I never will understand why landlords constantly OK cats but don't allow dogs for this exact reason.

There is no remedy that will fully get rid of kitty wee wee smell without major overhaul. Gooooooo.

@ElectricDS I think it's because most responsible cat owners will provide a litterbox, while the person who let his or her cat pee everywhere was obviously deranged in some way.

When we were out shopping for an apartment, we made the decision after a few visits that we didn't want to live in a complex that allowed dogs because dogs have to be walked and that smell goes with them all over the hallways. I love dogs, I just don't want to smell like dog because I have to walk through common areas. Not to mention there's the noise thing - dogs barking causes more noise than the occasional loud cat yowl.

You must get Nature's Miracle and pour it on everything! Seriously, nothing short of enzymes will kill cat pee.

Luckily in Chicago we have the Residential Landlord and Tenants Ordinance (RLTO) that is a hyper-specific set of rules and regulations as to what is and is not acceptable and what the remedies for various situations are.

Things like unacceptable odors and incomplete construction are covered by the RLTO. In general the RLTO is a very renter-favorable document that will severely penalize landlords for the slightest infraction or breach of rigid protocol.

Though landlords will profess to being in accord with the RLTO, I have never found one to fully understand just how extensive it is. For instance, if a landlord fails to provide the tenant with a copy of the RLTO at the lease signing, theoretically can be considered an invalid contract.

I have used the RLTO to take 2 landlords to court for illegally seizing my security deposit. In one case the end result was a judgement in my favor for 14 times the initial deposit plus lawyers fees.

Take a look at the RLTO if you live in Chicago, it will become your best friend.

Forgot link: RLTO

Living in the Northeast, my #1 deal breaker is windows.

After living in an older building (gorgeous! two floors! built-ins! balconies! 200 sq.ft. kitchen!) where the heating bill often exceeded rent, if windows aren't weatherproof and less than 5 years old, it doesn't matter what the place looks like, how big it is, or the location.

We had an AMAZING dream rental home that was in a perfect neighborhood with good schools, but we were unable to sign the lease, because the landlady seemed a little neurotic when it came to the home. Too bad, because the home was spectacular. I was afraid about how she would treat us if we signed the lease. Especially since we have kids, she seemed to treat them unkindly in the short 20 minutes we met to go over the lease.

We gave up our earnest money on a house because of the cat smell- the inspector did not smell it but the place had an indoor cat with no visible litterbox and cat food cans on the roof.
I would calculate the SF of the closet and ask for that % off your rent until the damage is fixed, at least!
cat stink is the ultimate deal-breaker for me. And I have 2 cats.

are you seriously not negotiating anything currently?! you should consider breaking the lease, unless you really believe something is going to change. Its looks pretty but damn.

I want a place that is well maintained, has a responsible landlord, vintage with some modern amenities, and something nice to look at outside the windows. I don't believe that any apt is perfect, but I search long and hard to find ones that are close.

I'm not an optimist about most things, but living in Chicago with such a huge apartment stock, I always have hope that I can eventually find a great place. So yes, it can be heart-achy walking away from a cool find because it turns out to be a deal breaker, but I do so with confidence.

Hope the smell becomes more tolerable. Your ceilings are to die for.

I completely disagree with Pi. Cats have the potential to be much noisier than dogs. We lived in a pet-friendly building that had at least one dog in probably half of the apartments, if not more. Very rarely did we hear dogs barking outside of in response to loud guests rudely making lots of noise in the hallway. Not sure how many cats there were, but there was one in our light well that would moan for hours on end, and has woken up house guests at 3 am. I'm told this has something to do with a cat being in heat.

Also, dogs do not smell up the hallways--unless they come in sopping wet and your hallways are carpeted; then perhaps on that particular day your hallway might smell. None of the buildings I have lived in have had carpet, though, and I don't recall having begun smelling like dog just from walking in the hallway.

On the other hand, cigarette smoke always permeates the hallway and has stunk up my apartment. I find it ridiculous that there are more buildings that won't allow dogs than there are smoke-free buildings.

@caiti - How did I miss the part about moving in and not negotiating a decrease? How?

