Being charged $1400 for "curry smell" by apartment at end of lease (tenant, landlord)

[Bungle]

So what if I enjoyed the taste and feel of bear strength pepper spray shot into my face on an hourly basis. I mean it's just spices right?

[asufan]

Originally Posted by Bungle

So what if I enjoyed the taste and feel of bear strength pepper spray shot into my face on an hourly basis. I mean it's just spices right?

Right, just let the landlord take the money lol. Pushover

[Bungle]

Originally Posted by asufan

Right, just let the landlord take the money lol. Pushover

I own and don't like curry so I don't really care one way or the other. This thread is enjoyable.

[Mister-A]

Originally Posted by Bungle

So what if I enjoyed the taste and feel of bear strength pepper spray shot into my face on an hourly basis. I mean it's just spices right?

See? An odor clause would have prevented this problem. Live and learn!

[asufan]

Originally Posted by Bungle

I own and don't like curry so I don't really care one way or the other. This thread is enjoyable.

I understand what you're saying and I'm against SJW's just as much as you appear to be, and all the PC nonsense that's recently been spewed, it's just that in this case I think there is an argument for the threat a fair housing complaint to get the money back from the scheming landlord.

[10-23]

I bought a house that had a curry smell to it. The carpets had been cleaned by the previous owner but the smell remained. Within a month or so the smell wore off on its own.

[Mister-A]

Originally Posted by asufan

I understand what you're saying and I'm against SJW's just as much as you appear to be, and all the PC nonsense that's recently been spewed, it's just that in this case I think there is an argument for the threat a fair housing complaint to get the money back from the scheming landlord.

Earlier this year, a shady plumber substituted an inferior part in our bathroom and left a few grand of substandard work behind that wasn't up to code. Letting him talk without disclosing that I knew what he had done was wise. Instead, I patiently and amicably asked him some questions about the part and he ended up blurting out - recorded - that he knew he had ordered another part than the one I was specified, then lied about the value of the part and desperately tried to change the subject back to the leaks hoping that I didn't notice what he'd just said.

Worse, when we mailed him our demand letter prior to filing in small claims, he responded with an invoice demanding another $500 for repairs we never told him to make and didn't know about - he seems to have broken the toilet and repaired it without telling us. Hilariously, he included his copy of the work order on which he was apparently unaware that he'd scribbled notes adding these repairs and noting that it was "free, no charge". This guy actually stapled the evidence of his fraud to his fraud and clearly intends to use it as a bogus counter-claim.

With both of these, if I made a pre-emptive threat based on what I knew he was doing, he'd wise up and it wouldn't play out. In fact, giving him enough rope to hang himself has worked out so well that I actually hired an attorney just so we can demand that he pay our attorney's fees, because LOL.

Point being, if you think they're discriminating against Indian tenants, don't accuse them of it. Pretend you're oblivious and let them prove it. The more level-headed OP is about logically treating this cooking smell like any other cooking smell, the more likely the landlord is to give him some ammunition about their feelings on Indian tenants - if there's any truth to the idea that they're discriminating. If there isn't any truth to it, he never needs to mention it.

[Zippyman]

Originally Posted by JrzDefector

The OP was cooking food. That's normal usage of one's kitchen in an apartment. If the kitchen has been properly cleaned and the smell has lingered, well, that's just the cost of doing business for the landlord. That's a risk you take when you rent to someone - that normal wear and tear can come with costs to the landlord. My father is a landlord, so I'm pretty familiar how this works.

I actually disagree that it's like the smell left over from a pet - there should be no smell left over from a pet, or from cigarettes, for that matter. From cooking and just the everyday acts of living though? Sorry - that's part of the deal from the landlord's end. Further, it's a highly subjective claim. You can't photograph a smell - how would they actually win a court case?

As for all the pearl-clutching from the anti-PC crowd, get a grip. It's not even about civility or basic respect. It's about sticking to facts rather than making assumptions as anyone who has worked in journalism or the law would know. Unless the landlord hired an expert in scents or showed up while the tenants were actually cooking curry, they don't really know exactly what the smell may be from. Curry is a blend of multiple spices and herbs - someone cooking with cumin or turmeric or another strong-smelling spice could possibly have ended up with a similarly strong odor in their house. Unless they've brought in experts, it's really just a "strong odor." And if that strong odor is from just cooking the daily meal, that's general wear and tear unless there was some kind of clause in the lease about maintaining the scent profile of the apartment, I'm not sure they'd have a case when it's based on tenants just going about their everyday lives. If the family was cooking meals to sell them, creating exceptional stress upon the property in terms of usage, then there might be a cause for complaint, but you can't very well fine people for living their lives if you're providing the place for them to do just that.

I've yet to see a lease that didn't mention cooking smells, many outright ban certain foods, like liver & curry, because the stank is exceptional, not "normal", and disturbing to other tenants. Mentioning the nature of the smell isn't "discrimination", it's relevant to the necessary repair. The alternative would be going to court to get paid to remove a funk & not being able to describe that funk. The o.p. most likely violated the terms of their lease by using that material. Smells that linger after a tenant vacates aren't "normal" or a "cost of doing business".

[JGMotorsport64]

Originally Posted by Bungle

Might as well throw in a false rape claim while they're at it.

/s

Get real LL wants 1400 for a smell. You gotta fight back over crap like that.

I'd place some threats personally, and I'm a landlord!

[Bungle]

Originally Posted by JGMotorsport64

Get real LL wants 1400 for a smell. You gotta fight back over crap like that.

I'd place some threats personally, and I'm a landlord!

I'm not saying they shouldn't fight back. I'm saying they don't need to play the race card. And the fact that you would resort to threats shows a lot about your character.