Pet proofing rentals to keep the landlord from being able to claim "pet damages" later One of our volunteers recently told us a story that is all too common among renters with pets. She rented a townhouse for five years before finally deciding to buy one. She moved her pets out and gave proper notice. The landlord came and did a walk through and the top three items on his list to be fixed were:

• Replace burned out light bulbs
• Fix broken toilet tissue holder in bathroom
• Fix bent mini-blinds

There was also an area where the 13-year-old carpet had begun to fray, helped along by cat paws, and the tenant had done a bad patch job of it. The landlord said he needed to determine if it could be repaired or if he would need to get the entire carpet replaced. Thirty days later when the volunteer was due a security refund she instead got an email from the landlord's lawyer saying that house had been trashed, needed to be "decontaminated" and they were still calculating damages! Two weeks later the landlord had not sent a "damage" total and the volunteer decided to walk away from the security desposit and start her new life. SIX MONTHS after the tenant had moved out the landlord sent a letter claiming $13,000 in damages! This after completely rennovating the townhouse and selling it at a significant profit! We won't go into the details of it here, but the charge included completely bogus items -- like "the dog peed on the outdoor heat pump exhaust and that caused a urine odor throughout the entire house"! For those of you renting in Virginia who think you will know within 30 days of giving notice what you will be hit with -- think again. The volunteer took this to court but ultimately lost. In fact the judge hearing the case started the session by asking if he "really needed to hear this case"! Virginia laws strongly favor landlords and once a landlord starts talking about "pet damage" it seems that all fairness goes out the window. Having a bad lawyer doesn't help either.

Cleaning Pet Urine

BIG RED FLAG
If your pet has started peeing inside the house, is not using his litterbox, or he is peeing in odd places -- like the top of your bed -- you need to take him to the vet. Inappropriate peeing is often a sign of illness and needs to be addressed.

A to Z Carpet's formula for cleaning pet urine stains
http://www.a2zcarpet.com/stain/stain33.htm

The Carpet and Rug Institute's instructions
http://www.carpet-rug.com/drill_down_2.cfm?page=5&sub=3

Removing dog urine odors -- ideas from people with pets
http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf514747.tip.html