Alleged pet odor damage to carpet/tile - Landlord Forum thread 348447

Alleged pet odor damage to carpet/tile by Becky (Oregon) on September 18, 2016 @06:20

I am in a dispute with the landlord of a home I just moved out of. He gave me permission allowing my parents two dogs to stay with me when they came to help me move out. The dogs were in the place about 24 hours. He told me that carpet cleaners came to shampoo the carpets and that evening he could not detect a pet odor as the carpets were wet and smelled of cleaner. Early the next day he told me there was still a strong odor of dog but when I got there later that day I could not detect any dog odors. But I put carpet deodorizer for pets down anyway and let it sit and then vacuumed it up. Again I could not smell anything before I left. The following day he sent me an email saying that it still smells of dander and dog and I could either pay out of pocket to have the carpets cleaned or they would have to replace the carpeting. Then about an hour later he sent me an email saying according to his research the carpeting is completely ruined and they will be charging me to replace it. Then later he told me that it smelled og ciggarette smoke. Which i find odd because i have NEVER smoked in there and if it smelled of smoke, wouldnt he have noticed that one of the many times he was in there? I also find it extremely hard to believe that two dogs who were in there less than 24 hours could ruin an entire carpet. How can I best protect myself against this?

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Re: Alleged pet odor damage to carpet/tile by Katiekate (New York) on September 18, 2016 @09:06	[ Reply ]

Wait until the landlord sues you. Then go to court and tell the whole story to the judge. Nothing else for you to do.

Re: Alleged pet odor damage to carpet/tile by Garry on September 18, 2016 @09:54	[ Reply ]

Professional carpet cleaners nowadays have chemicals that can neutralize urine smells so you cannot smell them after the chem. is applied. Judges probably know that, also. If you are taken to court, a judge may award the LL the cost of cleaning and those chem costs, as long as you can prove the dogs were there for only a very short time. If the judge awards the LL an amount to replace the carpet, it will be a reduced amount of the actual cost of the4 new carpet. That's because the judge takes into account how old the the ruined carpet was. I believe the IRS allows a LL to depreciate the cost of a new carpet over 7 years, for tax perpouses. Judges use those same guidelines. So, in theory, if the carpet was 5 years old, a judge may award the LL the remaining 2/7ths of the cost of the new carpet. That may not make much sense to you, but in the LL/business world, that's the way it works. All you can do is present all your proof in court, and the LL will present his. Then it's up to a judge to decide damages. Save all those texts/emails. They will be part of your proof. If the LL decides to take anything out of your deposit for either cleaning, or replacing the carpets, it will be up to YOU to file in court against the LL if you want to have a chance of getting any of your deposit back.

Re: Alleged pet odor damage to carpet/tile by Tenant Advocate on September 18, 2016 @20:26	[ Reply ]

Ask the landlord to convey all this in writing to you and summarize with dates and times everything that has happened so far including how you cleaned the carpet, and any and all witnesses. Conclude by reminding the landlord that false claims could be construed as criminal fraud and that should you believe this is occurring you will not hesitate to take the matter to court or even to the local police for possible criminal charges. More than likely your landlord is just trying to shake you down for more money and the threat of criminal charges will scare them to death. If not be prepared to actually go to court or the police (more than likely they won't do anything, but this will scare most people who know they are in the wrong). You see due to years of abuse most landlords believe (usually correctly, sadly) that they can get away with almost anything when it comes to security deposits and these sort of false claims. They do not even see a possibility of it being considered as fraud (which technically it is) because so many get away with it.

Re: Alleged pet odor damage to carpet/tile by Anonymous on September 19, 2016 @12:57	[ Reply ]

Why were dogs necessary to be there during move out? Something stinks here.