I agree. She needs to get some spine and she insert a clause into the rental agreement (if she can amend it now) that if nothing the landlord has done can actually eliminate all of the odor, they can break lease and move. Barring that, she needs a severe rent decrease because it's not like the landlord can actually rent out the property as it is right now. The new tenant is really doing the landlord a favor.

Have to agree with Pi about the smell of dogs in hallways. I don't know if it was coincidental or divine humor but our condo complex are divided into building A occupied by cat owners and building B occupied by dog owners and building C occupied by non pet owners, etc. The difference in smell is amazing. The dogs in building B are well behaved and clean but the doggy smell permeates into every nook and cranny of that building and given DC's humid weather the smell is impossible to ignore.

Deal breaker is when the housing project is just two blocks away. I fell in love with the perfect apartment in an up and coming neighborhood, but up and coming doesn't mean it's there yet.

@Amanda, I feel for you!! I recently went to visit a friend of mine who is renting a studio that is deattached to the main house. As soon as I stepped in, I was choked with the strong cat pee smell. I couldn't stay in the place for more than 5min literally. He said he will take care of it before he leaves eventually.

My deal breaker would be dishonesty of the LL. I never had to deal with lease terms, always month to month base for some reason. Couple of years ago, I was in a desparate move to find a new place due to my then-roommate's medical condition. In a short time, I found a great little in-law place. When I went to see the place, I noticed both washer and dryer were in my place. LL reassured me that she was going to move the machines to somewhere else, so she wouldn't have to come into my studio to do her laundry. 5 months went by, machines were still there. When I asked about her plan, she said she has no money to make those change at that point. I just had to pack up and leave.

Reading RKtect's comment, I have to say that the hallways are carpeted so maybe that is the culprit, that and the numerous freakish storms that catch dog walkers off guard and send them and the pooch running back home sopping wet.

Sprinkle a thick coat of baking soda on everything you own. The high NaC content in the baking soda will counter act the odor of the uric acid. You may have to do this for a few months, but it will eventually work. Also, keep fresh cut eucalyptus in every room of your house and change it every week. This will also neautralize the odor. The landlord should have repainted and refinished the floors. You can also put baking soda in your wall paint and do a wall per weekend. Those steps with an ozone machine will help and before you know it, it'll be gone.

enzymes! they work!

I had this same problem, but with cigarette smoke... and it was supposed to be a non-smoking building. Turns out the plumbing access in my closet was connected to some other place in the building that the smokers had chosen to use as their ashtray. I raised hell on the managers until they solved the problem with the other tenants and closed the holes in my closet.

I walk away easily from potential homes, knowing that no ideal home exists. I select one pragmatically, not romantically. After the move in, and lots of work and time, my dream home may evolve. If I were you, then I'd leave now. Architecture's nothing if I can't breathe.

You need an enzyme cleaner. I have found that Anti-Icky-Poo is superior to Natures Miracle- and that Consume is superior to Anti-Icky-Poo. Consume is an industrial strength enzyme cleaner, it's not cheap but one thing of it will go far, you mix it with warm water and spray it on. They say you only need a 10% ratio of it to warm water but I do @ 30%. Sounds like you have a really nasty case, you will want to spray it heavily and let it really soak in. It eats away the bad stuff and leaves a faint pleasant odor that you only notice if you stick your nose right up to it. At least you know where the smell is coming from, when you can't find the source it's even worse. Good luck! And I agree you should be getting a rent reduction at least.

My deal-breakers:

- Rent includes trash and water; heat and electric not included.
Heat is pricey when winters can get to -40 on a good year. Paying for electricity and gas is no big deal, but when you add heat for an old building... that's a painful bill.

- Honest and reasonably involved landlords.
My first landlord never helped with anything, to the point where I once had to change my own fuses when it was -20 and the heat was off. My last landlord placed themselves in the middle of a neighbor dispute, took my neighbor's side, and spent the rest of my lease treating myself and my roommate like trash.
My current landlord is juuuust right. Ceiling in the bathroom having problems? Our guy's on vacation, but he'll be there as soon as he gets back. AC unit broken? We'll get you a new one.
<3

- Water pressure and temperature
Doesn't seem huge, but if your shower has little to no pressure or heat, your day just isn't the same. Conversely, if your water is always piping hot and scalds you every time you turn it on, that's a problem.

