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Hey everyone, I am a landlord of wife’s old townhome that was/is still underwater from before I met my wife. My second tenant just moved in and is now complaining about cat urine smell. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to handle the issue.
Background, the last tenant owned a single cat, the litterbox was not kept in the room that the current tenant is complaining about. The cat was around 5 or 6 years old and fixed. I went over there a number of times during the 2 year lease and never smelled cat urine. The previous tenant had the carpets cleaned on move out. The current tenant viewed the place both with the previous tenant in it and empty at least 3 times. Not to mention she asked to paint some walls early and I let her do that with a number of friends over a weekend. No mention of the cat smell what so ever from anyone. The two times I have already been over there for other concerns the cat smell “wasn’t very strong” right then. When I wondered out loud how the smell could come and go her friend mentioned that it must be because there laundry baskets on the floor. I have asked repeatedly to be given at least a general area where the smell seems to be concentrated and all I get is “it’s really strong, unbearable at night.”
I have hired a pet stain company to come in with a black light and remove any stains, they will be out tomorrow but I am worried it’s not a pet smell that she smelling and she will insist on further steps when there is nothing else I can think of given that the carpet was already cleaned by a company.
Anyone have a similar issue before? What steps did you take to resolve the issue?
I can understand your skepticism with the inconsistency of the tenant's story.
Are you in an area where the heat would be starting to come on around this time? Could the cat have had an accident over the heating ducts?
It's Minnesota so the time table would be about right. The place was empty for a month and during that time I ran the heat to ensure the furnace worked correctly with no smell. Still something to have the company check out when they call me tomorrow from the property, great idea!
I have a friend who hates pets and animals so much that she refuses to move into an apartment that an animal previously lived in. This sounds like something she would do, to be honest. And I think it is is in her head when she can "smell" a pet or evidence of a pet just based on knowing that a pet was once in there. She quite literally creates the problem mentally. We looked at an apartment together that she wanted to rent once and a cat was living there. The whole time she complained. "Can't you smell that? It smells like cat and cat pee in here." And it did NOT smell like cat pee. I am sensitive to smells and I pick up most smells and this was completely in her head.
Did this tenant have any knowledge that a cat lived there before or does she not know that?
She saw the place when the previous tenant lived there and I am pretty sure I mentioned the cat. The current tenant has a medium sized dog that is quite old. I am planning on discussing replacing the carpets throughout the house after her dog passes away if it happens while she lives there, but I've made no mention about plans with the carpets to her.
She may want to replace the old dog with a new puppy! I wouldn't plan to change the carpets! And her dog could be smelling the cat & marking! Or he could be having accidents! Something doesn't "smell" right!
I think you should go ahead with your plans to get the place checked out and cleaned if necessary, but tell her that this is all you are willing to do, and that if she isn't satisfied with the results of this latest effort to fix the mystery smell, that you are willing to let her out of the lease. And put that in writing, including a list of what you've done so far, including going over there and trying to find the smell and the fact that she couldn't be specific about it, and that even then you went ahead and spent even more money trying to make sure there was no smell. But, that if she isn't satisfied, she has the option to move out, as long as she gives you notice to do so in the next 30 days (or whatever time frame you think is fair, without leaving it open-ended). She has no legal basis to make you do more.
Odds are she'll shut up and stay.
I used to do this with tenants who were unreasonable complainers. Sometimes I think there's an attention thing going on with complainers or they just like the power trip, I don't know. I do know that if you tell them you're just oh so sorry they aren't happy, but there's nothing further you can do - or are willing to do - to address their complaints, but since they're so unhappy, you are willing to let them break their lease - they usually shut up and stay.
I only had one tenant get angry enough about this that she actually moved out. I was so glad to be rid of her LOL! The others quit complaining and stayed.
The one who moved out - her latest complaint was the the window air conditioning unit for the apartment across the outdoor corridor from her (that had been in place and running for the entire year she lived in her apt) was annoying her when she tried to meditate. She expected me to tell the other tenants that they had to get rid of their air conditioner. I told her I was not going to do that.
She told me this while the owner and I were in her apartment checking out a supposed dripping shower head that was also annoying her while she was trying to meditate. The owner went in to hear the dripping and it wasn't dripping. She insisted that it was. He came and grabbed me and I saw the shower head wasn't dripping. She said, "Well it WAS dripping!" The owner asked her, "Did you take a shower this morning?" She said, "Yes." He said, "Well, they will drip for a little while after you use them." She insisted that he put on a new shower head, and he decided it wouldn't be a big deal for him to do so, and he had some in the building, so he went to get her a new shower head.
While he was off fetching her new shower head, she asked me, "Can you hear that?" I listened. "No, what?" She pointed dramatically at the window air conditioner across the outdoor corridor (about 6 feet away). As I was explaining that we would not be removing the air conditioner, the owner came back in as she was losing it on me LOL! I reiterated that we would not be requiring anyone to remove their air conditioners, but since she was so unhappy, we'd allow her to move out. The owner said he agreed. Man, did she lose it. School teacher. Wonder how she handles bad children, LOL!
She snuck a pet rabbit into her apartment, too, against the rules. The owner would find rabbit poo in the garbage, which he hauled away on weekends, and wasn't sure who had the rabbit, until she moved out.
Were we ever happy to see her go!
Last edited by NoMoreSnowForMe; 11-04-2014 at 02:55 PM..
Replace the carpet with tile. If there is any pet odor it's into the backing of the carpet, the padding and the subfloor. You could replace the carpet but in a few years of tenants with pets you'll be back to square one again.
If you have carpet, don't allow pets. Pets have accidents I don't care what anyone says. I have cats AND a dog and parrots! No carpet in my house!
I have had cases where there was no pet odor until the carpets were cleaned, after which the pet odor showed up or became stronger. I don't know if the water extraction pulled the smell up from the padding, or if getting it wet made it smell, or if the chemicals in the cleaning product made it stronger, but it can happen.
And I've totally had cases where a tenant insisted there was a pet smell, and we had 4 or 5 people from our office all go and smell it and there was no smell. It was all in their head. We have also told complainers we will let them out of their lease if they are so unhappy. Most people then shut up and get on with life. Some take us up on it and move. We are happy either way.
It's possible there is an odor so I'm glad you're checking into it. Pet odors smell worse when it's damp or raining out.
Cats sometimes spray which means you're going to have urine on the lower part of the walls and woodwork. Was the whole apartment painted, woodwork included? That should cover up any urine smell.
My last tenant had a dog that she would lock in the bathroom while she went to work. The bathroom is wall to wall tile and has a tiled floor but when it's damp or after running the shower I can smell dog. I have no idea where it's coming from unless the odor is hiding under the sink cabinet which I can't get to unless I remove that cabinet..
so it's possible there is an odor.
Let us know how you make out.
You can buy your own black light cheaply too. I paid 6 bucks for mine on Amazon.
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