01 August, 2009

Condo Tenant Transition

It's been a really rough 48 hours, and I am oh-so-glad to be home. Ted and I were at the condo to check out the old tenants, possibly do a bit of extra cleaning, and then check in the new set of tenants. What we discovered when we got to the unit was a landlord's worst nightmare. I'll blog all about it tomorrow when I'm feeling a little more focused, but thought I'd leave y'all with this image this evening.

Yes, that's dog urine* dripping down the wall. Gag. Now envision that across the entire condo.

Why oh why am I being plagued by dog urine lately?

*Clicking the image to enlarge it is not recommended. It's really, really gross. Just be thankful you can't smell it.

5 comments:

Karen Anne said...

Yikes. Having had cats, including elderly ones, I can point you at Nature's Miracle, the liquid form. Cleans it up and neutralizes the smell on hard surfaces. Pet stores generally carry it, or it's online.

Nothing I've found will save carpet, which is why I'm ripping my wall to wall out and putting in wood floors now that my last cat has passed away.

Although you've probably already done a cleaning blitz if the new tenants were expected yesterday.

Debra said...

That's totally gross. Even more so that they were leaving it there. When I move, I always leave it clean enough for people to move it the very same day.

Many years ago, I could count on getting every dollar back from my deposit. But, landlords these days must be used to the trashy people, cause I always get ripped off when it comes to getting my deposit back.

One apartment, I cleaned every single surface, from the light fixtures to the wall brackets, stripped and waxed the floor, etc. The assistant manager was amazed and told me I was the cleanest tenant ever. When I got the check in the mail 2 months later it was a HUGE dissappointment; only $151 out of $500. The manager herself went in and totally lied and said EVERYTHING was spotty and/or dirty. I just had to let it go because I was so angry that I wanted to go yank her hair out. lol I really needed the money, but some things just aren't worth arguing or losing sleep over.

I just can't imagine that people think it's ok to leave dog urine on a wall. Ewwww

Joanne said...

We've learned the hard way to document everything by taking pictures before tenants move in and after they move out, so there is no room for argument. This time it's going to be tough because the deposit doesn't come anywhere near covering the damages, it was that bad.

As a tenant, you can ask for a pre-inspection, where the landlord would tell you anything that's wrong and give you the opportunity to correct it. (Get it in writing.) Photograph everything as well, so there's no way for a shyster landlord to withhold money.

I don't know what it's like in your state, but in our state we're required to provide the tenant with an itemized list of damages within a certain number of days along with a notice of any withholding, and then pay back the deposit, with any interest, within a certain amount of time.

We've lucked out with excellent tenants in the past, who got back their full deposit, and we've had tenants that have lost a chunk of it because they've broken fixtures or left it so filthy we had to clean it ourselves (mold in bathroom, unmentionable stuff in toilet, etc.) But until the dog urine issues, we've never had a case where we're going to have to bill for extra damages, because the deposit isn't enough.

Unknown said...


Perfect Homes is a new and vibrant internet property agency based in Chiang Mai, currently listing
both good rental and properties for sale in and around Chiang Mai area.

Chiang mai rentals

Unknown said...


It’s really a cool and helpful piece of information. I am glad that you simply shared this useful info with us.
Please keep us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.
Luxury Houses in Chiang Mai