Greetings,

I have put down a deposit (lease not yet signed, until tomorrow, hopefully) on an apartment in a large complex.

My move in day is scheduled for tomorrow. I still have not actually seen the apartment that I am moving into. I chose by floor plan, building location, view, etc.

Today, I went to see if I could take a peek but they said that the apartment is still not ready and that "they are removing the pet odor".

I somewhat got worried. I really want a clean smelling place!

Should I be concerned? Will they use bad chemicals etc? If it smells okay tomorrow, could it just be a temporary cover up?
Will the smell be gone period?

I wonder...

I would be concerned since "pet odor" can be many things. If this is cat urine in carpet there will be no perfect fix short of recarpeting, including padding. Do not sign the lease until you have inspected the property thoroughly and not just for odors.

Well, on the one hand, they are making an effort to present you with a clean smelling unit. So that should make you feel good.

But ball is right, don't sign the lease or sign it but have an addendum that says pending inspection of the premises. This gives you an out if there is a problem with the unit.

Thanks for your help! I inspected the unit yesterday and if they hadn't mentioned the pet odor issue, I would have never known honestly.

I opened the door and there was a citrus smell of cleanliness throughout the apt.
I signed the lease but while moving in I notices some other issues, like rust stains in the sink and toilet that I want to bring up today. I am hoping that they will fix this, now that I have already signed.

Good luck

I thought that it would be nice to inform everyone of what happened here:

Day 1 & Day 2 in the apartment, smelled great and 'orangy'.

Day 3, the orange smell went away and the entire apartment was left with a terrible odor or wet dog, very bad. I had some friends over and every one of them couldn't stop mentioning how bad it smelled.

I was lucky and got switched to a newly remodeled unit. But for all those moving into a new apartment, BEWARE, ask if there were pets before, and if there were pets, be sure to wait a few days after the shampooing of the carpet to determine whether its worth moving into!

That's why I said good luck. I suspected after a few days the ordr might become apparent. I'm glad they moved you.