Housing Letting agency holding deposit said house smells like dog when it is clearly damp. advice needed

[lwp8530]

Hey here from the UK, England

 

me, my wife and my baby recently moved out of a property due to black mold growing throughout the house, we were release as the landlord couldn't (or wouldn't) pay for the repairs or improvement needed to make the property livable. when we first moved in we did have pets (two smalls dogs) but as you can see in the email below they were removed from the property.

 

 

 

we have now moved out and had the carpet professional cleaned as instructed in our agreement, i went back into the property to finish cleaning with a horrible smell of damp in the property and was still there when we handed back the keys, me and the man who conducted the inventory commented on the smell.

 

 

we have now received a call for the letting agency saying that we need to sort out the smell of dogs in the property, i said that it was the smell of damp and she disagreed.

we have now received emails that you can see below:

 

 

Thank you for your receipt for the cleaning of the carpets. With reference to my conversation with lee last week regarding the strong smell of dogs that remain at ** Address removed ** have you spoken to the cleaning company regarding this ?. Unfortunately the smell is not acceptable and this will need to be rectified before we can release the deposit. If you wish to discuss the matter further please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Kind Regards.

 

 

We replied with:

 

The smell in the property is not that of dog but rather the smell of damp. The damp is visible in all rooms of the house and is the reason we were released from our contract in the first place.

We haven't had dogs at the property since 15th February, I informed Louise of this in an email, so I think it's highly unlikely that there would be a smell of dog over a month later, after all the carpets in the property have been professionally cleaned and deodorised.

We have not spoken to the cleaning company regarding the matter, you have their contact details should you wish to contact them directly.

I have read through the contract and cannot find anything regarding the smell of the property upon check out. If I have missed something then of course, please send me the section highlighted, otherwise we have abided to the terms of the contract and had the carpets cleaned as requested so I will be expecting the deposit back without further delay.

Kind regards

 

 

and she has replied with:

 

I have personally visited the property and both I and the check out clerk can confirm there is a strong smell of dog at the property, to such an extent we would not be able to relet it with that smell.

Under section 3 (e) (xi) of your assured shorthold tenancy it states that you are to hand back the property in the same state as specified in schedule A. If you would like to re visit the property with myself and the cleaning company to discuss how we could resolve the issue please contact me to arrange a mutually agreeable time.

 

 

we have had multiple inspections and visits during our short time there because of the damp and this has never been mentioned before

any advice would be amazing.

 

 

Thank you.

 

 

EDIT: i forgot to mention that the damp was there when we moved in and we were assured with was dealt with. we found from a neighbor that the damp has been there for years with previous tenets getting there rent reduced because of it.

Edited April 11, 2014 by citizenB

[The Carpet Cleaners]

how wet were the carpets left by the cleaners when they had finished.

Do the carpets contain any wool?

 

The reason I ask is that once wool carpets are damp they smell like wet dog, and once the carpets are completely dry the smell will disappear. If the carpets were not cleaned properly ie a rug doctor or similar was used, they do leave a lot of water in the carpets and can take 3-4 days to dry.

[lwp8530]

I honestly couldn't say, but it wasn't overly wet by any means. when i returned to finish cleaning and check there really was a heavy smell of damp in the air and damp up the walls (in the same area which they said was sorted when we moved in). i understand how wet dog and damp may have a similar smell, but i don't believe it is our responsibility to remove the smell as its the structural issues causing the damp and leading to the smell.

[f16]

Iwp8530, Were there signs of black mould on the walls ?

I've worked on a lot of damp buildings in my time and it does smell like wet dogs.

Living in a mould filled atmosphere is a serious health risk.

 

I would ask if you can go back to the property and try again .....

... and smother it with "Cheap perfume".

[lwp8530]

Iwp8530, Were there signs of black mould on the walls ?

I've worked on a lot of damp buildings in my time and it does smell like wet dogs.

Living in a mould filled atmosphere is a serious health risk.

