Bed bugs ?

[fastfredracing]

Anybody ever deal with them ? I hear they have made quite the comeback , especially here on the east coast . All the landlord forums are full of stories .
I knew this would sting me eventually .
Tenant moved in in November . Just called today saying she has a bedbug infestation .
She says they are in the carpet ( probably because I own that ) . Im willing to bet they are everywhere .
This house was a gut rehab. My family personally worked there for a full year prior . Painted, cleaned top to bottom. Ripped up and replaced all flooring down to the plywood .
There were no bugs there . Not even before we gutted . Exterminator quoted 1200.00 . Looks like I can't run from this one, but what stops her from bringing them in again ?

Gross.

[Eric Coffey]

Just now informing you, seven months after move-in? She obviously brought them in herself.

Hopefully, you have a clause in your lease contract specifying who is responsible for pest control (and that it specifies tenants are responsible).
Also, if she doesn't have a confirmed "diagnosis" yet, they may be ticks (especially if she has pets that go in and out) in which case Lyme disease is a concern. Good luck!

[71T Targa]

Pay the pros, and keep paying them to have any chance of keeping them away.
There is almost nothing you can do to keep a tenant from bringing them back.

[Rapewta]

Take care of it now. Don't wait.
One process is to bring the house up to 160 degrees f. It kills all critters and melts all your candles.
Our drummer brought in a roommate and we quit rehearsing there because this nasty dude
brought with him his bed bug friends. The process is just one of others but believe me, I suggest it.

[Arizona_928]

I think anything over 120° kills them.
They have them bad in Phoenix. The local movie theaters were getting hit.
I ended up buying a new $1200 mattress from the big mattress retailer that came infested. Talk about being pissed beyond belief.

The irony behind it. If it wasn't for air conditioning they were be eradicated in Phoenix...

[speeder]

Originally Posted by AZ_porschekid

I think anything over 120° kills them.
They have them bad in Phoenix. The local movie theaters were getting hit.
I ended up buying a new $1200 mattress from the big mattress retailer that came infested. Talk about being pissed beyond belief.

The irony behind it. If it wasn't for air conditioning they were be eradicated in Phoenix...

I would think that all they would have to do in Phoenix is turn off the A/C for a couple days in the summer and problem solved. Obviously, the people go elsewhere during this.

[pwd72s]

I am so thankful that I am no longer a landlord...

130 kills bedbugs? Interesting to know. Another trivia bit is that dogs & cats in Denver are flea free. Fleas don't live above 5,000 feet.

[Arizona_928]

Originally Posted by speeder

I would think that all they would have to do in Phoenix is turn off the A/C for a couple days in the summer and problem solved. Obviously, the people go elsewhere during this.

True. There's people that run around town with those propane torpedo heaters and ducts to heat up houses.

[ckelly78z]

She probably picked up some "curb alert" free furniture that already had an infestation. They are hard to get rid of, and hide in tiny creases.

[KFC911]

Bed bugz, bed bugz, whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

Burnin' Down The House...

My head is full of songs this morning.... but as usual, I'm no help....

Best of luck Fred!

[recycled sixtie]

Originally Posted by Eric Coffey

Just now informing you, seven months after move-in? She obviously brought them in herself.

Hopefully, you have a clause in your lease contract specifying who is responsible for pest control (and that it specifies tenants are responsible).
Also, if she doesn't have a confirmed "diagnosis" yet, they may be ticks (especially if she has pets that go in and out) in which case Lyme disease is a concern. Good luck!

If that is the case and hopefully the yearly(?) lease end date is coming up then you can give her notice to leave. With that kind of problem chances are you can find a better tenant. In twelve years of renting out our condo we have never had serious issues. Sorry for your problem tenant Fred. You deserve better.

Cheers, Guy

[recycled sixtie]

On rereading your post with November as the yearly lease date you could say she should move so you can get rid of infestation. As she would be finding another place to live she may not want to come back anyway. Yes as mentioned read the lease contract re infestation.
Or she can stay till November and live with the problem.

[KNS]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

I am so thankful that I am no longer a landlord...

130 kills bedbugs? Interesting to know. Another trivia bit is that dogs & cats in Denver are flea free. Fleas don't live above 5,000 feet.

Not sure about that...

