Being charged $100 for "curry smell" by landlord at end of lease (Newark: house, tenant)

[DowntownJerseyCity]

Originally Posted by pkpkpkpk

I respect your opinion. Would you hold on to it after this fact:
When we came in, the place smelt of Chinese food. And let me tell you that this is very distinct from Indian food smell. We are not talking about a place that was painted and given to us. We are talking about a lived-in apartment which was not scrubbed down, the kitchen floors were sticky etc. We did such a good job, the landlord had to accept it. ( we paid a lot of money for the cleaning, btw)

Wait, you say you paid a lot of money for the cleaning then in the next post you say your wife spent 2 whole days cleaning the place. Did you guys spend a skid load of cash on cleaning products or something? Please clarify because I'm confused.

[pkpkpkpk]

Originally Posted by mumra

If you left an odor, man up and take care of it. A few bottles of fabreze shouldn’t cost that much. I can sympathize with the landlord, some “curry smells” are very potent.

You dont seem to grasp the context. I spent a lot of money cleaning the stuff. I am willing to spend a bit more on febreze/charcoal etc.

The thing you need to understand is the "food smell" is a subjective, cultural thing. It will be a bit more acute to you than it is to me.
What I am not willing to, is pony up $100 for a kitchen that is 10 times better than what we got.

[pkpkpkpk]

Originally Posted by DowntownJerseyCity

Wait, you say you paid a lot of money for the cleaning then in the next post you say your wife spent 2 whole days cleaning the place. Did you guys spend a skid load of cash on cleaning products or something? Please clarify because I'm confused.

omg, now come the questions
When we moved in, my wife cleaned the place from the mess we inherited,
When we moved out, we spent on cleaning services for the whole house.

[Roselvr]

Originally Posted by pkpkpkpk

I respect your opinion. Would you hold on to it after this fact:
When we came in, the place smelt of Chinese food. And let me tell you that this is very distinct from Indian food smell. We are not talking about a place that was painted and given to us. We are talking about a lived-in apartment which was not scrubbed down, the kitchen floors were sticky etc. We did such a good job, the landlord had to accept it. ( we paid a lot of money for the cleaning, btw)

IMO, you screwed up when you moved in. You should have complained instead of cleaned it.

FWIW, I agree with the poster above that said it's a reasonable fee just like cleaning cigarette stench.

I don't know you nor do I know if the curry smell is bad.
I don't know if a few boxes of Arm & Hammer will work along with opening windows.
I do know that if the smell is in the walls, they are going to need to wash them down, use something like Killz then paint.
If the smell is in the cabinets, there's more cleaning. It is a lot of work.
Possible he showed the apartment and someone said something.

Do a search of this forum for tenant laws. There was a gal that posted in a few posts with some links.

Good luck.
Use google.

[CaptainNJ]

Originally Posted by pkpkpkpk

When we moved out, we spent on cleaning services for the whole house.

seems like a bad idea considering he is keeping your 100 bucks.

[DowntownJerseyCity]

Originally Posted by pkpkpkpk

You dont seem to grasp the context. I spent a lot of money cleaning the stuff. I am willing to spend a bit more on febreze/charcoal etc.

The thing you need to understand is the "food smell" is a subjective, cultural thing. It will be a bit more acute to you than it is to me.
What I am not willing to, is pony up $100 for a kitchen that is 10 times better than what we got.

Pay to play. I used to be a heavy smoker and yes, I smoked a lot in my apartment. At the move out? 50 dollars to bring in an ozone machine and a Killz application.

It is what it is. Your enjoyment with curry (as mine with cigarettes) can and will offend others. The landlord is trying to get the place rented, and I am siding with him/her.

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by pkpkpkpk

You dont seem to grasp the context. I spent a lot of money cleaning the stuff. I am willing to spend a bit more on febreze/charcoal etc.

The thing you need to understand is the "food smell" is a subjective, cultural thing. It will be a bit more acute to you than it is to me.
What I am not willing to, is pony up $100 for a kitchen that is 10 times better than what we got.

You're right- it's a cultural thing, and if another Indian tenant looks to rent the apartment, it's not an issue. If, however, he brings potential tenants to look at the apartment who aren't Indian, there's a good chance that they won't rent because of the smell, so it's a detriment to the landlord. The fact that the apartment stunk of Chinese food when you rented is something you should have resolved with the landlord prior to moving in- it doesn't excuse the fact that you created the current odor.

In the proverbial words of the playground "He who smelt it, dealt it"- so you've got to clean up your mess.

[mumra]

Originally Posted by pkpkpkpk

You dont seem to grasp the context. I spent a lot of money cleaning the stuff. I am willing to spend a bit more on febreze/charcoal etc.

The thing you need to understand is the "food smell" is a subjective, cultural thing. It will be a bit more acute to you than it is to me.
What I am not willing to, is pony up $100 for a kitchen that is 10 times better than what we got.

So take care of the odor and move on, I'm sure the landlord will refund you back the $100 if you remove the smell. Come on, $100 is not making anyone rich he genuinely wants the get rid of the smell and he probably estimates it would cost him $100 to do so. Whatever happened when you moved in was your own doing, you said yourself that they tried to accommodate you as best they can since you wanted to move in earlier than expected. You also said he was very reasonable so I doubt he is trying to get one up on you by holding a whopping $100. Do you acknowledged the curry smell exists? If so take care of it and the problem is solved!

[njkate]

Hmmm never knew curry smelled that bad
Now I know why if I want take out Indian food hubbie tells me eat it in and don't bring it home ...lol

[DowntownJerseyCity]

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

You're right- it's a cultural thing, and if another Indian tenant looks to rent the apartment, it's not an issue. If, however, he brings potential tenants to look at the apartment who aren't Indian, there's a good chance that they won't rent because of the smell, so it's a detriment to the landlord. The fact that the apartment stunk of Chinese food when you rented is something you should have resolved with the landlord prior to moving in- it doesn't excuse the fact that you created the current odor.

In the proverbial words of the playground "He who smelt it, dealt it"- so you've got to clean up your mess.

You could give e.e. cummings a run for his money.