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Moved into a townhouse July 1 and we are now realizing the carpet reeks of urine. LL had it steam cleaned twice and he is not willing to change it. We told him we would, but it comes out to about $800. We thought it would be cheaper and cannot afford this. What are our options? We are renting directly from the landlord.
If the smell is completely overwhelming to the point you can't use the room in question, you may have cause of action for uninhabitability. It's a long shot but this link may be of help and provides additional links:
Note that the first thing you need to do is notify your LL in writing by return receipt certified mail of the problem and demand that it be addressed. I'm not sure why you wouldn't have noticed it upon viewing or as you were moving in. If you can pull up the carpet and find the areas on the underside where the urine has left a stain you may be able to use a commercial carpet deodorizer but professional advice would be the best.
The urine smell is very strong certain times, while not so overwhelming at other times.
It says in the lease that any repairs after the first 30 days will cost me the first hundred. This implies that any repairs in the first thirty days are the LL responsibility. His reason for not changing is that he changed it two years ago.
Have a better quality professional carpet cleaner come out and do an odor treatment on the carpet. If it is dog or human pee, an odor treatment should take care of it easily.
My best guess is that the carpet no longer stinks, but that the urine soaked into the floorboards and that is what is smelling. The floor under the carpet needs to be sealed where the stains are. Maybe the landlord would agree to have a carpet installer roll up the carpet and put some paint over any previously wet spots on the floor.
PS: I think that NJ is one of the states where you can file a complaint with the housing authority and they will escrow your rent until the landlord fixes the problem. Never ever withhold rent withoiut paying it into escrow with a legal authority.
Your carpet does not need to be replaced. Sealing the floor and perhaps an odor treatment for the carpet will take care of the problem.
Do as STT Resident said, send a demand letter to the landlord. List the odors and the intensity. Explain that the place is uninhabitable due to the "noxious" odor. Give the landlord a set time period to mitigate the offensive/unhealthy odor. Inform the landlord they have a duty under NJ Law § 5:10-6.2 Nuisances.
In the mean time, contact your local health inspector and ask if they can inspect because you are suspicious that it might be due to a raw sewage leak.
Do not worry about the repair cost in the lease as you are not asking for a repair, you are asking for the landlord to cure a defect in the habitability of the rental unit.
You need to understand that there is no magical tenant wand that you wave and all is fixed. You have to follow specific steps and those steps are to protect your rights in the event you en up suing the landlord.
Are you willing to move if he'll let you out of the lease?
The problem with claiming that a place is uninhabitable, is that then the landlord and/or inspector, can say since it's uninhabitable, that you must vacate the unit.
If an inspector says you have to move, then the law often says that the LL has to pay your moving expenses. This law is in the health code, not in the landlord-tenant act.
So, I guess first, are you willing to move over this?
Depending on what you are willing to do, is how you would write your letter. Here's a possible letter, and you could morph it to suit your needs. A letter doesn't have to be perfect, and you don't have to know all of the laws, etc., at this point. Your letter is meant to just let the LL know you are serious about getting this resolved, and you are willing to call inspectors and take it to court, if it doesn't fix it. That may be enough to get him to deal with it, without actually having to call inspectors or file suits.
For instance:
Dear LL:
As you know, we have been complaining about the extremely offensive urine smell in our apartment. You have informed us that you have had the carpet steam cleaned twice, which has not alleviated the noxious odor. We asked that you then replace the carpet, and you have stated that you are unwilling to do this.
We believe that the stench of urine in our apartment effectively makes our unit uninhabitable. We demand that you fix this problem by _______________(x date - I'd say give him 2 weeks?). If you do not, our next step will be to call the health department and ask for an inspection to determine if the unit is uninhabitable. If we are required to move because the unit is determined to be uninhabitable, and you do not fix the problem in a timely manner, we will be demanding that our lease be terminated, and will be seeking moving costs from you. We will take the matter to court, if necessary.
We hope that you will agree that it would be in both of our best interests if you do whatever is necessary to fix the problem, before we must escalate it to higher authorities.
Sincerely,
You
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