How to Fill Out the North Carolina Pet Addendum (Form 442-T)

The North Carolina Pet Addendum, Form 442-T, is a one-page attachment to the standard Residential Rental Contract (Form 410-T) that authorizes one specific animal to live in the rental, sets a nonrefundable pet fee, and spells out the tenant’s duties for care, cleanup, and liability. To complete it, you fill in the property address at the top, describe the pet in paragraph 1, enter the fee in paragraph 2, set a removal deadline in paragraph 3, confirm licensing and vaccination in paragraph 4, accept the care-and-control rules in paragraph 5, and sign the indemnity in paragraph 6. Every tenant who signed the base lease signs here too.

Who Can Use Form 442-T

NC REALTORS® standard forms are copyrighted. Only licensed REALTORS® (in North Carolina or from another state) and members of the North Carolina State Bar may use them; the “T” in 442-T marks it as the transactional version attorneys can access. Non-REALTOR® agents participating in an MLS cannot use these forms.¹ If your landlord or property manager is a REALTOR®, they will produce the form through ZipForms or their brokerage’s document system. If they aren’t, they’ll need to use a different pet addendum template, but the terms discussed below are what a sound North Carolina pet addendum should still address.

Walking Through the Six Paragraphs

Form 442-T (revised July 2020) is a single page. Keep the base Residential Rental Contract next to you while you fill it in, because the addendum incorporates the landlord and tenant names by reference instead of restating them.² At the top of the addendum, enter the property address exactly as it appears on the lease.

Paragraph 1: Describing the Pet

Paragraph 1 asks for the pet’s breed, color, age, weight, and name.³ Be specific. Something like “brown Labrador retriever, 3 years old, 65 lbs, named Max” is what the field expects. The addendum states that its terms apply only to the pet described, so vague entries like “one dog” leave you exposed if there is ever a question about whether the animal on the property is the one that was approved.

Paragraph 2: The Nonrefundable Pet Fee and Damages

Enter the dollar amount of the nonrefundable pet fee. North Carolina law expressly allows landlords to charge a “reasonable, nonrefundable fee for pets kept by the tenant on the premises.”⁴ The statute doesn’t define “reasonable,” so the amount is negotiable. Fees commonly fall between $200 and $500, depending on the property, the animal, and the landlord.

Paragraph 2 also makes the tenant responsible for “any primary or secondary damages caused by the Pet, whether the damage is to the Premises or to any common areas.”³ That language reaches beyond the unit itself to hallways, landscaping, and shared amenities.

Paragraph 3: Removal of the Pet

Paragraph 3 gives the landlord authority to require removal of the pet, in the landlord’s “sole judgment,” if the animal becomes a nuisance, disturbance, or otherwise undesirable. Fill in the number of hours the tenant has to remove the animal; most leases set this at 24 to 72 hours. The pet fee is not refunded if removal happens, but the tenant may acquire a replacement pet of the same type without paying another fee, provided every other term of the addendum is still met.³ The replacement-pet language was clarified in the July 2020 revision.⁵

Paragraph 4: Licensing and Vaccination

By signing, the tenant represents that the pet has been properly licensed, inoculated for rabies and any other required vaccinations, and spayed or neutered where applicable.³ This is a representation, not a wish list. Signing while knowing these statements are false can create liability, so pull current vaccination records and your local license before you execute the form.

Paragraph 5: Care and Control

Paragraph 5 obligates the tenant to feed and maintain the pet, provide veterinary care, and promptly clean up after it. Outside the dwelling, the pet must be on a leash, carried, or kept in a secure fenced area at all times. Tethering is not allowed.³ These specific care duties were added in the July 2020 revision.⁵

Paragraph 6: Indemnity

The tenant agrees to take reasonable measures to prevent property damage or personal injury caused by the pet, and to indemnify and hold the landlord and their agents harmless from any third-party liability tied to the animal.³ In practice: if your dog bites a visitor or your cat damages a neighbor’s belongings, the financial responsibility sits with you, not the landlord.

Pet Fee vs. Security Deposit

North Carolina draws a firm line between a nonrefundable pet fee and a refundable security deposit, and confusing the two is one of the most common errors. The pet fee under N.C. General Statute § 42-53 is nonrefundable and sits outside the security deposit framework entirely.⁴ The landlord keeps it even if the pet causes no damage.

