Dog Urine and Crazy Repair Bill - What to do?

Question

On my recent inspection of one of my units there was an insane stench of dog urine on the floors. A previously decent tenant had just let his dog have his way with the place. It's likely a serious health issue. He even replaced all the carpet himself and it had zero effect.  Got a quote from a disaster restoration company and it came in at $16,000. You read that right. Quite a bill for a unit that rents for $700 a month.

I can end the month to month lease and insist the tenant pay the cleanup bill, but they will likely just skip town and I'll never see them again. I don't mind going through small claims to garnish wages, but the limit is $5k here.

Do I have any other options? Thanks for any advice.

Terrell Garren · Answer

I'm hopeful you have a $2K problem vs a $16K problem.  I generally love the smell of pet urine in an new investment.  It scares most buyers away and is usually a low cost fix. Remove the floor. If the sub-floor is buckling or rotted replace where needed.  Otherwise, mop with soap/water, mop with bleach/water, dry out, apply 2 or 3 coats of Kiltz, then a couple coats of transparent sealer.  Put down your new flooring.

Pat L. · Answer

Wee let 'peeing dogs lie'.

We had a similar tenant C-class SFR & we had to literally remove the old oak hardwood flooring. It was buckling up from being soaked so long that she reported it as a "trip hazard" under the shredded carpet.

Once removed it eliminated most of the odor so we let her stay & raised the rent, figured who else would want to live there. We put down OSB & cheap carpet over it.

That was 8 years ago, dog is gone but she's still there paying on-time including all her utilities, even through the Covid debacle. We did however sell the place to a friend who requested it contract-for-deed about 5 years ago & he likes the tenant, 'one of my best'!!!

Kirk R. · Answer

search BP

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

Sharlene Mulchandani · Answer

@Rob Forest I do think the quote from the disaster restoration company is very outrageous as well. I would suggest talking to your tenant regarding the pet odor, to see if there is anything they can do to eliminate it on their end. I would also look into witholding their security deposit for the pet odor by obtaining some sort of proof. Using a black light, you should be able to obtain photos of all these stains.

Bjorn Ahlblad · Answer

@Rob Forest It does not require any special skills any decent handyman can handle it especially if they have done it before and many will have. It is not asbestos. Do a little research here and on youtube.

Patrick Snyder · Answer

The only thing i will say is that the estimate from the restoration company is a crime on its own.  These companies are so outrageous on their quotes, i don't know how they get any business, outside of insurance claims.  Guaranteed you don't need them and the cost to remedy dog urine is a fraction of what they quoted.  I have so many  stories from people who have used, or gotten quotes from ServePro, Ayers, MacDougall, and others that i would never, ever recommend anyone use their services.  Ask around and do a little digging and you'll be able to find a much more reasonable solution.

Dog Urine and Crazy Repair Bill - What to do?

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