Minor “pest” problem… Tenant pays or Landlord…

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August 28, 2012 at 7:49 AM #20087

Coronita
Participant

Hypothetical situation… If there are some ants inside a home, do you folks expect the landlord to deal with it or the tenant?

Keep in mind that
1) There is no other “pest infestation”
2) The home had no ant problem prior to tenant moving in
3) The is a clause in the rental lease agreement that says tenant to pay first $70 of all repairs and service calls.

Me thinks tenant is SOL, and anything landlord does is at goodwill. Then again, to keep a tenant happy, might not be worth arguing over.

August 28, 2012 at 7:59 AM #750793

UCGal
Participant

I would go for the goodwill, in a low-end way.

Buy a bunch of those ant traps and offer them up to the tenant.

Explain that surfaces must be kept super clean, and that water must not be left dripping… Explain that the onus is on the tenant to prevent ant infiltration.

August 28, 2012 at 8:01 AM #750794

SD Realtor
Participant

It is a tough call. As a landlord I have played it both ways. I do have provisions in my leases that discuss different scenarios. For the most part I have told the tenant that if it is not identified at the time of their pre occupancy inspection then I will not cover it. If the property has a pre-existing condition, for instance, alot of homes have water ants that can be problematic on a seasonal basis, I do tell them that up front and that they need to be aware of it and deal with it.

I also apply what you said, hey if it is a good tenant and goodwill is kept by ponying up a few hundred to deal with the problem professionally I take care of it or maybe offer to split it or something like that.

August 28, 2012 at 8:06 AM #750796

Hobie
Participant

Drop a bag of granulated ant control and a hose end ant killer on his doorstep. Tenant sprays and rings outside perimeter of home with granules. Let him know this is saving him $70 for a service and will only cost you $40. Chalk it up to a happy tenant. After all you don’t want a stain in the living room carpet when he moves out 😉

We live on an anthill and this method keeps them at bay for me.

August 28, 2012 at 8:23 AM #750797

Coronita
Participant

Forgot to add.

The outside permiter is sprayed monthly by the hoa. Still if the inside gets ants, it could be all sorts of things.

I initially insisted it was their complete responsibility, but then I said for this one time I would be willing to split it as good will.

I was just curious what other folks do.. My concern is that once I open the door for this, then any ant issue they have, they’ll keep calling me and calling me…

August 28, 2012 at 10:49 AM #750803

Doofrat
Participant

I’m a tenant, and I wouldn’t think to ask the landlord to take care of an ant problem.
Had an ant issue a few years back, just got about 7 of those Terro liquid baits on the advice of a co-worker and placed them on the counters for a few days. The ants swarmed them which was kinda’ gross, but a few days later, they were all dead and I haven’t had an issue since.

August 28, 2012 at 11:08 AM #750805

Coronita
Participant

Thanks for the feedback so far. An alternative option, i guess is tenant’s 6 month lease is up, and I’m charging about $100-200/month less than market rate right now (depending on rental duration). I’m thinking about allowing the tenant to continue month-to-month with the same rent, under the same lease terms…I have a feeling the person will try to get the $70/service call removed and to include pest control.. I guess if he really wants that, I can just make him sign a new lease contract and raise the rent by $70/month. I’m sure I won’t have any issues finding another tenant for at minimum $100 more than I charge now, because I already had a few folks bite when I did a test post on craigslist. Next time, I’ll make the person sign a 1 year lease and be more explicit about ant control is tenant’s responsibility. It’s not my first choice to have the tenant move out, but then again I feel I’m being more than reasonable.

August 28, 2012 at 11:59 AM #750806

Diego Mamani
Participant

[quote=flu]
3) The[re] is a clause in the rental lease agreement that says tenant to pay first $70 of all repairs and service calls.[/quote]
A problem with this clause is that it gives the tenant an incentive not to report problems unless they are urgent. As a landlord, you actually want every minor issue to be fixed before they become larger and costlier to fix. I’m a landlord too, BTW.

[quote=flu]Me thinks tenant is SOL, and anything landlord does is at goodwill.[/quote]
What is SOL? I’ve searched online using ‘tenant,’ ‘landlord,’ etc., as keywords but no luck.

[quote=flu]Then again, to keep a tenant happy, might not be worth arguing over.[/quote]
If the tenant pays rent on time, and appears to keep the house generally clean and in good shape, then I’d just buy plenty of ant bait stations and deploy them myself. Good tenants deserve to be treated accordingly.