That's an incredible apartment. I'd make an impractical choice to live in a place like that too. I hope the odor problem is resolved soon. I'd request, and insist, on a substantial rent decrease during the duration of the problem as others have suggested.

My current home fell into the deal-breaker category, but was just too lovely to pass up. We have a baby and a toddler and just rented an idyllic garden cottage with -here's the deal-breaker- only two bedrooms. We moved here from New York City, and so are accustomed to small spaces. Fingers are crossed that the kids will be able to share a room pretty soon. Otherwise, there are large windowed closets we're considering converting...

My house was dog pee central when I bought. Previous owner had 2 small dogs that were apparently not trained. Ripped the carpets out, sanded the floors and all was fine. If it was me, I'd hire professionals and deduct it from the rent.

I can understand why you fell in love with the place despite the smell. It's really amazing. However, there must be some law that allows you to withhold part of the rent until the smell is gone or do something about this until it's fixed. It sounds like your landlord is dragging his feet, so get him motivated. Are there any landlords in this area who might know what the renter's rights are in this case?

Deal breakers:

-no central A/C.
I live in Houston. It gets HOT and HUMID. I know lots of people live with window units, but I am not willing to end up with the expense and that the rest of the rooms in the house get stuffy.

-carpet
in a rental, I will not have carpet. I have two cats, I'm allergic to everything (yes, even my cats), but if I have hardwood floors, it's much easier to deal with my allergies.

Right now, I live in pretty much the perfect rental, and am house-hunting. My set of deal breakers is totally different since I will be able to change the flooring, redo bath/kitchen, etc. if it's within my budget. The dealbreakers pretty much are the centrals, hardwoods (even if under carpet) and solid foundation with enough light in the place from windows.

Thanks for the advice, everyone! My landlord has been working earnestly, at least. He has tried everything. They removed all of the flooring, subflooring, and trim in the closet. There was a slight smell left in the closet from the floor beams, and this was after multiple enzyme treaments.

This week we decided it has diminished enough to seal it up, and so right now a handyman is in my apartment working on it. I'm thinking this will be the end of the disastrous smell, but yes, I'm thinking I should ask for a rent discount due to 2 months of people constantly working in my apartment. Yikes. (Yes, I do need to grow a backbone! My landlord is just a nice guy, and maybe I'm just too nice as well.)

RKtect - I've never specifically heard of cats howling when they're in heat, but our apartment complex only allows cats (and dogs) if they have been spayed/neutered. Maybe that's part of the reason?

We do a lot of work in our house and kitty thinks that any drop cloth left on the floor is an invitation to pee, for some reason. Scrubbing the floors with natural bleach alternative has worked very well when the enzymes aren't doing the job. As a landlord, I would never dream of renting a house before I resolved that issue! You should ABSOLUTELY negotiate lower rent.

If your landlord was really a nice guy, he would have offered to decrease your rent without you asking.

@sarahisaghost You are right. I definitely need to just "man up."

Having spent many years project managing flipping and new construction, there is only ONE WAY to get rid of cat pee smell. Remove the flooring and the sub-floor and replace. You can use all the enzymes/chemicals etc. you want, but once the urine has permeated the wood, it cannot ever be removed, just covered up.

Trust your instincts when you meet the landlords, and get everything in writing. That's all I can say.

We rented from two brothers who constantly shifted landlord responsibilities. First John was the landlord, then Alex, then John, then both, then neither would mow the lawn or clean the gutters until the grass was 6" long and rain came in our windows because the gutters were blocked with years' worth of nests. Then Alex was going to reno the kitchen, then John replaced the free laundry with coin-op and was shocked when we expressed concern that our free laundry now cost us money. And let's not talk about them advertising the lease without giving us notice, or how they handled our sublet. *shudder*

I moved into one place where the litter box had been kept in a closet in the bathroom. Stunk to high heaven. landlord finally had to remove the floor, completely seal, prime and paint the closet, and put down new floor. We were demanding another apartment if it did not work.

