Hi Everyone!
We use our property as a vacation rental. We had people there for 2 months that smoked in the house. We found the evidence in the trash. They denied smoking in the house and do not want to pay the cost of the remediation. I did not do a walk through with them, shame on me. I did have several people come over and verify the smoke smell and we found the evidence in the trash which I sent to the guest. I spent about 6k to get rid of the smoke smell including painting, cleaning the vents, cleaning the furniture etc. He has quoted the general codes stating that I cannot charge for these things. He is saying that it has to be physical damage. The lease says the following.
14. SMOKING:A. (i) Tenant is responsible for all damage caused by smoking including, but not limited to stains, burns, odors and removal ofdebris; (ii) Tenant acknowledges that in order to remove odor caused by smoking, Housing Provider may need to replacecarpet and drapes and paint the entire premises regardless of when these items were last cleaned, replaced or repainted.Such actions and other necessary steps will impact the return of any security deposit.B. The Premises or common areas may be subject to a local non-smoking ordinance.C. NO SMOKING of any substance is allowed on the Premises or common areas. If smoking does occur on the Premises orcommon areas, (i) Tenant is in material breach of this Agreement; (ii) Tenant, guests, and all others may be required to leavethe Premises. Smoking of the following substances only is allowed:
He's threatening a lawsuit. I'm thinking to let him sue us if he feels it's necessary and take my chances in court.
Thoughts?