August 28, 2012 at 12:14 PM #750808

NotCranky
Participant

I am would be reluctant to do unilateral poison treatments. People have very different (mostly emotional) reactions to this stuff. I would consider their feeling about poisons…and the risk of them squawking about it.

Mostly, I agree with what UC gal said, but with the tenant agreeing to any toxic remedy, if needed. From the start of the first episode, I would be nudging the tenant towards not bothering me about average seasonal occurrences of ants or other bugs.As someone else said, I would never ask a landlord to deal with average ant problems.

August 28, 2012 at 12:45 PM #750809

UCGal
Participant

[quote=Diego Mamani]
What is SOL? I’ve searched online using ‘tenant,’ ‘landlord,’ etc., as keywords but no luck.
[/quote]
SOL – sh** outta luck.

Or in cleaner terms – Sadly out of luck.
Or in a different context – statute of limitations.

But, given the context, I’d go with Sh** outta luck.

August 28, 2012 at 2:02 PM #750812

Diego Mamani
Participant

Thank you UCGal!

If the tenant is dirty and has food leftovers all over the house (attracting pests), then the one who is SOL is the landlord… Same thing if the tenant will keep quiet and not report minor breakdowns/problems to avoid having to shell out the 70 bucks.

August 28, 2012 at 4:27 PM #750814

briansd1
Guest

What about roaches? Some apartment/combo building have them because not all residents are clean?

Ants are seasonal in San Diego, but roaches can be a problem in the older areas.

Btw, I agree with UCGal’s suggestion to buy the tenant some ant traps.

August 28, 2012 at 9:11 PM #750832

Coronita
Participant

[quote=briansd1]What about roaches? Some apartment/combo building have them because not all residents are clean?

Ants are seasonal in San Diego, but roaches can be a problem in the older areas.

Btw, I agree with UCGal’s suggestion to buy the tenant some ant traps.[/quote]

I think I draw the line with anything larger than ants and tiny spiders. I think with roaches/beetles, that’s a problem I think a landlord needs to take care of.

The thing with ants is that, for example. I have ants in my own house. And while part of it might be it just happens, it’s also easy to get ants inside the house. Just leave your floors wet on a hot day for a little bit…Ants go after the water.

August 28, 2012 at 9:17 PM #750833

Coronita
Participant

[quote=Diego Mamani]Thank you UCGal!

If the tenant is dirty and has food leftovers all over the house (attracting pests), then the one who is SOL is the landlord… Same thing if the tenant will keep quiet and not report minor breakdowns/problems to avoid having to shell out the 70 bucks.[/quote]

That’s were docing the security deposit comes to place.

My tenant reports everything, For things like appliance breakage/water leaks due to things just breaking, I don’t doc the $70 if I think it’s reasonable it just broke.

However, I’m trying to discourage really petty stuff.. Like if a light bulb goes out or a battery needs to be replaced on a smoke detector. Or other stupid shit like a towel bar screw is loose.

I’m just was wondering if “ants” is more of the tenant’s responsbility than the landlord.

August 30, 2012 at 11:19 AM #750919

Diego Mamani
Participant

[quote=flu][quote=Diego Mamani]Thank you UCGal!

If the tenant is dirty and has food leftovers all over the house (attracting pests), then the one who is SOL is the landlord… Same thing if the tenant will keep quiet and not report minor breakdowns/problems to avoid having to shell out the 70 bucks.[/quote]

That’s were docing the security deposit comes to place.

My tenant reports everything, For things like appliance breakage/water leaks due to things just breaking, I don’t doc the $70 if I think it’s reasonable it just broke.[/quote]

That’s a good strategy; if the tenant knows it won’t cost him a dime to report problems that are due to normal wear and tear, then that’s fine. But the way you described the lease clause at the beginning made me think otherwise.

[quote=flu]I’m just was wondering if “ants” is more of the tenant’s responsbility than the landlord.[/quote]
This is tricky b/c ants could be due to the tenants’ being filthy or careless with water, or just a seasonal thing. I had ants as a tenant, and I think I kept the house clean enough not to encourage them to move in. Anyways, I didn’t call the landlord, I took care of it myself. Also, once the kitchen faucet system broke and I just fixed it myself–the landlord, who is the accidental type, is a FB and I got a sweet below-market rent, so I was happy to do so.
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