I left another place because the carpet stank of cat piss. The manager kept saying the people did not have a cat, but the neighbors said they did. I wanted new carpet, and they refused. I packed up and left, and lost a very small deposit. They suddenly offered new carpet, but it was too late. The manager threatened to sue for breaking the lease and I told her if she did I would sue the living s%$t out of everybody. And I also threatened to do that if anything was reported to any credit agency. The let it go.

I am more concerned about landlords than physical issues. They can really make you miserable.

I was in the exact same situation -- moving into an apartment that had been repeatedly sprayed by a cat -- but it was after the landlord had replaced absolutely everything, and there was still a smell. I knew I could eliminate the odor using Ex-Stink, though, and I signed the lease. I put Ex-Stink in all smelly areas (basically the perimeters of every room!) and waited. Within a day, the smell was 50% gone. Within two weeks, the smell was 90% gone. After two months, it was 100% gone.

Ex-Stink is very cheap, it's non-toxic, and it really works. Every pet owner should own a bucket of it.

Wow... I am never getting a cat.

The best enzymatic product that I know of is Nok-Out. It was originally used by people who clean crime scenes and now some pet stores carry it. It will get rid of any odor, including cat pee smell.

@LSUgrad03 - cats are actually very clean animals; you just have to be a good owner and train them to use a litterbox.

We've just been trying to negotiate: our lease is now up, and we were trying to negotiate a lower rent so we wouldn't have to move- we've had issues with sewage, repeatedly backed up toilets, and no storm doors, and billing issues. The property manager told us we were lucky she'd given us the year lease, that she would not give us a six month lease, and that if we didn't want to sign a year lease with no break clause, then we could go month to month and pay $150 per month fee.

That's a deal breaker. It's also why we just found a new place today.

The best cleaner I've ever used, in addition to one we use at work for cleaning artwork is Terg-A-Zyme.

It's a protease enzymatic cleaner that is natural and leaves no residue. It will break down any protein that exists.

Manufacturer link

<a href->Link</a>

I'd rather live in a clean plain-jane generic landlord beige corporate rent-a-box than deal with a previous tenant's animal or smoking odors or mildew.

I just finished my house hunt in Chicago. Here were my deal must-haves:
-Central AC
-Natural light
-Decent space
-Nothing cookie-cutter

The deal sealer were the high ceilings, in-unit washer dryer and the neighborhood. Now I just need to decorate :)

@bodicegoddess - out of curiosity, how was your electric and heat parceled out? Ours is all in one. Our AC and heat are completely electric. We have no gas bill at all.

Amanda, the apartment is gorgeous and I'm heartily jealous.

For me my rental has to be city 2nd floor or higher, preferably with a security door, heat included, natural light, pest/rust/mold-free, close to transit, walkable neighborhood, and takes cats. I also prefer an Engineer/property manager that will be responsive to requests.

One of my friends just moved into an adorable rental in the Church Hill district of Richmond, and didn't discover until AFTER they moved all of their stuff in that the place was infested with flees. Now, after a month of living in a friend's apt and TWO unsuccessful fumigations, I think she's finally deciding to break the lease.

And they're even having trouble with that since the property manager can't do anything without the landlord's approval, and I get the impression he might be screening phone calls at the moment...

A cat pee smell would be pretty unbearable, but a flee infestation might be worse. All of their stuff might be infested now! Ick.

Yuck. I could never handle this.

Wow, that's an amazing space!! I probably would have taken it too. Hopefully they fixed the problem! And yes, I agree that the landlord should give you some sort of rebate for moving in when the apt clearly wasn't ready yet. No harm in asking! Meanwhile, enjoy the apartment. I'm jealous!

P.S. I hope you post pics after you decorate the apartment.

My deal breaker is there can't be any cockroaches or bedbugs, ever. And if there is an apartment above me, they have to guarantee soundproofing. I hate hearing people stomp around above me!

