwide to help provide viable accommodations for pets in lieu of homelessness. The company also plans to begin fund-raising for pet protection with various humane societies.

You may or may not want to include a question in application about whether or not he or she plans to get (or has) any pets. If your tenant has 2 Dobermans and plans on moving into a 500 square foot space with no yard... you may not want to rent to them. Not only could large pets cause expensive damages or stink up apartment, but it’s also unfair to animals! Do you want to rent to someone who cares that little for living creatures?

You will also need to have a clause in your rental application stating that you have right to perform criminal, personal and financial background checks on prospective tenants. If this clause is not present in tenant's signed application, you have no legal right to contact anyone from their past.

Once you've talked to past employers and landlords, you should be able to determine whether or not applicant would be a good addition to your establishment. If it looks like they have a good chance, you'll want to run a credit report on them to make double sure of your instinct.

Credit reports can be expensive ($35.00 - $50.00), so it's a good idea to only run them on applicants you've researched and feel good about. Some credit checking agencies will give discounted reports to landlords ($10.00 - $20.00) and if you would like to, you can ask your potential tenant to pay for some or all of credit report cost.

By checking out everything from past employees to credit, you will have enough information about applicant to decide whether or not you are going to accept application. The process may seem tedious, but finding out about a bad tenant before he lives in your complex is well worth your efforts.