Posted by Brian on September 21, 2004 at 06:41:30:
Some very good advice that I will take…thanks to all. Good tenants are not hard to find at all it’s just I’m a ‘good guy’ and want to give this tenant another chance. She’s actually been there about 5 years or so (before we took over the property) and this is the only major issue we’ve come across. Mainly I’m willing to give her a second chance…not to mention the cost of finding a new tenant outweighs giving her a second shot which I’m confident will work out. And I’m confident it will work out because I’ll MAKE SURE it works out with periodic inspections, etc. Again I appreciate everyone’s thoughts. Thanks! Brian
Tenant cat situation…out of control! - Posted by Brian
Posted by Brian on September 20, 2004 at 18:53:16:
Alright…I have a serious issue with my tenant’s cats. We had an agreement that she was not to have more than 2-3 cats in the house at any time (and she was fine with that and it’s worked for over a year now.) But now I’ve found out that she has like 20 cats in the house and she’s in over her head and doesn’t know what to do. She’s a very nice lady…pays on time every month with money orders…never a problem. But she’s admitted she has a problem and she’s asked me for help. I need to come up with a solution that does the following: (1) get rid of almost ALL of these cats (which she has agreed to); (2) somehow get a cleaning company in to totally clean and fumigate the aparment; (3) revise her month-to-month rental agreement so that this doesn’t happen again. Again, she’s a very nice lady but she simply has allowed this problem to snow-ball and now it’s time for it to be fixed. I’m a very understanding person (landlord) and I want to help her at the same time as it’s in my best interest. I’ve told her I may lay the law down after I actually see the situation (tomorrow) and tell her she can’t have any more cats (and she agreed that if that’s the case then so be it as she simply cannot afford to move somewhere else.) But my biggest problem is this…who will take like 20 cats off our hands and quickly as I don’t want this to drag on for months? As a possible fix we discussed over the phone today some options and I threw out there that I might be willing to put some FREE CAT ads in the paper for her and I would pay for the ads. We discussed the SPCA, but not sure if they would take this many cats. And as for cleaning, I really haven’t thought about who to call to come in and clean this place up. It’s more the odor then it being ‘dirty’ but I’ll know more tomorrow. Anyone have any suggestions or words of advice? I just want to make sure this works out for everyone so I want to be fair. Thanks in advance for your help. Brian
Re: Tenant cat situation…out of control! - Posted by Marcia
Posted by Marcia on September 23, 2004 at 14:08:56:
Oh Brian, you post is bringing back bad recent memories. I got under contract a “pretty house”. I had an odor, but had been setting empty for awhile so I passed it off as that. During the next week we had a hot humid day and the air had been shut off… Oh my Goodness, the smell…turned out the odor was cat urine. $5,000.00 later I think I can still smell it a little. We had to replace relatively new carpet, we tore out some sub-floors, drywall and insulation. We used viniger and baking soda around the perimeter of every room and hall in the entire house. We used odorexit, we sealed with Kilz oil base, we re-drywalled, painted and put in all new carpet and padding, then to not take any chances, I rented an ozone machine. All of this because the previous owner liked to “save” stray cats. The neighbor said “but she never had more than four at a time”… I say that to say, cats can be very costly!!! Good Luck!
Re: Tenant cat situation…out of control! - Posted by Carrie-PA
Posted by Carrie-PA on September 22, 2004 at 13:03:56:
Take the cats to your local shelter, or officers can get them. They will likely get put to sleep but that is better than what they are living like. If I allow pets they must always be spayed or nuetered and there is a limit. My mother has worked at our humane society for over ten yrs and the pet overpopulation problem is out of control. So every one make sure that you spay and nueter your pets! 13-15 million unwanted cats and dogs are destroyed annually, getting them fixed is the best method to reduce surplus animals. Sorry to get a little off topic but this issue is very serious to me.
Re: Tenant cat situation…out of control! - Posted by E.Eka
Posted by E.Eka on September 21, 2004 at 18:25:27:
The lady is nuts. Basically, I totally agree with Gavin. Tell her: “Either ALL the cats go, or she goes”! Bottom line. So not only do you become a landlord, you also become a babysit and ASPCA. This is ridiculous. I can’t understand how nasty some people can be. The house probably smell like rotting flesh and deer carcass. Nasty, nasty woman. I don’t care how frequent she is with the rent. On the other hand, tell her if one cat shows up at the door, she’s gone in 3 days.