I'm with bodicegoddess-- if your shower has no water pressure or erratic temps, it can really, really screw up your morning. Especially if it takes you ten minutes to get all the shampoo out of your hair, but you only have hot water for three of those minutes...

Has anyone ever heard of a landlord increasing rent when a new roommate moves in? My landlord is trying to increase the rent by $100 for three of us living there instead of two...I think she's milking us! Is this even legal? I mean, the third roommate is going through the application process and everything too.

BAD AIR SPONGE - They're about $10 and cover 400 sq ft each. I'm selling my house, and these have totally gotten rid of the dog smell in my furniture. I'm sure they're available lots of places, but I've ordered them from www.drugstore.com and bought them at Bed, Bath & Beyond. Nature's Miracle works wonders too. Gets rid of pee smells, but you have to spray and clean. With the Bad Air Sponge, you unscrew the top and set it out. Good luck.

Oil heated.

i lived in a great duplex when i was in college. until the smell started. i complained to my landlord and made him come over several times to try to figure out what it was. however, he was an old man who had lost his sense of smell and didn't believe me that the smell was unbearable. he finally agreed to put me and my roommate up in a hotel and called in a plumber, thinking it was a sewage problem. nope...we had a dead opossum in our crawl space. anyone wanna guess how long that smell took to get out?? well, i lived there for 2 years and every time it got hot...dead possum smell.

Not sure why the AT editor didn't clue you into this post from a few days ago, but here it is...seems the Lampe Berger is VERY effective.
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/pets-dogs-cats-snakes-etc/top-tips-for-removing-cat-odors-reader-intelligence-report-124860

Good Luck!

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/pets-dogs-cats-snakes-etc/top-tips-for-removing-cat-odors-reader-intelligence-report-124860

Not sure why the link isn't working--but I'm sure you can find it.

I agree that renting a stinky home is a problem but if you're in the market to buy and you're looking at fixer uppers, smelly houses sell below market and if you're planning on changing flooring and other materials the smells can be taken care of.

burn nag champa incense literally all day and night, 3 or 4 at a time it will help with the odor. The dander will just take time but you have to be almost neurotic about daily cleaning, moldings, window sills, tops of doors, places you would not think of normally.

For me renting when the landlord lives on premises is a deal beaker. Because they own the place and live there they can be extremely picky and controlling about everything, as well as scrutinizing your comings and goings. Then they can evict you for no reason so that a relative can move in, which is really a blessing in disguise.

sleggo, in most states a landlord cannot raise your rent if your household increases in size. Imagine the landlord increasing the rent if you adopted a child. Very illegal. But a landlord CAN prohibit letting anyone move in who is not on the original lease, if your lease specifies that, and can also ban subletting.

Perhaps you can offer to pay a one time fee for the new roommate (for credit check and updating the lease) instead of the rent increase. Did you pay a credit check fee when you moved in? If so, pay the same amount for the new roommate.

Do not pay the increased rent. If you do, it's possible the landlord will start illegally charging you for other things, such as normal maintenance and repairs. There are creepy landlords who start small and escalate. For instance, my last landlord tried to raise my rent twice in a year. I refused to pay. He said if I didn't like it I could go to the rent board. I told him he was an idiot for trying something illegal, especially when he had a tenant (me) who paid on time and took good care of the property. He then pretended the whole thing had never happened. Thank goodness I moved out of that place. *shudders*

In California, rental units can have no. of adults x no. of bedrooms, so a two bedroom can legally have four adults. No limit on children.

I'd review your lease, as well as state and local housing/rental laws before taking "don't pay your rent" advise. You could end up with legal and credit problems. Go through the proper channels of redress, if all else fails, get a lawyer.

A cat smell so funky that your guests are uncomfortable? Constantly blowing your runny nose? A landlord that hasn't fixed a problem that can't be fixed absent some major renovation.

A little perspective, please. This is *not* a dream apartment.

You deserve better!

Move.

