Help! Just moved to a second floor condo and have a horrible smell in my ductwork that smells like my neighbor

Question

My condo is on the second floor with a "semi private" basement, meaning i go out my front door to the hall, down steps and then to my basement which is through a locked door. My heating system is loacted inthe basement and my cold air return system is simply in wall with no ductwork, just directed with the studs. My downstairs neighbor smells horrible and it appears that our cold air returns are on the same wall and I beleive are shared. I can smell him in the cold air return and when I turn on my heat his smell pours out of my vents. I have two questions. First, is it legal for a condo in Pennsylvania to share cold air returns? Second, please give me ideas of how to fix this problem!!! Is there something I can install at the furnace to filter out his smell? Also if the cold air return is between the studs, does that mean it should be open all the way to the basement which would allow me to drop my own ductowk in and route it directly to the basement? Please help!!!

Answer 1

I don't think sharing duct work is up to code. Call your city inspector. You could have a dead critter in the duct work too, like a mouse. One mouse can smell up a pretty good area. You can hire duct work cleaners. It is a good idea anyway as it gets rid of the years of accumulation of old dust and mites.