Current owners of our new house (under contract) have stopped picking up after their dog.

[Anonymous]

We've visited the property 3 times. Twice before we put in a contract and once during the home inspection. I have 2 small children and was really looking forward to the backyard. It was always spotless. The current owners were kind enough to allow us to visit the exterior of the property with contractors to get estimates for work that will be underway when we close the first week in July. I just went last week with a patio guy and the entire back yard is covered in shit. I mean, I stepped in it, the patio guy...it was nasty.

I don't have a dog. I like dogs, but I don't want my kids playing in their feces. My question is this: I know they are allowed to do whatever they want until closing. After that, we can pick up the poop, but is there something else that needs to be done before I allow my 3 year-old to run barefoot and my 11 month-old to crawl around?? I am so grossed out.

[Anonymous]

Nah, just pickup the shit and hopefully a good rain will get rid of the rest.

[Anonymous]

Talk to your closing attorney or realtor and have them communicate this to their closing attorney or realtor. Go the route of 'ask nicely' first.

Legally, I'm no lawyer, but you can't destroy a house between contract and settlement and expect no ramifications. The home inspection should clearly outline the state of the backyard; if it has changed, then I'm pretty sure you can require them to fix it before closing. But that's why I recommend going through your closing attorney (although the realtor route might be better in order to reach their realtor). The realtors want their $$$...they are more motivated to make sure closing happens quickly, without an 'incident'.

[Anonymous]

bring a small shovel, scoop up any you see. You may get lucky as PP said the rain will deal with it. If it's dry, have a lawn service meet you there day of closing and ask them bag the clippings.

This is sort of a bummer but in a way at least you have the heads up about it. Most people don't allow people to come with contractors.

This will resolve itself quickly once they have moved out. Enjoy your new house.

[Anonymous]

You can get a quote from a cleaning or landscaping group on what it would cost to clean up. Your real estate attorney should be able to require them to pay for this. The day before closing the buyer usually does a walk through to verify that everything was in the same order as when they signed the contract.

[Anonymous]

OMG. You are too much. How do you know that the owners aren't peeing (or worse) in the shower of the house right now? Just pick up the poop when you move in. FFS,y our dc will not be playing in feces, anymore than they do at a public park.

[Anonymous]

13:37 is right, it's a bummer, but they are letting you start work pre-closing, so I'd let that cancel out. They may well clean it up beforehand on their own.

[Anonymous]

if you do want to play hardball, ask nicely, just be prepared for pushback that is seemingly irrational.

[Anonymous]

you can't destroy a house between contract and settlement and expect no ramifications.

Not cleaning up poop from the yard is so far from "destroying the house" as to be ridiculous. The contract requires the house itself to be broom clean and free of all trash and debris but says nothing about the yard. Just pick it up yourself after you move in or hire a poop-scooping service for the day after closing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG. You are too much. How do you know that the owners aren't peeing (or worse) in the shower of the house right now? Just pick up the poop when you move in. FFS,y our dc will not be playing in feces, anymore than they do at a public park.

Not all of us have or like dogs. I don't make you wipe my babies' butts. You don't make me pick up your dog's lawn presents. That's the deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

you can't destroy a house between contract and settlement and expect no ramifications.

Not cleaning up poop from the yard is so far from "destroying the house" as to be ridiculous. The contract requires the house itself to be broom clean and free of all trash and debris but says nothing about the yard. Just pick it up yourself after you move in or hire a poop-scooping service for the day after closing.

this. I used to be a closing attorney (embarrassingly enough, but in hindsight it was a pretty easy job). If someone complained about dog shit in the backyard and actually wanted to adjust the purchase price, they would have been laughed out of the room.

[Anonymous]

I would probably just mention it on the final walk through. Your agent can ask their agent if they are planning to remove. Hopefully they will. If not, I wouldn't push it - I'd just call one of the services to come out and clean it up.

[Anonymous]

Maybe its a huge raccoon pooping everywhere?

[Anonymous]

I agree about getting an estimate for a clean up, and if its still bad when you do your walk through have your agent get them to put the cost of the clean up in escrow to be paid when it is done. We did something like this when we bought our house because it wasn't broom clean - there was a lot of junk and other stuff left behind, and we didn't want to deal with it, so our agent got the seller to put money is escrow to pay for one of those junk hauler companies to clean it out later that day.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I don't want to ask them to do anything, I feel like the damage (or mess) is done. I know it may seem like a weird question, but is the yard "contaminated" in a way that rain won't fix? I swear I'm not crazy about cleanliness, but fecal bacteria is no joke. How long it live on a surface? I'm going to google this. I mean, would you scoop up a pile of dog shit and then immediately set your baby down in that spot? See my point here?