Re: Tenant cat situation…out of control! - Posted by Anne_ND
Posted by Anne_ND on September 21, 2004 at 14:46:31:
Brian,
As one of the other posters said- cats are not pack animals. They are much more destructive when they are stressed out and in a house with 20 they are stressed out big time.
It would be more humane to take them to the local animal shelter than for them to remain in their current circumstances.
If you let this tenant remain do NOT allow her to have ANY animals in the future. She has an illness and the same thing will happen again- no question. In fact, you will have to check up on her repeatedly to make sure she doesn’t take in more cats.
The cleaning may not be as big of an issue as you think, depending on how long they’ve been in there. Call the kinds of companies that clean up after fires or floods if it’s more than you can handle. You might also have to evict her if there’s a health issue with the clean-up.
If she stays, she must pay for the cleanup, either by a direct payment or by increasing her rent a little each month.
We rehabbed a large house with hardwood floors where the seller had only three cats, but she kept all the used kitty litter in the house with her- neatly bundled up but not put out in the trash. The house smelled awful! We tore out the plaster but the hardwood floors were okay except in a few places where they were so badly stained from the urine. Your house is probably not so bad.
Are you running a business? - Posted by Gavin Wilkinson
Posted by Gavin Wilkinson on September 21, 2004 at 13:47:25:
I want to help your thinking, so please don’t be offended.
You are letting your tenant run you and that is a big mistake. The lady did not “accidently” let twenty cats in. She knew what she was doing. She is testing you.
Expect this to reoccur.
I have had cat people in my mobile home park. I ended up with the problem of cleaning, towing away their derelict car, trying to get someone to fix the mess.
I would give her a notice to clean up or be evicted. Then it is her problem. If she did not do the cleanup, I would evict her.
If you let her stay, raise the rent immediately. It is the only way you will stay ahead. Because when she is evicted, you will end up with a 3-5 thousand dollar mess to fix.
Have you ever tried to hire a cleaner for a house like this? If you are lucky, you may find someone to do it for $50/hr. Most people do not want to work in cat crap even for 50. Then the sub floor may never be the same. You may have to strip the house to the studs, or bulldoze it to get rid of the smell. I’m not jokeing!
ACT NOW!
Good luck. Don’t confuse sympathy and running a business.
Re: Tenant cat situation…out of control! - Posted by John Katitus
Posted by John Katitus on September 21, 2004 at 02:35:22:
Some people have this problem - I’ve seen it before. After you get rid of them (my city won’t take cats, but I’m sure there’s somebody in the book that for $50 will), you will have to watch her very closely or she’ll do the same thing. Personally, I wouldn’t care what happened to the cats as long as they were gone.
Sure she’s nice, but why are you volunteering to pay for removal and cleanup and still keeping her? Are good tenants that hard to find? She has a problem.
Re: Tenant cat situation…out of control! - Posted by Tom-FL
Posted by Tom-FL on September 20, 2004 at 21:52:03:
I concur with the others. Take them to the agency set up for that.
Do not advertise free cats or other small furry things. They are often taken by harmless looking people for the specific intention of using them as practice targets for pit bulls, snakes, and other aggressive species.
The SPCA and other animal facilaties/shelters would rather take in the cats than have them on the streets procreating. So call them and explain to them her situation.
The thing about giving the cats away they would first need costly vet check-ups and vaccines (feline leukemia, distemper, rabies) they’d also need ear exams, de-worming etc. So it’s best just to give them to the SPCA and other shelters. Cats are really not pack animals like dogs so I’m sure there are some unhealthy cats in that bunch just because there are too many living in one apartment. Good Luck.
The SPCA and other animal facilaties/shelters would rather take in the cats than have them on the streets procreating. So call them and explain to them her situation.
The thing about giving the cats away they would first need costly vet check-ups and vaccines (feline leukemia, distemper, rabies) they’d also need ear exams, de-worming etc. So it’s best just to give them to the SPCA and other shelters. Cats are really not pack animals like dogs so I’m sure there are some unhealthy cats in that bunch just because there are too many living in one apartment. Good Luck.
Re: Tenant cat situation…out of control! - Posted by Welkenwoman
Posted by Welkenwoman on September 20, 2004 at 20:07:15:
You don’t say what city you are in.
Check to see if your city has an animal control department. Sometimes they work with ASPCA, sometimes they are a separate entity. Animal Control or ASPCA should be able to take the cats. That is one of the situations they are there for. They can put the cats up for adoption. Also check for a local branch of the Humane Society. They may be able to help.
