Tenant complaining about air quality

[Kristin Kerr]

We got an email from our tenant today expressing his concern over the perceived air quality of the condo rental. This is a 4-unit condo, he is renting the end unit and shares a wall with 2 other units (there is a “carriage” unit over the garages). 

He had friends over recently and one of them called him the next day saying the condo gave him a headache and that only happens when there’s large quantities of mold or paint or cigarette fumes. 

He doesn’t smoke or vape, any painting was 7 months ago, and as far as we know there is no mold issues. There is a basement which does get a musty smell in the summer (hello humid Michigan summers) but i don’t think that would cause a problem. 

We were there just before he had friends over to do a checkup on everything and while making sure the furnace filter was changed he mentioned getting a cheap one, I said I would get one that would  handle pet dander since we had a cat when we lived there. 

Prior to me telling him, he had no idea we had a pet, much less a cat. Now, in addition to the mystery smells his friend is smelling he wants to get an air quality test. From what we have learned about him so far in the last 7 months is he is a high maintenance tenant (this is not our first issue with him). 

He prefers to not run the A/C on warm humid days so the musty smell in the basement I’m sure travels upstairs when he does turn the air on, and we lived in that condo for 10 years. If our windows were open and our neighbors were smoking, we could smell it. He has new neighbors in one side, who knows what they are doing over there. 

Should we just bite the bullet and get the air quality test to keep him happy? Would this fall under the “repairs” category of the lease?

[Mike McCarthy]

I would hesitate getting an air quality test as it can be opening a can of worms. If there’s no visible or assumed mold, I’d suggest he run the AC to remove humidity and/or get a dehumidifier for the basement. If it were me, I’d buy the dehumidifier and let him pay the electric.