Apartment Cooking Odors
I know we have seen this all before but I am hit with a dilemma. One of our tenants constantly complains about another tenants cooking odors. We have spoken with the tenant to open windows while cooking and keeping the fans running. We have broken through walls to try and seal up spaces where the…
I know we have seen this all before but I am hit with a dilemma. One of our tenants constantly complains about another tenants cooking odors. We have spoken with the tenant to open windows while cooking and keeping the fans running. We have broken through walls to try and seal up spaces where the oders may be traveling. We have sealed up doorways leading to the hallways to try and prevent the oders from seaping out. Each aparment has their own central air ventilation system. So we feel the ventilation is not the problem. The building was built in the eary 1900’s and all the fireplaces are closed up. But all seems to have failed. The odors are nothing short of basil, parsley and or garlic/oil. There is no complaints of middle eastern spices which may be a bit stronger. Is a rent reduction in order? The tenants seem to feel this is in order.
Books in the hallway are a serious fire violation and probly do entitle you to a rent reduction….call 311. he will get fined.
Odors in the hallway from cooking don’t violate any rule.
A fish sotre in the building wold be awful- but cooking odors? C’mon! This is a city- Your tenant is out of line expecting you to do more than what you’ve already done. I could understand if they were complaining about awful odors- but your tenant thinks he lives in an antiseptic, sterile, hermetically sealed box. They need a reality check, not a rent reduction.
Keep good notes and records of your efforts to seal up any openings and otherwise address the smell issue. Keep contemporaneous notes of your conversations with the tenant and of your observations of any cooking odors or not when you enter the apartment. Just in case this goes legal on you.
My friend was living in a building and fish market opened under him in the commercial space, he was not given a rent reduction. He did move when his lease up, worse in the Summer than the Winter though he said!
After all of your efforts at odor reduction, one can only assume that the complaining tenant has a particularly acute sense of smell. That’s not your issue. No rent reduction is necessary.
Pregnancy test.
***Bid half off peak comps***
This is insane.. you have done more than enough in my opinion.
I appreciate all of your responses. I thought I was losing my mind. I rented for over 15 years and what I was up against was nothing as easy as cooking odors which are no where near cabbage and or fish.
maybe a rent reduction for the tenant who cooks if they start feeding you…
agree with pete – the tenant is a whiner. tell them to go buy their own place or stop whining. next!