Tenant having a dog

brzone926

Hello,


I would like to seek for some advices.
I sublet a flat on behalf of my father and have been looking after it.
My younger brother's friend has been living there for the last two years.


When I went there for inspection, I found out that he has been keeping a dog which is not allowed.
And I found a number of problems:


1) Dog has been biting wooden furnitures (bed, blinds, kitchen door which was purchased at my cost)
2) Dog has been biting other wooden parts of the property (window shelve, wall, other frames)
3) The dog is not trained to pee outside of the property so the dog has been pooing and peeing inside of the property so the property was smelly


He is moving out of property next week, and firstly I have asked him to repair 2) which have been done. And 1) will be charged based on remaining depreciation values.

What I am concerned the most is 3) dog peeing inside of the property. The dog has been raised there for several months and was surprised that the dog is still not trained. Tenant has put some pads onto tile floor (isle area) and laminated floor (his room) but I wonder if the pees entered underneath of the laminated flooring and cause troubles later. Tenant keeps insisting that it would be okay as he put pads and on the outside, only surfaces have been slightly taken off and weakened - but I want to make sure everything is okay and find the best way to check it. It is unbearable that he has been keeping a dog, it is a 30 kg of too big sized dog for the property which is even more upsetting.


However I want to find the best way - with minimised cost and best way to check flooring - and will charge the tenant repair cost if it is necessary to change all.


Any advice on how to check the flooring? Would engineers know by looking only?
If they need to take off, is it easy to put it back?

Pixie5740

Who is the landlord named on the tenancy agreement? You or your father? When you say that you sublet the property, are you actually subletting it or just managing the property on your father's behalf?

Was there a deposit taken? If so, is it protected?

Was a check-in inventory taken at the start of the tenancy?

How does the laminate flooring look? Some laminate flooring can warp and swell if it gets too wet. Are there any obvious signs of damage to the laminate flooring?

How easy it is to lift the laminate flooring depends on whether it has been glued down or is one of those click-together systems.

[Deleted User]

I have found a mug of white vinegar, big splash of biological washing liquid (ariel type esp good), generous shake of bicarbonate of soda all added to warm quarter or half bucket of water (three litres). Needs to be in a bucket as it fizzes once bicarb is added. Give a good stir, apply to area with odour. Repeat if needed. Obviously increase the vinegar and washing liquid if the odour is very strong.

This really does get rid of odours in floor boards and carpet, and laminate. If the dog has peed on laminate in good condition (and not at the edge) it shouldn't get to the floor boards. Well not in my experience anyway.

It may require a few applications though. I've even got the odour out of floorboards doing this (don't ask why I had to please lol).

Its well worth trying before you think of replacing flooring.

I also put vinegar in my shampooer just to give the place a general freshen up, just in case.

I would insist the tenant gives ALL the flooring a good clean before he gets any deposit back. Shampooers can be hired from lots of places. But it'll have to be done at least a couple of days before he moves out as the odour can be hidden by the odour of the cleaning solution and then return if all areas aren't cleaned properly.

I have used a weak bleach solution on laminate flooring.., but obviously care needs to be taken to avoid staining.

PS I don't have terrible dogs or leave them alone for long, but do hate that dog smell so I made it my business to find out how to get rid of it lol. I'd suggest moving furniture as a part of your final inspection.., dogs are wonderful but can be quite sneaky lol.

Hailey21

How does the laminate flooring look? Some laminate flooring can warp and swell if it gets too wet. Are there any obvious signs of damage to the laminate flooring?

G_M

I can't help with tips on cleaning/removing dog odour, but as for tenant liability:

answer pixie's Qs above.

* your status/right to enforce....?
* deposit? Registered? In time?
* check in (and check out) inventory?

Of course, since this is a "younger brother's friend" the legalities may be irrelevant - he may simply acknowledge responsibility and accept whatever reasonable fees or actions you request.

DigForVictory

Fully in agreement with all the chemistry advice on how to get rid of the smell.

Stuff how friendly the lad is, get another tenant, check them out thoroughly & do not have any friend/relation/pal/mate for a tenant ever again.

It's not fair on you, not fair on your dad & by keeping it all professional it's easier all round.

teddysmum

I feel sorry for the poor dog, as the stress of being incarcerated probably made it resort to destroying woodwork.

AdrianC

What does his tenancy contract say? In a way, all the emotive stuff about the dog is actually irrelevant since he's moving next week anyway.

So... that leaves you with rectifying the damage and neutralising the odours. The costs of those can be taken from his deposit quite legitimately, and the deposit scheme will absolutely agree with you if it's properly documented. If the damage is more than the deposit, you might want to claim the other money off him separately.

You DO have a properly protected deposit, right...?
How good a friend of your brother's is he?