Pet Deposit for Damages

By Eperry

I had a rent to own type lease.  Each month an additional $200 went toward the closing costs.  I had to terminate my lease early.  My landloard kept my security deposit, pet deposit, and closing cost monies.  They also demanded two months of rent to terminate the lease.  I basically gave up over $10,000 to break the lease.  The break out was this: (Closing Costs: $3200, Security Deposit: $2200, Pet Deposit: $750, Two Months of Rent for termination: $4400.)

My pet was a cat and there was a urine smell in the utility room, in one corner, where his litter box had been.  Prior to move out, we had a walk-thru with the landlords representatives and realtor (the landlord could not be present).  There were only a few things we had to do such as change out light bulbs, some painting, and getting the carpets cleaned.  All this was put in writing via E-mail and agreed upon.  The landlords representative did notice the cat smell and said that they said that they had an ionizer that they would bring in to get rid of the odor.  Meanwhile I did everything on their list from the walk-thru. Also, I had the room cleaned and bleached to rid the pet smell.  I even had the carpets deordorized for good measurement.  When we left the house, there was no pet smells. (Even the carpet cleaning crew agreeded the smell was gone.)  A few days after we vacated the house, we got a call from the landlord saying their reps are telling them there is still a smell and wanted to know how we would like to handle paying for the damages.   

My question is, if there is indeed a smell left, why should I have to pay for damages?  Isn’t this what the Pet deposit was for?  We did everything they demanded we do from the walk-thru.  Can they come back afterwards and demand we do more? 

Related posts:

Holy Cow, we couldn't find any other related post. Sorry. :(