Cats get upset and they pee on things, even if a litter box is provided. They get old, and they pee on things. You leave a pile of clothes on the floor waiting to be washed, they pee on it. And that smell never comes out. This is also why I don't understand why landlords are always more willing to allow cats over dogs. Dogs do their business outside. A responsible dog owner is better than a responsible cat owner simply because no one has control over where a pissed off cat is gonna piss. Anywho, that smell will never come out of woods floors, they have to be replaced. I like cats, I'll just never own one.

KaBoomBox, you are right that not paying rent could result in a mess. When there is a problem with an apartment, you can only deduct a percentage of your rent based on the area affected. For instance, if 20% of the space is unusable, you deduct 20% of the rent. But this means you have to be in agreement with the landlord on how much is unusable, which is unlikely. I think it's a tactic that should only be used as a last resort.

It is absolutely possible to get cat pee odor out of flooring and other building materials. I've done it in several situations with Ex-Stink. The floors were: hardwood; cement underfloor with pad and carpet over it; vinyl over cement underfloor; vinyl over plywood subfloor.

Ex-Stink is used by coroners' offices. Enough said. :)

@Catherine W - tell your friends to try Lysol for the fleas. Spray the crap out of everything, and vacuum every day (and spray all the parts of the vacuum). Our exterminator gave us this advice after failing to completely exterminate the fleas (and after charging piles of money, but it was worth it just for the advice!) best part is, Lysol fumes won't kill you near as fast... Sprinkling boric acid powder all over the floors helps prevent future outbreaks, too (just sprinkle generously, then vacuum up - enough will stay to control all sorts of bugs...)

@ everyone saying all cats spray - they do not. If you want a cat, get a kitten and have it spayed/neutered as young as physically possible. (also works to keep male dogs from raising their legs to pee...) my 5 and 6 year old cats act out in all sorts of ways, but nary a drop of pee has ever made it outside the litterbox...

@OP - good luck -that's a gorgeous place!

I have severe cat allergies, and someone could be renting me the white house for $100 a week, I wouldn't move in if it was cat pee soaked.

As a cat owner, even I would not rent that apartment! Cats will continue to pee in places that smell of cat pee to them, even if it has been removed to the point that humans can no longer smell it, because that area has been "marked" as another cat's territory. Cats are very territorial.

Oh, and I've seen plenty of dogs pee inside too, for territorial and other reasons. Dogs will pee of their owner's belongings out of spite just as much as cats will. Animals will cause damage if their owners do not take proper care of them, regardless of the type of animal.

Bad Landlords and Loud Neighbors. Many things can be overlooked but that cannot.

Rental Horror Story: Our landlord told us utilities were included on a condo we rented a few years ago. 5 months into the lease, in January, the heat and electricity was turned off. Our son was one, my husband was 40 mins away and the landlord didn't pick up the phone for 12 hours. Turns out she never once paid the utilities after we moved in. Awesome.

I pull the fridge and stove out to make sure it's clean under them. I've NEVER found it clean.

Well, this sucks. Any type of animal urine smell is very hard to get out. One natural solution as an air deodorizer, the old bowl of vinegar sitting in the room, or maybe in your case, in each room? Give it a shot, won't eliminate all smells but could help anyway. And try to negotiate.
I had an apartment manager friend who had a tenant with cats and no litter boxes (I still don't understand!!!), needless to say, their neighbors complained about a smell, and there was poop and urine everywhere - in a studio! with hardwoods! he had to refinish the floors, baseboards, and replace some of the walling even. It was a gruesome sight, and stink of course.
I have two cats, but also dog sit a lot. Both types of animals have smells, they are different smells, pet owners get used to the smells of animals they are around. My theory is that it's like people who wear a certain scnet all the time, they become "immune" to it, which is how some folks end up bathing in it, and gaggin the rest of us. I also had an ex who hated the way the car "smelled" after I returned from horseback riding every week. All types of animals have responsible owners and unfortunately, irresponsible :( sad for the creature too.
Good luck!

i moved into a place that smelled like cat pee. i don't have a cat.
when i moved out the property manager had changed- and they charged me $1,000 for cat pee damage.

@yourmama, but I hope you didn't pay them not one red cent.

