Question by Susan C:
Can I make a problem tenant pay for their own exterminations?
One of the two families that lives in my 2-unit house keeps having vermin issues. They have had bedbugs three times, and now they are complaining of mice and drain flies.
The house was bug free when they moved in. Drain flies and mice generally come from poor housekeeping.
I’ve had the house exterminated twice for bedbugs.
The other tenant has not had any bug/rodents in her place after the first extermination, and the basement is bug free.
Do I have to keep paying for bugs and rodents brought in by tenants?
Best answer:
Answer by ranger_co_1_75
In my state, the law is clear on this issue. I have to keep paying extermination fees as long as they keep having problems.
If they are habitual carriers of pest, you only have one recourse and that is to give them a 30 day no cause eviction.
Most likely they are purchasing things from a charity organization like good will, which is crawling with house hold pest. They ride inside the chair, couch, curtains, clothing or toaster to your house and re-infest it.
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I’m a tenant. You might be able to get the Health & Safety people to do an inspection. They can tell whether the problems are because of your tenants’ poor housekeeping or not. If your other tenants are in the same building and don’t have the problems, that would argue in your favor. But I have to say I’m surprised, because once mice get in, they get into the whole building usually.
I’ve had mice and sometimes bugs in the apartments I’ve rented, and it was never from poor housekeeping on my part. Sometimes it’s because the house or building is poorly constructed, so they get in easily. Landlords shrug their shoulders and say, “We’re in the country, what can you do?” Or, “This is the big city, people living close together, what can you do?” Come on. Tenants don’t bring animals in; they GET in. Fill in holes and gaps where they can get in. Make sure the drains are unclogged and drain properly.
I’ve never had bedbugs, but I’ve read that getting rid of them is quite a process. It’s not just exterminating. The tenants need to sterilize everything, all the bedding, the drapes, the furniture. Unless your apartment is furnished, I imagine the tenants did bring bedbugs in.
I have never even heard of a drain fly.
I am in CA, I am required to exterminate the exterior every 2 months if there is a problem. I have a few properties with yellow jacket problems in the summer.
I do not rent to slobs (I try to check out applicants cars to prevent this), so I have never had as much as a single roach.
Bed bugs are personal insects, they infest people, not places. They are apparently sleeping elsewhere and bringing bugs home. The same goes for the mice, no one has them without feeding them. However, they can cause serious damage to your property, you might want to install those bait traps around the outside of the house and in the attic and crawl spaces.
I can’t help with the flies, I have not even heard of these.