Apartment Charges Woman $200 for Keeping a Pet Fish | "They're Now Charging Pet Rent for Fish?"

If you are a pet parent then you definitely don’t want to stay separated from them. If you relocate to somewhere new, you always make sure to bring your pet along with you. The maintenance cost that you pour in for taking care of your pet is something that doesn’t matter to a pet parent usually.

But this woman was baffled to see how much she has to pay for keeping a pet fish with her in the apartment. TikTok user @nicr__ went viral after posting a video of her apartment’s shocking renting system for keeping a pet. The original video which was posted on February 2, 2023, has amassed over 60,000 views so far.

The TikTok user showed the pet fees which is required to be paid for owning a fish in her apartment and the screenshot included in the video shows her apartment charges a one-time fee of $200 and a $15 monthly rent for the pet. The receipt also shows that the apartment allows fish but they restrict owning any kind of “aggressive breed.”

The original poster of the video, Nic, displays her surprise and is at a loss for words. The caption of the video reads: “They’re now charging pet rent for fish?” The comment section was expectedly filled with netizens who resonated with Nic’s confusion and shock over the pet rent and heavily criticized the apartment owners for the unnecessary extra fees.

One person wrote in the comments: “They’ll do anything for money I swear.” Another person shared their opinion as well and wrote, “They really just trying to nickel and dime us now.” Several others joked about how the apartment fees are getting out of control these days and most of the apartments are adding up ridiculous rules to squeeze out more money from their tenants.

A few viewers of the video shared their similar experience with owning a fish as a pet and also explained to Nic the reason behind the apartment charging these seemingly nonsensical fees. “I had a shrimp in a small tank they tried to charge me I said it was food so they couldn’t charge me,” one user wrote.

“I got charged a $150 fee cuz I had a fish when I moved in and didn’t disclose it because I didn’t think it mattered. The fish died a week later,” a second person commented. “It’s because it’s in a tank. In my complex you have to have a deposit for fish tanks and waterbeds,” a third person explained.

According to Pet Fish Scout, there are apartments that might produce several regulations for owning pets and fish specifically. These include requiring liability insurance and restrictions on tank size and which floors are permitted to have fish tanks.