A total deal breaker, that I had to learn about the hard way, has to do with the actual content of the lease. I will never ever rent an appartment from a landlord that requires you sign away your right to a Notice to Quit and Right to Cure. It is basically the part of a lease that requires landlords to inform you in writing that you have violated some part of the lease and you have 30 days to fix it or face an eviction proceeding. Its important to NEVER sign this away. I did and it caused me months of stress.

What happened is that I was so eager to find a reasonably affordable place in the Capitol Hill neighborhood in DC that I only skimmed the lease before signing. Fast forward ten months and I take a three week vacation to Italy and Tunisia. I paid my rent on time and everything, but two days after I got home from my trip I was served with a notice that I was being sued for eviction from my management company for unpaid rent. Obviously this was a mistake, I had paid; turns out that the management company just didn't credit my account with my rent. The certainly deposited the check though. Since I had waived my right to Notice, they didn't have to notify me that they had not received my rent or that they were planning on suing me. They were able to just do it out of the blue. It took almost two months and two court appearances to finally get the case dropped. All because of their accounting mistake and a lease that waived the tenants right to notice.

Ozium!

I rented a house in Santa Fe with a similar problem. Somehow the manager had disguised the cat or dog pee smell when I looked at the place; when I moved in the carpet stank! I complained but the owner was in Hawaii, needed approval and more delays. I figured what the heck and bought the Ozium liquid drops and dribbled all over the stinky areas. 20 minutes later...no smell!

If you can identify the location(s), get some Ozium liquid, mix some drops with rubbing alcohol, and sponge the liquid all over the flooring. I wouldn't use the spray Ozium, it's the liquid that is super concentrated. Give it a try; you'll only be out about $7 if it doesn't work.

Amanda, wow, what a beautiful apartment, I can understand why you wanted it. It's bigger than my entire 3 (piddly) bedroom house! (I hope you will post pics once you are fully settled in).

I am on dog breed-specific mailing list and so urine issues are often discussed (both canine & feline). I read many times from various folks that the only way to get rid of a nasty cat pee smell is to rip out all the flooring (including subfloor) and replace. Obleak1 confirms this.

I am glad to hear that hopefully there will be an end to your suffering in the near future and definitely ask for substantial rent decrease/reimbursement for what you had to live with for 2 months.

As far as pet smells go, I think it probably has something to do with whether you grew up with pets.

I didn't grow up with cats. I find that buildings and apartments with cats in them reek. I have never met an apartment with a cat in it that didn't smell funny to me. I find kitchens and bathrooms with litter boxes extremely offensive.

On the other hand, I grew up with dogs. Poorly cleaned houses with dogs smell to me, but a well-cleaned house or apartment building has no detectible dog odor to me.

yourmomma, I was afraid of that happening when I moved into a place with pre-existing odor, so I made sure it was on the lease as a pre-existing condition (along with the shredded window screens). When they sent me the lease copy to sign, it was missing! I made them do it over.

Landlords: the real reason people buy homes.

Cat pee smell and ex-smoker house are a deal breaker for me. My dad had a tenet's cat pee all over the house so badly that he had to remove the baseboards and the lower part of the drywall, rip up all carpet, seal the floor and studs, and then replace everything he'd ripped out. it was horrid.

i also will never ever live in another house with any sort of mold issue. ever. I had a base house with mold and even after we (finally) were allowed to move out, it took my son almost 2 years to recover from the health issues the house gave him. Never again!

For me there are some practical deal breakers - allows dogs, has a decent fenced garden, parking for a couple of cars; and some emotional deal breakers - smells of smoke, overlooked by neighbours, dark small rooms etc. Those are all livable with but would definitely put me off. The practical ones, we just couldn't even live with.

@chrisbean

I agree: windows. In college, I lived in an older apartment with horrible windows. They were impossible to clean, and I was constantly spraying bug deterrent on the outside to keep ants from attempting to come in. In the winter, we sometimes paid $300 per month to heat our apartment to 55-60 degrees. I live in MN. It gets COLD. The apartment was like 1,000 square feet. My parents live in a 5,000+ square foot home, and they paid less in heating than me.

