Pet urine odor from under the house - Landlord Forum thread

Pet urine odor from under the house by Kathy (OR) on November 2, 2009 @12:39

After renting to tenants they complained about an "odor" coming up from the heat duct vents in the floor. I had it researched and found that "critters" had went under the house (it's a manufactured home) and used it as a litter box and contaiminated some of the insulation and also damanaged the vapor barrier. The home has a propane gas fireplace which they could use...they didn't want to turn on the furnace because they thought the smell would be worse blowing through the ducts. They covered the vents with saran wrap...now they are trying to get their rent reduced. I immediately jumped all over this and spent $500 to have someone go under the house and take care of the problem. What are your thoughts on this?

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Re: Pet urine odor from under the house by Susan on November 2, 2009 @13:05	[ Reply ]
there was a defect, and you addressed it in a timely manner. you do not have a magic wand...... Go over there and turn on the furnace to see if there is an odor issue. As far as I can see, you've done all you can do, and they do not get a reduced rent pass. If there is an odor after turning on the furnace, address it when/if it occurs.

Re: Pet urine odor from under the house

Re: Pet urine odor from under the house by Eve (IL) on November 2, 2009 @13:43

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If you haven’t already you might want to have the furnace and the ducts cleaned professionally. Not a huge expense & it helps a lot when working to remove odors. If the smell is in the furnace or ducts it will radiate through out the unit when the furnace kicks on. A good professional cleaning can eliminate the problem.

I agree with the last poster work to solve the problem do not let the tenant dictate terms to you!

Re: Pet urine odor from under the house by Anonymous on November 2, 2009 @15:12	[ Reply ]
You shouldn't give them a reduction in the rent. You shouldn't have shared with them a previous smell either, now they are always going to smell it. If they are unhappy they can give you a notice to leave. Hopefully the person you hired to fix it, also fixed the area where the critters were getting in, so they can no longer get in.

Re: Pet urine odor from under the house

Re: Pet urine odor from under the house by Susan on November 2, 2009 @17:08	[ Reply ]
unfortunately you told them about the smell....and they will try to leverage that as much as they can. I agree with the other poster who recommended professional duct cleaning. Also, just as an aside, some people are more sensitive to smell than others...but do not them use this as a weapon against you :-)

Re: Pet urine odor from under the house by OK-LL on November 2, 2009 @17:46

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Please, don't ever steer your tenants towards a problem. If you don't smell anything, then don't suggest a smell exists to your tenants -- that's just goofy! Believe me, if they smell something, they'll let you know! I usually introduce new tenants to my property by saying, "We've put the property into top condition for you and tested everything, but obviously there's things that you can only discover by living in a property, so if you come across anything we weren't able to check, like the automatic sensor outside lights don't come on after dark, just let me know and we'll take care of it." I always test the appliances, smoke detectors, etc., but some stuff you just can't find out before occupying. But don't say, "The last tenant reported a nasty odor coming from the HAC system, but we didn't do anything about it. If you have a problem with odor, let me know." Do you see the difference?

Re: Pet urine odor from under the house