Mendell Gosnell of Centurion Real Estate Management explains how to handle pests in rental properties. Landlords must deliver pest-free units, but tenants are responsible for keeping them that way. Professional extermination and clear tenant education at move-in prevent disputes over who pays for infestations.
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Hi, my name is Mendell Gosnell with Centurion Real Estate Management. Today I'd like to talk to you a little bit about, uh, how to deal with bugs and pests in your rental property. So the topic of bugs is one that comes up from time to time and certainly one that we deal with on a more frequent basis as your professional property management company. One of the biggest challenges in regards to bugs and pests comes in assessing who is responsible for taking care of these unwanted critters. At Centurion, we have a long-standing written office policy on how to assess and address these, especially educating the tenants at the beginning of the tenancy through the move-in process. The responsibility of the landlord or agent is to hand over a bug and pest-free dwelling at the time of occupancy, and it's the tenant's responsibility to maintain the dwelling in that condition. However, the problem usually arises sometime into the tenancy when the residents call stating that they have a huge sugar ant infestation in their kitchen. In theory, that's an easy one to resolve in that usually ants are attracted to a food source and the tenants are the one providing that food source. However, the tenants are not usually happy, thinking that it's your responsibility to exterminate those. Other problems arise when there's multiple dwelling units and it's more difficult to determine who or which tenant is responsible for attracting the unwanted critters. And sometimes it's just nature taking effect, for instance, bees or yellow jackets or termites. And so some of the main considerations that are important to understand are the health and safety concerns, the rights and responsibilities of both the landlord and the tenants, adhering to and being aware of and following the local and state statutes and laws, using extermination services, and proper follow-up. Here at Centurion, we strive very hard to balance taking care of the properties we manage and looking out for the best interests of our owners. And also striving to maintain happy tenants. So if you have further questions, give us a call today here at Centurion Real Estate Management, and thanks for watching. Happy investing!
