Tenant left bad smell. What to do?

Question

Got a unit that turned over and the tenant left the unit smelling real bad. Can't really put my finger on it but smells sort of like body odor, cigarette smoke and uncleaned clothes. Doesn't quite smell like they smoked directly in there but mild smoke smell with more B.O. smell than anything.

I know paint is usually considered "wear and tear" from a security deposit perspective. However this is a paint job needed to eliminate a smell...

What are your thoughts is this horrendous smell considered wear and tear? Property is in Texas. Thanks

Nathan Gesner · Answer

Cleaning does not fall under "ordinary wear-and-tear." You gave them a house without odor, they returned it with odor. You can charge them the cost of cleaning it to remove the odor.

I use an ozone generator for these situations and it usually works very well. My machine cost around $300. I charge a Tenant $100 for every treatment and it sometimes takes two attempts to remove the odor.

Joe Scaparra · Answer

A couple things to focus on regarding the smell.  What you have describe is possible mold.  Where is your inside AC Blower unit. Is it in a closet or is it possibly in the attic.  One of my rental units had it in the closet and one of the lines going to the unit was not insulated and was dropping condensing water on to the sheet rock slowly.  Just happened to be in a small closet.  Not enough to drip to the floor but enough to keep the closet ceiling damp.  Causing a mold smell.

If you can't locate the source of the smell, then purchase an ozone machine on Amazon for between $100-150.  They work great and if you have rentals they are always good to have.    If your walls are not dirty, you probably don't need to paint the entire unit.  If one room is bad, maybe that room could use the paint.  The ozone machine will take care of your smell, especially if there is no direct smell source to keep it there.

Did you past tenant have a cat.  Sometimes a cat will urinate in a corner of a room or closet and that smell is very difficult to get out.  You will have to locate the area using a black light and once located you can then deal with the issue, if it is cat urine related.

Absolutely charge them if they left the property smelling bad.  I don't worry about being taken to court.  Welcome it if it happens.  But do give them a full accounting of their deposit within 30 days of move out if they have supplied you with a forwarding address.  Required in Texas, if not complied with you could be liable for up to 3 times their deposit regardless of he condition they left your property.  Cheers.

Matt Devincenzo · Answer

I've had a smoker tenant move out and leave a situation similar to this. I would not consider repainting the entire unit as a solution in this situation, unless all other remedies failed first. Like @Nathan Gesner said run an ozone machine, and you can purchase specific odor neutralizer sprays like car companies use. That along with a thorough cleaning has always resolved the issue in my rental. You don't mention if you have carpet or not, if you do then spend a bit more on the carpet cleaning to ensure it isn't holding the smell. On hard floors do a thorough 'washing' more than just a mopping.

If that all fails then consider painting, but painting alone typically won't resolve this so don't move to that solution immediately.

Tyler Fontaine · Answer

@Joseph Weisenbloom Ahh, I see. Thanks for the clarification. At the end of the day it's going to come down to what you can prove in court.

So some things to consider would be;

- Do you have a "move-in condition statement" that will show some sort of difference to initial move-in to the move-out?

- Did you inherit these tenants on purchase, did you place them and managed the relationship the whole time?

- Is it in the lease that there's no smoking? Can you prove it in any way? Did you know of the issues during tenancy and then not address them?

- Lastly, I'd say can you get them on other subjective things? Example, they left a couch behind that cost you $600 to remove/excessive personal items that required you to "hire a cleaning crew/movers" - things like that... then you handle that issue on your own, charge the tenant out of the security deposit for it and use the funds as needed.

Eliott Elias · Answer

Charge them for a new paint job. It is abnormal wear and tear

Tyler Fontaine · Answer

Great question. We see this all the time. Super easy here.

1. Air out the house. Windows open and the whole nine.

2. Get an ozone machine in there. You can rent them or buy them on amazon. Be sure to have all fire sources and pilots extinguished before using this so you don't increase the chance of a fire. Usually the machine left for a couple days will really filter out the air and the materials in the house.

3. Killz all the walls prior to painting. This will help mitigate lingering wall smells.

4. Do not cheap on on your paint. We use Emerald grade stuff from Sherwin when we have to do things like this. It usually doesn't need as many coats to finish the project and the quality of paint serves you much better in terms of mitigating smell, wear and tear over time, wash-ability etc.

Bryan Noth · Answer

@Joseph Weisenbloom as @Melanie Thomas and @Tyler Fontaine have mentioned, Killz paint and Ozone machine does wonders.  If the smell is musty or at all resembles 'organic growth" (mold) then check the air handler, intake, duct lines, and filters.  @Joe Scaparra gave some detective level areas to look for clues

Joseph Weisenbloom · Answer

@Tyler Fontaine I agree and thats why a smell would be hard to prove in court. You cant take a picture of a smell, you know? I have move in pictures. They are not inherited tenants. Unfortunately I don't have no smoking on my lease which I will be adding for future reference. The smell is more of a B.O. smell.

@Matt Devincenzo Yea I will try cleaning out smell first before painting. I have no carpets, hardwood floors. It's more of a B.O. smell than a smoking smell.

@Joe Scaparra The unit is actually a bedroom in a house. The house smells fine its specifically the smell from this bedroom. No cats in the house. I like your attitude of charge first, ask questions later. I doubt this person will take me to court but you never know. I plan on showing accounting of labor and materials when I send them the bill. I just want to cover my bases before I move forward. As you know the justice of the peace in Austin can be very tenant friendly.

Mary Smith · Answer

I honestly don't think it's going to be very easy to prove odor as wear and tear. If you don't allow smoking in your units, then you can definitely address the issue with them. As far as the actual odor is concerned, definitely air out the place as much as you can and try to get an ozone machine to completely eliminate any odor.

Tenant left bad smell. What to do?

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