Should Your Rocklin HOA Rental Accept Pets

The first call is about a dog

You list a Rocklin townhome, and the first three callers ask the same thing: can they bring the dog? Saying yes widens the group of people who can rent your home. Saying no protects floors, yards and your HOA standing from one more source of trouble. Neither answer is wrong, and the law lets you choose.

What makes the choice harder in an HOA community is that you are not the only one setting rules. The association's rules usually reach your tenant's animal whatever your lease says, and some of them, such as leash and common-area rules, are enforced by the HOA, not by you. Start with those rules, then decide what you will allow beyond them.

Then look hard at the home itself. A fenced backyard, hard floors and a garage make a dog easier to live with than wall-to-wall carpet, a shared wall and a small patio. Think about who will check the yard and the floors during the tenancy, too. A pet that is welcome on day one still needs someone to notice a scratched door or a dug-up lawn before it becomes a deposit dispute.

Read the HOA's pet rules before you write your own

Pull the CC&Rs and the current rules and look for limits on the number, kind or size of animals, leash and waste rules, and any areas animals may not use. Those become the floor for your lease. A tenant who follows your pet addendum but breaks an HOA rule can still draw a violation notice, and depending on your CC&Rs, that notice may come to you as the owner.

Civil Code 4715 says governing documents adopted or amended on or after January 1, 2001 cannot stop an owner from keeping at least one pet, subject to the association's reasonable rules. "Pet" there means a domesticated bird, cat or dog, an aquatic animal in an aquarium, or another animal the association agrees to. The statute speaks of owners, so how it applies to a tenant's pet is something your own CC&Rs and rules should answer. Give your tenant a copy of the pet rules with the lease and make following them a lease term.

Deposits, damage and insurance

Under Civil Code 1950.5, "security" means any payment, fee, deposit or charge collected at the start of a tenancy, other than an application screening fee. A pet deposit is part of that total. Since July 1, 2024, the total is generally capped at one month's rent plus the first month's rent, with a narrow two-month exception for certain small landlords that never applies to service members.

The same statute bars calling any deposit "nonrefundable." At move-out you may deduct only for damage beyond ordinary wear and tear, backed by the photos and receipts the law now requires. For tenancies that began on or after July 1, 2025, that includes move-in photos, which is the record you will want if a dog chews a door frame.

Check your landlord insurance policy for animal exclusions before you say yes. If you want a tenant's pet covered by renters liability insurance, write that into the pet addendum, and never apply it to an assistance animal.

One more limit: under Civil Code 1942.7, if you allow animals you may not require declawing or devocalizing, or advertise in a way that discourages applicants whose animals are not declawed or devocalized. The penalty can reach $1,000 per ad or per animal.

The written pet policy rule that starts April 1, 2027

SB 1296, signed in 2026, adds Civil Code 1942.7.5. Starting April 1, 2027, you must have a written pet policy or pet addendum even if it says "no pets" or sets no rules. It must be linked from the property's website and any digital ads you control, handed out with every rental application, and acknowledged in a space on the application.

If you charge an application fee without providing the policy and the applicant cannot or will not go forward because of it, you must refund the fee within seven business days of a written request. A tenant's failure to sign a pet addendum cannot be the only basis for an eviction. The law does not require you to allow pets.

A written policy usually covers these points, and drafting it now means your 2027 listings are already in order:

• Whether pets are allowed, and any limits on number, kind or size.
• The pet deposit, if any, stated as part of the total deposit and refundable.
• Who pays for damage beyond ordinary wear and tear.
• A duty to follow the HOA's animal, leash and common-area rules.
• Noise, waste and yard care expectations.
• Any renters insurance requirement for pets.
• A line saying assistance animal requests are handled separately and are not subject to the pet terms.

Assistance animals are a separate question

A service animal or emotional support animal is not a pet under California rules. The Civil Rights Department's FAQ says you may ban pets, but you must allow an assistance animal as a reasonable accommodation unless a narrow exception applies, without a pet deposit, pet rent or breed limit. Your HOA is bound by the same rules. The assistance animals guide covers documentation and the 2025 and 2026 federal changes.

SPMG's plans list screening of all animals on the pricing page, and its pet policy page sets out the terms it shows tenants. If you are weighing pets for a specific home, the contact page is the place to start that conversation.