People are gross

[Deleted]

pandce.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=seattle&thread=29703&page=1#455047

YES CAT PEE STINKS!

[pixy0stix]

blech. Yes, the subfloor would also need to be treated.

[Deleted]

And "It needs to be replaced anyway," is not a defense. My car is a piece of shit that's going down the tubes with a quickness but if someone hits me and it gets totaled . . . yeah, you see where I'm going. lol

[dev22]

Yeah, it does. But I also get where she is coming from. Why should she have to pay more $$ on top of her deposit if the carpet was going to be replaced for regular wear and tear, cat pee or not? I am pretty sure that, in CA at least, if you are in residence for over a certain amount of time, the are not allowed to charge for carpet replacement or paint. They can charge a pet clean-up fee though, but that would never be over the deposit.

[Deleted]

But the padding and the subfloor will have to be treated if it's cat pee. Also, I'm thinking that carpet must be noticably gross if her landlord is trying to charge her, kwim?

[dev22]

Jul 9, 2012 17:46:14 GMT -5 @habbsies said:

But the padding and the subfloor will have to be treated if it's cat pee. Also, I'm thinking that carpet must be noticably gross if her landlord is trying to charge her, kwim?

Oh and I totally get charging for that. I was just commenting on the carpet part And state laws are so different, so I have no idea if that is common everywhere. I just know here that we have never had to worry about stains on carpet or anything, since we have always been in residence long enough that they cannot charge us for carpet replacement.

[Deleted]

That sounds reasonable. I do think after a certain amount of time, you have to understand that a carpet won't be so fresh. We had a landlord who was like the gestapo about the damned carpet. She won't got snarky because I left the rubbermaid containers I was sorting clothes into in one spot for too long.

[ChillyMcFreeze]

Living with a cat, I've had to pay to "deodorize" two apartments when I moved out because, yeah, cats stink. My deposit covered carpet replacement, though--I think the deposit was so large to cover just that, and additional pet deposits are a racket.

I recently learned that landlords can't charge you for damage to paint/nail holes because that's regular wear and tear. I could have saved some money when I moved out of my college apartment...

[orangeblossom]

Been there, done that. Cat urine smell is extremely hard to get rid off. We replaced the carpet, subfloor, etc and still could not figure out where the smell was coming from. Well turns out it was in the tile grout and the walls and both had to be redone. It was a true pain in the butt.

I'm not sure if DH withheld some of the deposit, but it was not pleasant and short of it being illegal, I can see the LL withholding some of the deposit. Getting cat urine out is not normal wear and tear, because often times it's more than just getting the carpet cleaned.

[basilosaurus]

Jul 9, 2012 17:42:28 GMT -5 @habbsies said:

My car is a piece of shit that's going down the tubes with a quickness but if someone hits me and it gets totaled . . . yeah, you see where I'm going. lol

This thought crossed my mind a few days ago. Now if only I can figure out a way for someone to total it without me getting hurt. My sister's car was totaled after she got rear ended; I need to find that situation!

And, yeah, cat pee is nasty.

[puppiesandrainbows]

Just because you have a cat, it does not follow that there's an expectation that the cat will pee inside. To the contrary, I would assume that an adult cat will always use the litter box without fail unless they're sick.

The real issue here is that the OP believes that because they've lived there for 5 years and were "good tenants", that he should just reward them for this and pay for the cat peed carpet, pad, and possibly subfloor.

Also if the home has continuous carpet, and if he cannot match the old original carpet (due to it being discontinued or not available in his area) he will have to all new flooring throughout, regardless of condition. This will be very $$.

"expecting" a dog or cat to only go outside is not realistic, what if they get sick? It's not the landlord's fault, but them's the breaks. OP owes the money.

The pet deposit is meant to cover damage done by the dog that is outside the scope of normal wear and tear.

I should have an Ask a Homeowners Claims Adjuster thread.

[Deleted]

If my cat pissed all over my carpet, I would really not be trying to avoid paying for the damage. I am not getting that.