 

I would ask if you can go back to the property and try again .....

... and smother it with "Cheap perfume".

 

yes there was signs of black mold.

as you can see in the emails they want to re-let it as quickly as possible, but with black mold in the house isn't this illegal as it is a serious threat to health?

 

i feel that i want to push this further as i believe they moved us into a unlivable house, so bringing up the part of the contract that deals with this is void (as we have found out from the neighbor the black mold has been there years, with previous tenants having their rent reduced because of it). All they did was clean and paint over the mold without fixing the problems causing it.

 

considering we moved in with 6 week old and there was black mold grownig in the property (when we moved in there was no signs of mold just damp, with the mold growing later) i feel they put my child live at serious risk.

Edited April 12, 2014 by lwp8530

[f16]

lwp8530.

Contact your local council. You want the environmental health dept and the housing dept as well.

 

Mould spores can cause breathing problems, coughs etc.

 

If you can get a letter from the neighbor that would add to your case when you go to the council.

I agree the property should never been rented to you

[f16]

I have just "Googled" "Mould spores and health risk"

Take a look !!!!!

 

Did you or your family have to attend the Doctors for coughs etc. ?

 

By contacting the Council. They will not allow it to be rented until it meets their standard.

That will be after a full inspection once the work has been compleated

[mariner51]

f16, Council cannot prevent re-letting unless they serve a prohibition Notice on LL. They could serve an improvement Notice, giving LL 3-6 months for remedial repairs, usually achieved with fungicide wash down and repainting with paint containing a fungicide and regular T cleaning.

Possible causes, in addition to T lifestyle are lack of ventilation, condensation on cold external wall, penetrating damp from leaking gutter, porous bricks etc.

We do not know location of affected area, age, type and construction of property.

Black mould is only considered a health hazard to the very young, very old or immuno-compromised patients.

 

 

It does not matter when dog left, more, how long it was present and could have pee'd on carpet/floorboards, which when washed could have re-activated dog smell, new wet carpets can also smell like wet dog.

If T has vacated, he has no further opportunity to take remedial action but agent has offered the opportunity for site inspection when points can be made. T does not even know how wet the cleaned carpets were afterwards, whether heating left on and rooms adequately ventilated? All of which could have contributed to later black mould

[lwp8530]

Black mold has been in the house from a number of years, this was the reason we were released from our contract. LL stated that couldn't afford fix the roof where they believe the damp it coming in from, however the black mold has been know about from quite some time, as i started previous Ts have had their rent reduced because of the problem, and in a conversation between the LL and the LA she stated that it was like that when she originally lived there which was a good few years ago

 

So the black mold has nothing to do with carpets but rather the structural issues of the house.

 

We provided a receipt which states the carpets have been cleaned and deodorized

 

as for her bring up a part of the contract, would the contract be voided in someway as we were moved in to a house that wasn't in a condition of fitness for human habitation due to the dangers of black mold? as if we were made aware of this there would be no way i would of brought my 6 week old son to live in the house

 

As for the the health of my family, i have asthma to which i have had to change inhalers due to it becoming worse and my son has also been put on an inhaler.

Edited April 14, 2014 by lwp8530

[JoeyJoeC]

I have just "Googled" "Mould spores and health risk"

Take a look !!!!!

 

Did you or your family have to attend the Doctors for coughs etc. ?

 

By contacting the Council. They will not allow it to be rented until it meets their standard.

That will be after a full inspection once the work has been compleated

 

Was the reason I had to move out from my rented place. My health became so bad.

[f16]

Was the reason I had to move out from my rented place. My health became so bad.

 

Local Council Environmental Health Dept. All the way.

 

I worked in a place where the LL. was saying the damp and smell in the property was due to the way the tenant was living.

Turned out to be a broken sewage pipe behind some stud work in the bathroom.

There was 100mm of sewage and Environmental Health had to "over see" the whole job !!!!