Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2013 · 384 posts · 109 votes
Just a heads up to fellow Milwaukee landlords that the Milwaukee Dept of Neighborhood Services (DNS) is offering a two hour seminar on the thorny issue of bed bugs.
There are three more classes offered: Oct 24th, Nov 2nd and Nov 12th. It is actually held at an office they have on the far south side (6th & Howard) More infor at the DNS website.
I plan to go as it is certainly an issue which I dread dealing with.
Hales Corners, WI · Member since 2013 · 229 posts · 80 votes
12y
Dan, have you ever had a bed bugs issue in your rentals? How was the class? I was on the web site yesterday looking for a basic land lording class but did not see anything scheduled yet.
Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2013 · 384 posts · 109 votes
12y
@Karen M. Fortunately I've not encountered this problem in my duplexes. I did not make it to the class last fall, but I would like to this year, as well as to the regular landlord class offered by the City of Milwaukee.
Investor · Mequon , WI · Member since 2014 · 57 posts · 13 votes
12y
Unfortunately, bed bugs is quite an epidemic in Milwaukee right now. Very expensive to remedy and the city will issue you code violations to exterminate if tenants call to complain (even though they caused the problem). Orkin charged $1,200 to exterminate a duplex, which was discounted because one of the units was empty. That is the low cost remedy. The only "guaranteed" cure is a heat treatment that costs upwards of $3,000. If you have the problem in a multi-unit building, it will cost you quite a bit of your cash flow.
Now we, like most landlords, include the right to charge tenants for the problem. Unless you have a single family unit, good luck on identifying the culprit or collecting on the repairs.
I did the landlord class some years ago and thought it was really good information....and FREE. Doesn't get much better than that.