Bed Bug Issue

[Melissa Faraias]

Dear BP community, 

I am an out of state landlord with a rental property in Bluffton SC. I had tenants move into the townhouse earlier this year. My contractor rehabbed the townhouse and the unit was given to the tenants in pristine condition.. I visited Bluffton last month and walked through the unit, which was in great condition. However the tenant mentioned that she was getting bitten on her bed but her partner was not. We walked through the unit and there were no signs of bed bugs, and my contractor assured me that there was no infestation. I continued to follow up with the tenant asking her if the issue persisted and she emailed me to let me know that there were no more issues at the property. Fast forward to yesterday, I scheduled my regular quarterly inspection of the home with my contractor. The downstairs was very clean but when he went upstairs, he noticed black stuff all over the walls and in the outlets. It was pretty bad. The tenants have their 24 year old nephew living in the upstairs bedroom. He was obviously aware of the infestation since he had a can of insecticide that he was spraying. The tenants claimed that they were not aware of the infestation since they do not go upstairs and the nephew did not mention anything to them. Could you please let me know if the tenants are liable for the damages? Do I need to seek legal counsel if they refuse to pay? They have a guarantor on the lease as well. I do not mind covering some of the costs but as I understand, this is going to be expensive. I have a Bed Bug Addendum in my lease which states that they need to inform me immediately when there is an infestation of any kind or it is a breach of the lease. Thank you in advance for any guidance that you can provide.