The unlucky phew

Tales are abundant of landlords who never get around to fixing that leaky faucet or who won't come to the phone about the furnace shutting off in the dead of winter. But Ian Lopez has a problem he'll match to anyone's: a skunk that has taken up residence in his living room wall.

It is not a laughing matter, he says; it's ruining his life.

The reek of regular spraying, which began Feb. 22, has permeated everything in his apartment, says Lopez, 32. His clothes stink. His friends refuse to visit. He wonders if it will jeopardize efforts to reconcile with his former wife.

His landlord's response? A so-far unsuccessful attempt to trap the animal, Lopez said, and cans of Country Garden aerosol deodorizer and Crisp Breeze disk air fresheners.

''Imagine thinking that you have a faint smell of something on you every time you go somewhere," said Lopez, who sniffs his clothes every few minutes to check for stink. ''It's never going to stop."

The landlord, Greater Boston Properties of Roxbury, says it is going by the book to handle the situation at 12 Fisher Ave. in Roxbury, a six-family building. But Lopez got so fed up he took the company to housing court. He wants the skunk out of his apartment, and in the meantime he wants the landlords to provide alternative living space for him and his 5-year-old daughter, who lives with him part time.

''I think he needs to pay some type of rent," Lopez said.

Things turned especially foul a few weeks ago during a Madden football video game tournament with his buddies. They were in his living room when they heard a knocking sound coming from the wall. Then it came, the pungent odor of a skunk, and sent everyone scampering for the exit.

''They just put the joysticks down and got their coats," Lopez said. ''I left with them. When you're actually sitting in the actual smell, it's overwhelming."

Lopez says his friends won't come over anymore. He has developed an ear infection and bloody nose and has had to miss days of work at Children's Hospital. He blames it all on the skunk. He's so worried about the effects of the stink that he takes his daughter, who has asthma, to his mother's house every weekend.

A specialist assigned by the housing court was scheduled to visit the apartment to assess whether it is habitable, and Lopez is to return to court tomorrow, when a judge will rule on the case.

Officials at Greater Boston Properties of Roxbury said they have done all they can do.

''We proceeded to exterminate with industry standards that I have since confirmed with two other companies," Scott D. Wolf, the company president, wrote in a statement. ''Our staff also deodorized as necessary and took other measures as instructed by the exterminator."

Paul Fougere -- owner of Absolut Pest Control of Amesbury, hired by the landlord to take care of the problem -- said skunks are common, often crawling into houses and cellars all around Boston. Fougere said that all exterminators can do is set a trap baited with cat food, wait for the skunk to get caught, and remove it.

''They are conscious animals: They feel pain; they feel fear," he said, adding that capturing a skunk can take time.

A worker with Absolut, who declined to give his name, came to the property at about noon Tuesday and moved the trap, a rectangular metal cage covered in a pink pillowcase, so that it was in front of a hole beside the porch steps. He said someone from the company checks it every day.

Other tenants in the building have received a letter from the management company.

''Maintenance has left odor eliminators in each unit in an effort to reduce the smell while actively pursuing the skunk," according to the letter, signed by Becky Petitt, the property manager. ''I thank you for your patience while trying to capture this animal."

But the tenants are sick of the stench and the amount of time it's taking the landlord to fix it.

In an upstairs apartment, Rosa Arroyo, 27, has lighted candles, sprayed her carpets with air fresheners, opened windows, and left her forced-air heating system on to combat the smell. Nothing is strong enough, she said. So she and her 14-month-old son have been spending a lot of time with her mother in Brookline.

''Some of his food I have to throw away because it smells just like skunk," Arroyo said. ''If the situation is not resolved, I will have to leave. I have a son I have to think about, and it's not healthy for him to be in this environment."

Lopez, who has lived in the apartment for about two years, said he wants out, too. His lease is up in June, and he's looking to buy a house and reunite his family.

''All I want to do is be comfortable," he said.

Russell Nichols can be reached at rnichols@globe.com.