Security deposits are capped under § 42-51: two weeks’ rent for a week-to-week tenancy, one and a half months’ rent for month-to-month, and two months’ rent for terms longer than month-to-month.⁶ If a landlord calls additional pet money a “pet deposit” instead of a “pet fee,” that money likely falls under these caps and must be treated as refundable. The naming on the form matters.

At move-out, pet stains, odors in carpet, and lawn damage from pet urine are classified as chargeable damage rather than normal wear under NCR’s own landlord-tenant guidance.⁷ Some landlords add monthly pet rent on top of the one-time fee; North Carolina has no statute capping that, so the amount is whatever the lease sets, typically between $10 and $100.

Renter’s Insurance and the Indemnity Clause

Because paragraph 6 puts third-party liability on the tenant, renter’s insurance with pet liability coverage is practically essential. If the base lease requires a renter’s policy, the addendum specifies that the policy must include coverage for bodily injury and property damage caused by the pet.⁸

Standard renter’s liability coverage for dog incidents typically ranges from $100,000 to $300,000, but policies often exclude damage the pet causes to the rental unit itself, to your own belongings, or to people living in the household. Many insurers also exclude certain breeds entirely, commonly pit bulls, rottweilers, dobermans, German shepherds, chow chows, akitas, and wolf hybrids. North Carolina has no statewide breed-specific legislation, so individual cities may add their own restrictions. Not disclosing your pet’s breed can void coverage if a claim later arises.⁹

Form 442-T Does Not Apply to Assistance Animals

Form 442-T governs pets. It does not apply to assistance animals, and a landlord who tries to charge pet fees or impose breed restrictions on a qualified assistance animal risks a Fair Housing complaint. The base 410-T lease lists a separate form, the Assistance Animal Addendum (Form 443-T), for those situations.² If the animal is a qualified assistance animal, use 443-T instead and do not charge a pet fee or deposit.¹⁰

Adding or Replacing a Pet Mid-Lease

If you want to bring a pet into a rental that started without one, execute a new Form 442-T. The 410-T prohibits all animals (dogs, cats, birds, rodents, reptiles, and marine animals) unless a Pet Addendum is attached, even temporarily and even if the animal belongs to someone else.² Bringing an animal in without an executed addendum violates the lease.

If your approved pet dies or is rehomed, paragraph 3 lets you acquire a replacement of the same type without paying a new pet fee, but you still need to update paragraph 1 with the new animal’s description and keep that change in writing.³ A second pet of a different type needs its own separate addendum with its own fee. Each Form 442-T covers one described animal.

Signing, Attaching, and Keeping a Copy

Every person who signed the base Residential Rental Contract must sign the Pet Addendum. The form has signature blocks for each tenant and for the landlord or their agent, each with a date line and a seal notation. The 410-T requires that all addenda be listed in paragraph 28(b) and physically attached, and it states that all changes to the agreement must be “in writing and signed by all parties.”² An addendum signed by only some parties is not enforceable.

Once executed, keep the signed addendum stapled to the lease so the documents travel together, and make sure each party has a copy. At move-out, disputes about pet damage usually turn on what the addendum actually authorized, and having the specific pet description, the fee amount, and the tenant’s vaccination and spay/neuter representations in one place makes the inspection and any deposit deduction far easier to work through.

1
NC REALTORS. May Non-REALTOR Participants in an MLS Use Standard NC REALTORS Forms
2
North Carolina Association of REALTORS. Standard Form 410-T Residential Rental Contract
3
Home Coach Real Estate School. Form 442-T Pet Addendum Rev 7.2020 Sample
4
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 42-53 – Pet Deposits
5
North Carolina REALTORS. Property Management Forms Changes Effective July 1, 2020
6
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code Chapter 42 – Tenant Security Deposit Act
7
North Carolina Association of REALTORS. Landlord-Tenant Normal Wear and Tear Guide
8
Carolina Realty of Chapel Hill. Pet Addendum Form 442-T
9
GEICO. Does Renters Insurance Cover Dogs
10
ADA.gov. ADA Requirements: Service Animals