I read an article in the NOW about some tenants losing their Residential Tenancy Branch case because the landlord’s relative wouldn’t move in due to the “nauseating” stench of cat urine.
The landlord had the tenants move out so he could rent to his mom, but that didn't happen.
The story included this gem: The “smell was just terrible […] nauseating […],” the mother told the arbitrator, “and really, really strong.”
This has brought back flashbacks to my situation because I haven’t been able to find anyone to rent out the basement suite in my house because of the stench left behind by my last tenant.
That was four months ago.
When they moved out, the tenant cleaned the carpets and repaired some minor damage, but the place had an awful smell in it that was a mix of heavy spices and pet urine. The tenant had a dog and a cat.
I ended up keeping the pet damage deposit and half of the regular damage deposit. I figured I could just use the money to do more cleaning.
That, however, didn’t help.
And so I ended up spending even more money to have the entire place painted. That seemed to help but when the smell of the paint dissipated, the stench of the urine returned. It wasn’t as overpowering, but it’s still there.
The smell is so noticeable that when I was finally ready to rent out the place, I was turned down by every single person who visited it. I even reduced the cost of the rent in order to lure someone but that hasn’t worked.
I’m now out four months of rent and counting because of this. I’ve had another cleaning company come in to take another crack at it, but that has only reduced the smell. Nobody can seem to figure out where the smell is still coming from.
I’m now looking at getting the air ducts washed out in case the urine seeped into there through the vents in the floor.
I have a mortgage to pay and the bills are stacking up. If I ever get this solved I will not be allowing pets again.
Don Anderson is a landlord in Burnaby