I used to live in Prescott, AZ, Elevation 5300 ft. One day the neighbor kids stopped by the house for about a half hour. I soon found fleas in the sofa and carpet after they left. Never had them before or after that.

[fastfredracing]

Funny, I left that part out . She is a problem tenant. She has had more calls for service than all of our rentals put together in the last 3 years.
We are not renewing her lease anyhow . My wife hates her . I don't really care for her much either .
She was already on thin ice , then covid hits, and she is the only tenant who did not pay her rent . She is my only section 8 tenant. Her portion of the rent is 47.00 a month. She has not paid it in 4 months now, but has a constant nit pick list of repairs every month right about the due date for rents. Evictions are held up still, or she would be gone . She knows how to play the game
She does not even see it coming .
She is clean though . At least the place has the appearance of being clean when I am there.
Landlords are generally responsible for pest control. We do not have any clause in our lease to address this issue, but from now on , there will be an addendum . I seem to learn something new all the time in this biz .

[GH85Carrera]

I too am happy to be out of the rental business. I put my old house up to rent when I got married and moved in with my wife as she had a two car garage and my old house had just a one car garage.

The tennant paid her rent on time, and seemed like a nice clean chick. After several years of renting, I decided I was over playing landlord. I gave her 3 months notice that I was going to sell, and she found a new place to move to. When I went in to the house I could see where the furniture had been, and it was all outlined by dog piss. Her male dog hiked his leg in the house everywhere, and the carpet was horribly infested with fleas. I had to bug bomb the house to be in there for more than 5 seconds and not be attacked by a ton of fleas. Then I ripped all the carpet out, and painted the place inside and out, and sold it for my asking price. I left the floors with no carpet, and had several samples of carpet for the client to pick. I paid to have new carpet put in or they could apply that money to the cost of upgraded carpet. They picked the color they wanted, and I was done and free. My own house is enough to take care of.

[vash]

my good friend went thru this.

well, to be exact - my good friend's wife went thru this. we were hunting.

they tented their house and essentially nuked it from orbit, to be sure. he said it is 5x the dose of pesticide that they use for the lowly termite. everything had to be opened. including his gun safe. my buddy had to walk his wife thru the opening sequence. it was fun listening to it one sided.

that single dose took care of everything. he said there wasn't even a spider for a year. i dont recall him saying it was awfully expensive. he lives in Costa Mesa, CA

the guy that sprays our office for bugs said the biggest carrier of bed-bugs are movie theaters. they are always fumigating those places. that's why i watch movies naked

[ckelly78z]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

Funny, I left that part out . She is a problem tenant. She has had more calls for service than all of our rentals put together in the last 3 years.
We are not renewing her lease anyhow . My wife hates her . I don't really care for her much either .
She was already on thin ice , then covid hits, and she is the only tenant who did not pay her rent . She is my only section 8 tenant. Her portion of the rent is 47.00 a month. She has not paid it in 4 months now, but has a constant nit pick list of repairs every month right about the due date for rents. Evictions are held up still, or she would be gone . She knows how to play the game
She does not even see it coming .
She is clean though . At least the place has the appearance of being clean when I am there.
Landlords are generally responsible for pest control. We do not have any clause in our lease to address this issue, but from now on , there will be an addendum . I seem to learn something new all the time in this biz .

This sounds like most the people I know who are sucking on the government teet...truly miserable individuals, that have victim mentality, with no aspirations....life aint fair !

[DanielDudley]

1200 would be a very good price around here.

[gtc]

My girlfried had them in her apartment in San Francisco a couple of years ago. Required several rounds of treatment from the exterminator. We think they had been tracked around the building from one unit to another.
If you ever get them, don't bother with the natural remedies online like essential oils... they don't work.
Oddly enough, some people are not effected by them. While she would get big itchy welts where they bit her, I had no effects.

[GH85Carrera]

Many years ago I stayed at a motel that was a nice enough place. I woke up covered in bed bug bites. The motel manager comped my room. Gee thanks. The best part is he told me how to handle the bed bug problem.

It was summer, so I left my luggage in the car with the windows rolled up in full sun. I stripped to my undies threw my clothes in the car and went to the shower and had a very long shower.

He said they had some hippy types stay for a week in several rooms, and all of them were infested but my room was not one of those rooms. It was his problem to get rid of them at his motel.