All Forum Posts by: Andrew George Dennis

I have a two bedroom, two bath condo that I am updating.  It's garden level unit - actually a half way under grade with a crawl space underneath.  The bathroom fans were rattling really bad so I pulled them out and found out the bathroom fans are ventless.  WTF??  They go nowhere (they are just a metal box with charcoal filter and a fan, and there are no windows in the bathrooms.  I found some ventless fans on Amazon that I'm going to put in, but was wondering if anyone has come across this.  If so, did you leave them ventless, and was it a major problem??  This is a condominium, so I can only assume that all the units are like this. I have no roof access, so venting these two bathrooms, which are not on an exterior wall, would be a project for sure.

Are these solutions still the gold standard?

I have a tenant that was dead for two months and I now have to try to clean the smell!

Just thought I would mention that after looking into this a bit more, it looks like there is a good chance that my insurance company will cover the cost of clean up and possibly even mitigating the odor.  I don't believe anyone else mentioned this as a possibility, so maybe it will help someone else.

Regarding processes, you are 100% correct.  Aside from this one unit I rented 8 years ago, I only have one other rental that I recently acquired.  Like many new landlords, I'm learning the hard way that you have to stay on top of this stuff like clockwork.  Thanks for the suggestions.

 OMG that sounds so totally nasty I can't even imagine!  Was the smell of everything really gone after all that?  

I'm now missing rent from April as well as May and now June is coming up.  I'm planning on talking to a lawyer to see if I can collect missed rent from the estate.  I have not dealt with this kind of thing before, so not sure what to expect.  The police were able to find the ladies sister, so now I'm talking to her about what she wants to do with the stuff left in the unit.

I went by the unit last Sunday and saw all the notices I had served still hanging on the door.  The neighbors said her car hadn't moved in about a month.  I also noticed an odor. I cracked open the door a few inches and that was when the wall of odor hit me.  Called the police right after that.

I plan on calling some clean up places, but I've heard from the coroner they tend to take advantage of people with pricing, and they are not a regulated industry.  I thought Serv Pro just fixed damage from flooding and such?

It's pretty morbid but according to the coroner you can cut the carpet out where the body was and dispose of it according to the standards of the county.  Apparently you have to use a special sterile bag and take it to a specific place for disposal, or you can be fined.

Hmmm.  What about rent and record of deposit?   If I want to try to collect past rent from the deceased estate, wouldn't I want to have that paperwork?  I guess I can just show the history of bank deposits.

I am looking for some advise on an unattended death situation.  I have a tenant who was a hermit. No family members, friends, or neighbors noticed she was missing. She apparently passed away in bed, and it could have been up to 2 months before she was discovered. I just found this out and still have to here from the coroner and get a certificate of death.  I'm really concerned with the odor that has been left behind.  I'm already planning on tearing out all the carpet etc.

Has anyone dealt with odor mitigation in a situation like this???

To make matters worse, this was the first rental I bought about 8 years ago.  This lady was my one and only renter in this place up to now.  I was totally green and had no idea how to be a landlord. I now, of course, keep good records, but I now cannot find the original lease!

I live in Colorado.  Anyone deal with a scenario like this?

Any suggestions are highly appreciated!