Addressing Odor Issue

My fellow trustees and I are receiving complaints from owners in our building about an unpleasant odor people experience when they enter into the main hallway of the building. It is assumed the odor is coming from a unit on the first floor near the hallway entrance. The odor is also noticeable from the back hallway but to a lesser extent. This owner has a self described “incontinent” dog and having seen inside her unit its clear cleanliness is issue.

I am checking to see if anyone has any good suggestions on how to communicate this issue effectively. My goal is to be respectful to the owner but at the same time motivate her take action to rectify the problem. As trustees we’ve installed room deodorizers in the hallway to try to address the problem but it’s just not enough.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

A deodorizer in the hall has no chance of fixing smell coming from feces in the room. It just won't happen. You would need to actively filter out the smell and it will be a losing proposition at best.

In the meantime, I would agree (without using such crass language) that you should get the health department, animal welfare, whoever involved in this issue.

Graig,
At five in the morning this post reads like a lost soul wandering in the circles.
The problem for you is the odor. I have to assume this is a condo. Your responsibility as a Board member is to the association. First foremost and in most cases........totally.
I am sure your documents refer to entry into any unit in your complex by the Board to insure safety, etc, etc, etc.

You probably have an absolute right to schedule an appointment to investigate this matter. You don't really know where the odor is coming from until you see for yourselve. As the Board you can order corrective actions, and if no response make corrective actions.

But do it. Try to get a neutral party such as social services to go with you but not to assist her but to cover your butt. Make a paper trail. Does anyone know this owners history or relatives? Again, your job is not to help her, it is to protect the property and abide by your documents. Then and only then should you be concerned about this owners status.

You have to be careful, but if you have valid written complains about any problem, attend to the problem first, then be a humanitarian.

No matter who you get involved, the Board is probably the only entity with the written authorized documents to schedule an inspection inside the unit. Keep in mind that since the board is involved now, anyone that comes on the association property and with your knowledge, you better accompany these people. That property is the association responsibility. Follow this through and keep records. I am damn near 80 and I have seen what age will do, I have seen exactly this situation and cleaned up some of the mess, it is not fun, it just has to be done.

The homeowner cannot recognize the smell.

If he/she is living in the unit, and it is an odor that permeates that far, then his/her sense of smell is either compromised or he/she is so used to it that he/she can't identify it.

Frankly, there is no "delicate" way to approach an odor problem of this magnitude. One can be "polite," but you just can't cushion the blow of "Hey, you stink!"

The advice to get the health department and/or animal services involved will probably be to your benefit, since, as Robert says, you will have some buffer of protection there.

But something must be done. Odors like that can get "permanent" after a while, if you know what I mean!

Plus, it's just probably not sanitary for the homeowner.

Hm.

Then maybe the Health Department isn't it.

Maybe Adult Protective Services? Report you think there's a dead body in there?

PS: I'm going to go take a shower now. . . .

Good suggestion Michelle! Adult protective services; and the shower sounds good too.

We did contact Elder Protective Services about a suspected abuse case. They made a beeline to the owner's home. She wouldn't let them in, so they returned with a Sheriff Deputy.

I don't think I'm expecting APS to "enforce" anything.

But they clearly need to be in the loop on this person.

The simple act of them showing up at the door to investigate an "odor" and determine the status of the occupant is a good start.