On September 1, I am moving into another older apartment. I love them, because they have lots of character. There is a huge difference between this apartment and the one I had from college: brand new windows.

One thing I have learned to do when looking at a unit is to be extra aware of noise.

I previously lived in an apartment I really enjoyed that was cheap, attractive, energy-efficient, and in a great location.

Then the neighbors moved in above and it turned into a nightmare living situation. One of the neighbors was learning to drum and conveniently the set was right above my bed (a letter to the neighbors didn't work and the landlord said getting them to stop was my responsibility). Apparently the walls/ceiling were extremely thin as I could hear conversations through the ceiling, them using the restroom, and every other footstep sounded like the floorboards were snapping in half. When they had people over I would end up all night on occasion because they may as well have been throwing bowling balls on the floor.

If I ever look at a downstairs unit again and the upstairs unit is vacant, I think I will request if the landlord will walk around upstairs and let me listen. Otherwise, if I can stick around a bit while the neighbors are in.

INSULATION. I moved into a *beautiful* victorian home that had been turned into apartments. I had bay windows, ornate fireplaces, high ceilings and large square footage. It was a dream!

Then, winter came. The windows leaked heat so severely, my curtains were on a perpetual flutter and I ended up taping cardboard across them entirely to them to block out the cold. I had to move all my furniture closer to the interior of the room and the heat ducts and my gas bill was extreme because the furnance never cut off.

One week of being perpetually cold is bad enough. Imagine months of it. On the coldest night of the year, I broke down and checked into a hotel. Never again, I swore, would I live in a home older than 1975 (when modern insulation came to my neck of the woods).

I miss the architectural details of older homes, but not enough to freeze for it.

After a very traumatizing flood (while the landlady was in China for the summer and I was all alone!) I vowed I would never live in a basement again. I am on the third floor now, and every time it rains, I look out the window and thank g-d I am not still in the basement!

The day I moved into the apartment the place was a MESS! There was cat hair ALL over the place- so for the next week, instead of unpacking, I was cleaning and popping allergy medicine. My landlord promised he'd remove the couch (which is still in my hallway) that belonged to her, remove the wax off the floor (apparently lighting candles on the floor is cool?) and take care of the cat pee smell- Nothing has happened and I am so tempted to hire a professional mover to move the couch and take it off my rent...It's so unfortunate because the apartment itself it's stunning but the last tenant didn't appreciate the place.

To end the above dispute about cat v. dog rental policies, both pets of all sizes can be well maintained and not cause the slightest of issues with the property. The exact opposite can be said too. what makes the difference is the owner. Our building allows both and some of the apartments are kitty smelly bc of poor owners and others have dents in the wall bc of large dogs. In our unit, you'd never be able to tell we have cats if they didn't come to say hello and we have neighbors who can say the same of their 50+ pound dogs.

I had a cat pee apartment. The previous manager tried to fix it with refinishing the floors. That worked great, as all the hardwood I cut cut out made beautiful, freshly refinished garbage.

I cut out the hardwood. Then the soundproofing layer. I cut down to the shiplap that formed the floor and was still finding crystalized cat urine. It was then that I soaked it in some enzyme stuff to break it down. For good measure, I then soaked it in kilz. Ha dto cut the drywall up about a foot all around the dining area. Then to rebuild and then I could install new laminate flooring.

I love cats, but I dislike a lot of cat owners.

Catherine, just get a box of two of 20-mule team borax and shake a fine layer of it on everything - including your furniture - under the cushions. It is the active ingredient is stuff previously sold as Flea Busters and it dries out the flea eggs and larvae. Leave it in place for 10 days, vacuum well, and voila, you will be free of fleas.

Sleggo, the laws are state dependent. Usually if you lease or rental agreement says that your rent is $X for two people, he/she is limiting occupancy because a third person does indeed contribute to the wear and tear of the unit. Landlords do not want crash pads and this is one way, too of limiting the traffic, wear and tear and even noise from a unit. Nope, it's not usually illegal, and $100 for an additional person seems very reasonable to me. You'll rethink this in a few years when you consider property ownership.

Ditto what HeraHere said. $100 is totally legal and very reasonable.