Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Beyond that, the idea that something as small as a few incense sticks could put a high enough concentration of odor in the air that such smell would remain through a proper cleaning is pretty absurd and a knowledgeable tenant or their lawyer could easily attack that.
I beg to disagree that it's "pretty absurd". In my first year of being a landlord I had a tenant in a small studio who burned incense all the time she was at home. I didn't give it much thought until her lease was up and then discovered when she left that the smell clung to everything - bedding, the mattress, upholstery and cushions, all of which needed a thorough deep cleaning before the odor was gone. Along with that, a lot of ashes from the incense sticks had dropped onto painted shelving and left sticky resin patches which couldn't be removed without the paint itself coming off so touch-up painting was needed.
I guess it depends on your interpretation of a "proper" cleaning. She basically left the place nicely clean when she left but ultimately the necessary deep "proper" clean was on my dime. I didn't amend my lease to stipulate "no incense" but did tell incoming tenants subsequently that I'd had a problem with it and asked them not to burn it. Live and learn!
As a landlord, incense is extremely damaging to a home. Try painting over it. Stop being selfish and put yourself in the shoes of a home owner that has to have the walls, ceilings and floors scrubbed before it can be painted. It is costly to repair. I fully support any landlord that has a strict "no incense burn" policy.
As a landlord, incense is extremely damaging to a home. Try painting over it. Stop being selfish and put yourself in the shoes of a home owner that has to have the walls, ceilings and floors scrubbed before it can be painted. It is costly to repair. I fully support any landlord that has a strict "no incense burn" policy.
I agree that incense is considered smoke and can be offensive to neighbors. I personally don't like the smell of incense burning. Ironically, I love the smell of the box of incense, and I keep a box in my cupboard to make it smell nice, and in the glove box of my car, too.
But, many landlords now specify no burning of incense. My current lease says no incense burning. We have been told we shouldn't burn candles, either, though that's not an official rule yet. That's mainly for fire damage. We've been told we should look for those electric candles.
I admit, I still will burn a candle now and then.
BTW, I know the OP was a long time ago, but in case someone new is reading this, Iused a really good carpet deodorizer when I moved into my apt. The previous tenant had a dog and he used pee pads, and it smelled really strongly by the front door (carpet). I am guessing the dog would go by the front door, missing the pee pads, which I'm sure the tenant couldn't put right in front of the door while leaving.
Anyway, I can't remember the brand, but you simply spray it into the carpet, it foams up, and dries up and disappears. I didn't have to do anything to it, didn't even have to vacuum anything up, and it worked amazingly well.
So, it's possible to just get some really good carpet deodorizer that will work. The carpet in here supposedly was steam cleaned before I moved in, but this didn't eliminate the chihuahua pee smell. I was afraid I'd have to live in a stinky apartment until I could afford to steam clean the apt, or fight with the management, neither of which I wanted to do. But, the foam deodorizer actually worked.
As a landlord, incense is extremely damaging to a home. Try painting over it. Stop being selfish and put yourself in the shoes of a home owner that has to have the walls, ceilings and floors scrubbed before it can be painted. It is costly to repair. I fully support any landlord that has a strict "no incense burn" policy.
Don't light anything up in my properties unless it's the stove.
So, I stumbled onto this site--and onto this forum because I have a situation with my AC as a tenant. When I read the initial post, I thought, "Ouch. Not a good situation." And then, as I continued to read, most of the reply posts attacked dot1mouse. You all should be completely ashamed of yourselves. Dot1mouse simply asked for advice in handling her/his incredibly aggressive--and seemingly omnipresent--landlord. Did Dot1mouse ask for your opinions on the morality of her/his behavior? No. Did Dot1mouse ask to be personally attacked for asking how to deal with an aggressive landlord? No. Really... you all should be ashamed of yourselves. When someone asks for help, help that person. I will never visit this site ever again. Shame on all of you!!
Great first post Willow. The topic is about burning incense in a rental. Seems to me you should do a bit of reading on a forum before you begin posting, and I see that your join date is only a week old. Maybe you should put off chastising until you gain more experience at this forum.
I prefer to look at this situation as 1.) tenant has been warned, and 2.) tenant is legally responsible for any and all damage to premises that was caused by tenant. At move out date -- and this landlord seems fairly sharp -- if there is any damage including odor that cannot be easily remedied, I would expect landlord to take any and all measures to correct the problem and remove the odor, including replacement of carpets, treatment of floors, and a total re-paint of the entire premises, and deduct the cost from the tenant's security deposit. If any amount is still owed then after a demand letter the landlord would likely pursue legal remedy in a lawsuit.
At this late date the best the tenant can do is 1.) have the carpets professionally cleaned by a company specializing in odor removal, cease burning incense, and hope there is no remaining odor at termination of occupancy.
Thank God my leases say, "No cats allowed as pets on premises." Also it is made abundantly clear that there is no smoking allowed inside premises including garage, but it appears to me that I missed prohibiting incense.
The fact remains that the tenant is responsible for all tenant caused damages beyond normal wear and tear, and landlord can require the tenant to fix the damages, or if refused can fix the damages at tenant's expense.
Even were it not for the grossness of the OP's situation, "I live in Iowa, in a non-smoking apartment building that allows cats. I had two of them, one was using the carpet as a litterbox, so I gave her to a family member. I plan to have the carpets professionally cleaned, but in the meantime I've been burning incense to mask the smell", she only posted twice on this thread nine months ago and the cons of burning incense in general were pretty much hashed to the max by several landlords with personal experience.
Really? Cat **** on the carpets that you walk on and you want to try to (ineffectively no doubt) cover the smell with the stench of incense. AND leave it burning unattended?
Save money to replace the carpets. Incense will not fix this problem. Stop tracking around drying or dry cat pea. And get rid of the incense.
You don't realize it but you are a tenant landlords would not like to rent to.
Really? Cat **** on the carpets that you walk on and you want to try to (ineffectively no doubt) cover the smell with the stench of incense. AND leave it burning unattended?
Save money to replace the carpets. Incense will not fix this problem. Stop tracking around drying or dry cat pea. And get rid of the incense.
You don't realize it but you are a tenant landlords would not like to rent to.
Pretty sure they figured it out since this thread is way old.
OP, I'm not pro-landlord, but I can tell you right now that the carpet is ruined. From what you've posted, it wasn't a one-time incident, but rather a repeated occurrence. Cat urine is the strongest and most pungent urine to get out of all the domestic animals I know of.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
incense and damage
