Tenant with Latex Allergies - Who Repaints?
Folks, question: my tenant just found out that her daughter has latex allergies. Her doctor advised her to repaint her apartment. She mentioned this to me twice and I have a hunch she’s angling to have me repaint the apartment for her (she’s on a limited income). Technically, who is responsible for this cost -…
Folks, question: my tenant just found out that her daughter has latex allergies. Her doctor advised her to repaint her apartment. She mentioned this to me twice and I have a hunch she’s angling to have me repaint the apartment for her (she’s on a limited income). Technically, who is responsible for this cost – the landlord or tenant? (The apartment was newly painted about a year and a half ago.)
Thanks
I know better than to expect gratitude when I point out nonsense, so that’s OK.
Maly – Thanks for that clarification (not!)
latex paint allergy? I have never heard of such a thing. People who have sensitivity to latex cannot wear latex gloves or latex garments but dry paint? I think this sounds very suspicious.
i had a friend that was renting an apartment and was supposedly allergic to VOCs in the paint and had constant headaches. He bought the VOC-free paint himself, paid a pro painter $1500 or so for the job, and still kept getting the headaches. If it pacifies your tenant and you want to retain the tenant, you can offer to be nice and paint it for her, but make her pay for the paint herself. I agree with above posters that her kid should be checked for other allergies.
Thanks, folks. I think I’m leaning toward Unprotected Wrecks’ interpretation: ie, that she’s just worried. I just wanted to field this out there to you guys in case she did ask (then at least I’d have an intelligent answer and understand my legal responsibilities).
arkady, there is no latex in modern, conventional house paints. Your relative might have a severe latex allergy, but that’s not what she is reacting to if she is sensitive to fresh paint.
Honestly, what you said makes as much sense as “my relative is very allergic to strawberries, so when I cook green beans she can’t come over to dinner.”
I, too, have a family member w/ severe latex allergy. She has to stay away for a week after a room is painted but is fine after that. I doubt it’s the problem, too. The kid goes to doctor’s offices, pre-school maybe – latex there as well.
It’s very, very unlikely there is actual latex in your “latex” paint. Most likely, it contains synthetic polymer resin as a base, which has now dried completely and is inert. Some brands still say “latex paint” instead of acrylic paint on the outside of the can, but unless you used a time-machine to buy house paint, latex is a misnomer.
So if her child has latex allergies, the paint is not and never was a concern. She might want to avoid latex gloves, which can contain latex (a natural rubber), and also change doctor, who sounds like a throwback to the 50’s.
I would imagine that 90% of all interior spaces are painted with latex paint.