Unlock Additional Revenue Through Pet-Friendly Rentals

In this episode of the Hospitable Hosts podcast, we welcome John Bradford, Founder and CEO of PetScreening, a pet policy management platform that helps landlords, vacation rental hosts, and property managers navigate the challenges of accommodating assistance animal requests and ensure compliance.

Now PetScreening integrates with Hospitable, so Hospitable users can connect PetScreening to their Hospitable account to manage pets and service animals, screen them before arrival, and reduce risks. The platform can help you automate pet screening and integrate it into the booking process, saving you valuable time.

In the episode, John shares why he launched PetScreening and how the platform helps vacation rental operators manage pet policies and booking requests for service animals and emotional support animals. John also discusses the benefits of pet-friendly vacation rentals, emphasizing that they attract more guests, command higher rates, and generate more revenue than pet-free rentals.  

Press Play now to learn how PetScreening makes it easy for hosts to screen pets, ensuring a safe and pet-friendly experience.

Do you prefer to read the highlights? We’ve got a summary of the key takeaways below.

What Led John to Launch PetScreening

John shares that before starting PetScreening, he was a professional property manager, managing about 3,000 long-term rental homes for investors and his own vacation rentals. John has always been a pet lover, and now he has two dogs. While operating a property management company, John pursued a political career and served in the North Carolina House of Representatives.

“I'm a big landlord rights guy,” John says. “In my state, there were lots of attempts to put moratoriums on vacation rentals in some of our urban cities. And I constantly fought against that because I believe that if you own a property, as long as you're willing to follow the rules of your HOA or condo association, then you should be able to rent it out.”

Nine years ago, John started PetScreening to help landlords and property managers better manage pets and assistance animals, and to implement pet policies that make them more pet-inclusive. Now, PetScreening also has a solution for vacation rentals.

“No one wants to challenge someone who says they have a disability because they're afraid they're getting in trouble. But there are a lot of bad actors who are saying they have an assistance animal when they really don't. Some people absolutely need a legitimate service animal, period. They're not the problem. It's the bad actors who are just slapping a vest on their dog they got off of Amazon or buying a certificate off the internet so that they don't have to pay pet fees. And that's wrong. And so I wanted a platform to help manage that.”

Making Your Rental Space Pet-Friendly

John explains that short-term rentals are subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act regarding service animals. That means STR hosts must always allow a service animal to accompany its owner during a stay, and they can’t charge a pet fee for that. But hosts are not required to accept emotional support animals (ESAs). “So just knowing the law is really important,” John notes.

John also points out that allowing pets in your STR property can help you attract more guests since “pets are the fabric of the American DNA.” People want to bring their pets on vacation and are willing to pay for them, which means you can increase your revenue per booking by charging a pet fee. But it’s essential to have a platform that helps hosts manage pet policies and ensure that guests who bring pets understand the rules of responsible pet ownership and follow them.