Responsibility for bed bugs

[TenaciousSD]

[quote=EconProf]But, as another poster pointed out, there is no proof as to how the bed bugs got here in the first place. That is my ultimate defense if this gets in front of a judge.[/quote]

I’d recommend getting a 3rd party company (like San Diego Pest) for treating bedbugs. I’d also recommend asking the prospective tenant (before they move in) to sign a bedbug addendum saying that they’ve checked the apartment for bedbugs.

If down the road there is a bed bug issue, have the bedbug issue taken care of and bill the resident. If they argue that its your fault/responsibility, you can point to the fact that they themselves signed a document saying there were no bedbugs present when they moved in. The hope is – this is the end of the story.

What happens if you get pulled into court? Lets say the resident sues you for damages to their property. The burden of proof is on them to show that you the introduced the bedbugs – which is very difficult. They could have been on their moving truck, on the used furniture they bought on craigslist, or on something they bought at the flea market. Its very difficult to pin down the source.

[outtamojo]

[quote=TenaciousSD][quote=EconProf]But, as another poster pointed out, there is no proof as to how the bed bugs got here in the first place. That is my ultimate defense if this gets in front of a judge.[/quote]

I’d recommend getting a 3rd party company (like San Diego Pest) for treating bedbugs. I’d also recommend asking the prospective tenant (before they move in) to sign a bedbug addendum saying that they’ve checked the apartment for bedbugs.

If down the road there is a bed bug issue, have the bedbug issue taken care of and bill the resident. If they argue that its your fault/responsibility, you can point to the fact that they themselves signed a document saying there were no bedbugs present when they moved in. The hope is – this is the end of the story.

What happens if you get pulled into court? Lets say the resident sues you for damages to their property. The burden of proof is on them to show that you the introduced the bedbugs – which is very difficult. They could have been on their moving truck, on the used furniture they bought on craigslist, or on something they bought at the flea market. Its very difficult to pin down the source.[/quote]

A piece of paper saying there are no bedbugs would carry more weight imo if it was signed by someone who actually knows how to look for bedbugs. I would get the place certified bedbug free by a pest company rather than Joe tenant.

[TenaciousSD]

[quote=outtamojo][quote=TenaciousSD][quote=EconProf]But, as another poster pointed out, there is no proof as to how the bed bugs got here in the first place. That is my ultimate defense if this gets in front of a judge.[/quote]

I’d recommend getting a 3rd party company (like San Diego Pest) for treating bedbugs. I’d also recommend asking the prospective tenant (before they move in) to sign a bedbug addendum saying that they’ve checked the apartment for bedbugs.

If down the road there is a bed bug issue, have the bedbug issue taken care of and bill the resident. If they argue that its your fault/responsibility, you can point to the fact that they themselves signed a document saying there were no bedbugs present when they moved in. The hope is – this is the end of the story.

What happens if you get pulled into court? Lets say the resident sues you for damages to their property. The burden of proof is on them to show that you the introduced the bedbugs – which is very difficult. They could have been on their moving truck, on the used furniture they bought on craigslist, or on something they bought at the flea market. Its very difficult to pin down the source.[/quote]

A piece of paper saying there are no bedbugs would carry more weight imo if it was signed by someone who actually knows how to look for bedbugs. I would get the place certified bedbug free by a pest company rather than Joe tenant.[/quote]

A resident signed bedbug addendum is useful when making the case to the resident that they should pay for the bedbug treatment.

If it goes to court, even if a place is certified bedbug free – the problem remains – how are you going to prove that the resident/landlord is at fault for the introduction of the ‘new’ bedbug infestation? Its nearly impossible.

[earlyretirement]

Wow EconProf. I’m really sorry to hear about this. As a property owner of many rental properties, this kind of thing is my worst nightmare.

You did the right thing being so honorable. I’m sure it was a nightmare for the rental tenant as well.

It IS important to note that there are some scam artists out there as well that try to lie about this in order to get free rent. I found this out first hand a few months ago.

In one property I own where I do high end short-term rentals I recently had a guest that tried to claim she got bit by bedbugs. I found it shocking since no one ever complained about anything let alone bedbugs. And I happened to use the property myself on a business trip and most definitely there weren’t any problems at all my entire 10 day stay.

She was demanding a full refund. I gave it to her but demanded she leave immediately so I could call a specialist. I gave her a full refund and the point I knew it was probably a scam was when she wanted to finish her stay in the apartment! She threatened to post online if I didn’t give her a refund so naturally I gave her a full refund.

When the specialist that dealt with bedbugs went in he did a full inspection and he said there wasn’t any bedbugs. He did a few things over the course of 2 days and he said definitely there were no bedbugs. It is a penthouse apartment with no neighbor next door either.

No subsequent tenants had any problem at all. I was prepared to totally change all the mattresses in the apartment if I needed to but I was relieved that it was only a scam.

Through it’s a small world, I spoke to another owner of a property they rented and they pulled the same scam on that owner.

The thing that really sucks is you’re so helpless as an owner. A tenant even hinting that you have bedbugs can totally kill your reputation and business and this lady knew it.

It was just a horrible feeling. I imagine there are probably people that go around scamming property owners and also hotels trying to claim this and trying to stay free.

[Hobie]

Stumbled upon this. Uses dry ice to determine if bed bugs are present. Maybe useful for a tenent sign-off agreement.

http://www.continentalcarbonic.com/get-rid-of-bed-bugs.html

[Anonymous]

Is it the landlords responsibility to take care of bed bugs when it is the tenants who have brought them into an apartment.

http://www.rentalprotectionagency.com/tenant-rights/donotrent-com-new-rental-and-landlord-review-website-0-2617

[EconProf]

Tony: Yup, I know. Same with the more common problem of roaches.
Update on my situation. Pest control company has treated apt. and tenant’s belongings twice, two weeks apart. No further infestation or biting observed. Will treat one more time in couple of weeks as insurance, when pest control company promises a written guarantee, but with a $45/month continuing monthly service. I’ll opt for that, at least for a few months, just to keep the tenant happy. The first 3 treatments are $95 per treatment, which were pretty thorough.
All in all, I am getting off cheaper than I had feared, and tenant is likely to stay.

[svelte]

The itsy bitsy spider came out the water spout
Out came the rain and washed the spider out
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain
And the itsy bitsy spider walked up the spout again

[CA renter]

🙂

[Author]

Posts