How to convey a message that will convince an unknown person to not urinate next to my garage door?

Question

Background

My wife and I rent an apartment and a garage. The garage is on an underground parking underneath the building in which we live.

The garage has a metal door which we lock with a key. The underground parking has a lot of parking slots as well as garages like the one we use.

Now, what is frustrating to us is that there is someone who often urinates just next to our garage door. There is also a car in the slot next to ours, but its owner seldom uses it (it's covered in dust), so it is improbable they would ever notice this.

The parking is always cold, being underground, and so it's always wet and smelly. This behaviour happens often, but we've never caught whoever is doing it. Last Friday we went to the parking right after it had happened and found it very gross. Obviously, something should be done to deal with it!

We're convinced the offender is someone who lives in our building as the parking is only accessible with a key or a remote control.

But we're not sure how to approach this and get results. We can contact the owner of our apartment but he doesn't live here, and we wouldn't want to bother him with something like this. There are also no cameras in the parking.

We were thinking of printing several notes and sticking them in the parking as well as in common areas like the building lobby and the elevator, but we can't think of a text that wouldn't come off as passive-aggressive and thus would cause the offender to continue.

Question

If we were to communicate with this person through a note we print, what should we say to them, so we encourage them to stop what they're doing?

Or, can you suggest an alternative approach to pass the offender the message they can't continue urinating right next to our door?

My location is Bulgaria. The described behaviour is not considered OK here.

Answer 1

Bring it up with the owner/landlord.

You are trying to communicate with the wrong party.

Sometimes, the best solution is not to pick a fight yourself, especially because this is not your fight. Walk away, let the person who is responsible for the building handle it. You do not have the authority to install security cameras yourself, not in shared spaces at least. Neither is it your responsibility to discuss this with other tenants.

Its also not your responsibility to educate anyone. If this really is done by another tenant, leaving a note will likely either have no effect whatsoever (because you do not have the authority to tell anybody what to do) or outright start a fight.

You also do not know for sure if it is another tenant, an animal, or a homeless person (yes, they get in, even in locked spaces). So don't throw around accusation you have no proof for.

So bring it up with your landlord. Mention the smell and possibly other things. Take pictures, and make notes every time this happens. Collect your evidence to present it to your landlord and make it clear that you want him to remedy this situation. Let the landlord form his own hypothesis as to what causes this and how he wants to approach the situation. people are more likely to help you if you not only present a problem, but also a potential solution - so feel free to mention security cameras (even only fake ones) as one possibility.

I am not sure what Bulgarian renter rights are. If your landlord does not remedy the situation, that is another question, but it might not be an interpersonal one, but a legal one. Deducting rent is the way to go in Germany if the landlord does not cooperate, I do not know about Bulgarian renter rights, so possibly read up on that to find out what ways you have to make your landlord help you if he doesn't want to do so voluntarily (or, if you can't, either revisit this site or Law.SE).

Do not fight fire with fire. Publicly shaming anybody is not the right way to deal with this (no, you do not make a YouTube channel about it), revenge is not the right way to deal with it (no, do not try to find out who does this and pee in his garage) and neither is putting up other substances.

Do not use childish or petty behavior. Stay classy.

Answer 2

I would try the low tech route first. Place a poster with eyes on it at the spot, and see what happens.

A group of scientists at Newcastle University, headed by Melissa Bateson and Daniel Nettle of the Center for Behavior and Evolution, conducted a field experiment demonstrating that merely hanging up posters of staring human eyes is enough to significantly change people’s behavior.

A poster with eyes seems to say "I am watching you." It may not be the most direct method, but it is a method of communicating with someone you don't know and don't know how to find.

Answer 3

Asking your landlord about hydrophobic paint may be an option, depending on the shape/angle of things.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/27/walls-that-pee-back-people-urinate-in-public

As mentioned in the article linked above, hydrophobic paint is a bit of an expensive option, but it can be effective in certain situations.

Regarding notes or signs, I think the graphic options espoused by the article are a good idea for a few reasons. (This is the part of the answer where I finally get into the "interpersonal" part of the solution -- with apologies for not doing so earlier.) Some advantages of a graphic:

• It avoids the pitfalls of using words, then accidentally getting the tone wrong or sounding like you're blaming a specific person
• It is more universally understandable. A graphic of a wall back-splashing on someone is understandable even by a person who cannot read or does not understand the main language in an area
• It can inject a bit of humor into the situation

Answer 4

You say it happens near an abandoned garage right next to you; it leads me to believe they might be selecting that place as a target because it is apparent that no one uses it.

It might pay off cleaning the entry of your neighbour, and disguise it is not being used to see if they continue to do it on the same spot.

I would also investigate if there is a small hole, a loose window, if there are ways to pick the lock, or if someone lost the garage remote control.

A consistent pattern of urinating seems more consistent with a homeless person [or dog] sleeping there, especially because a neighbour knows he can do the deed at home in a minute.

Answer 5

Edit: This answer specifically addresses the "Or, can you suggest an alternative approach to pass the offender the message they can't continue urinating right next to our door?" part of the original question. Especially considering that they have never even seen the offender, have no idea if the offender is a resident, a homeless person, or even a person at all, a note alone is unlikely to have any effect.

The message is don't stand around and pee here, and it's delivered by cayenne pepper being unpleasant if you're close enough to the wall to urinate.

First, try and clean up any urine from the area. Soap and water, vinegar, maybe even a 10% bleach solution after should get it smelling like something other than urine.

• Try sprinkling cayenne powder all around the area, even on the wall at a person's nose level. Maybe mixed with a little water to make a "paste" or "paint" to stick to the wall.

  • If it's an animal, they hopefully won't want to be around all the cayenne and will leave.

  • If it's a person, they'll see that you've cleaned the area and you care, and will know that you're doing something about the urination. They could smell the cayenne too and leave, especially if they get close enough to the wall or lean on it, especially if they're drunk then smelling cayenne &/or getting it on themselves (while leaning) might be the only thing they'll actually notice.

Optionally adding a brief note saying "Please don't pee here" may help or may just antagonize the offender into worse behavior. A note with "Do Not Step on Powder" (optionally with "Caution:") might scare them into staying away or might get you in trouble too. But if it's an animal, notes will have no effect. If the cleaning and powder alone doesn't work, try a note later anyway.

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I think installing a security camera and light (a great answer IMO, I upvoted Wizard79's answer) is the best answer, at least to find out who/what's really responsible, but trying this "scent deterrent" should be an easier, cheaper, and faster idea.