Best. Landlady. Ever.

Judy Guth. Photo: Michael Owen Baker/LA Daily News

Usually you hear about apartment owners restricting their buildings to "no pets". But Judy Guth has an opposite policy. If you don’t have a pet, you can’t rent from her.

Judy has a 12-unit apartment house in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, and she insists on her tenants having a pet, because in her experience they make great tenants.

"My experience has told me you get people with a lot of love in their hearts when you get pet owners," she told the LA Daily News. She also said that she finds that pet owners pay their rent on time and seldom move.

She started her pets-only policy shortly after she bought the building 40 years ago. She does have some rules that her tenants need to follow which include: pets must be current on their vaccinations, they need to wear a current ID tag and dogs with bad behavior are prohibited (eg incessant barking).

Judy also helps owners who lose a pet. If someone’s pet dies, Judy has been known to take the tenant to a local animal shelter to adopt a new one. 

There are no laws prohibiting Judy’s bias against non-pet owners and her pets-only policy really seems to work. The proof is in how few tenants move out. Many of her tenants have lived there for over 10 years, and a few for over 20. 

"I've talked to other rental property owners about it, but they just laugh," Judy said. "They’re stupid. The only vacancies I’ve had are when people had to move because the economy forced them out of state for a job. Within a day or two, there’s a new dog or cat moving in. I can’t remember all the people, but I can remember their pets