. Anyone who has this animal as a pet is used to them doing whatever they want, but what happened to a man in Finland has few precedents.
A homeowner found that his apartment it smelled very strongly after the tenant, who had resided in the two-bedroom home in the Finnish city of Tampere from December 2021 until the end of October of the following year, left, according to the media. .
When the owner returned to live in this property he noticed the smell, which turned out to be cat urine. Besides, He discovered that the house had moisture damage. This led to a heated dispute between the tenant and the landlord over who should bear the costs.
The country’s Consumer Disputes Board has investigated the matter to resolve the dispute. Thus, it has finally recommended that it be the tenant who pays the owner 7,381 euros in repair costs. The owner, for his part, had demanded 9,153 euros.
The inspection report presented to the board indicates that the apartment had a strong odor of cat urine. Thus, upon opening the floor covering, urine discoloration was observed between the vinyl plank and the plastic carpet, as well as damage to the underside of the wall panels in the hallway and laundry room.
The tenant indicated that, according to the measurements made in the apartment, no abnormal values of surface humidity were observed in the structures, so he believed that there was mold in the apartment for reasons beyond his control. However, research shows that the surface moisture caused by cat urine evaporated over time, but the damage it causes to structures, such as bad odor and fragility, is not repaired.
Finally, he concluded that the cause of the damage was the urine of the tenant’s pet, so he must take care of the occasional problems. Although the board’s conclusions are only recommendations, they are usually followed. “The owner has the right to compensation for the damage caused by repairing it,” he concluded.
