Tenants want reimbursement for Rabies shots

Investor · Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2011 · 14 posts · 7 votes

A few months ago my tenant e-mailed me and said "We've had 3 bats in the house in the past 2 weeks and this morning one was in our bed when we woke up." The went on to say that they got their rabies shots.

5 days later I get a pest control expert out there and he gave me recommendation for installing one way bat doors and patch up a bunch of small holes on the outside of the home.

A couple weeks after this I was able to get a contractor out there to patch the inside and outside of the home and install one way bat traps. I didn't hear of any more issues after this.

Now my tenant asked me to reimburse both of them for their rabies shots. Their insurance covered some but they still owe $3300. They are good tenants and have been here for several year.

Is this my responsibility? What would you do?

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Christopher Phillips

Real Estate Agent · Garden City, NY · Member since 2016 · 3k+ posts · 1k+ votes

@Paul Salmela Did they say if they were actually bitten? You can only get rabies if the animal was infected and but you. Not just because it flew by you or landed in your bed. If they didn’t specifically tell you that they were bitten and they were going to get rabies shots ahead of time it’s not your problem to go feed their paranoia.

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John UnderwoodPro Member
Investor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes
7y
Do they have renters insurance? Do you say that they need to have renters insurance in your lease?
Maybe contact your insurance company and sask them if this would be covered.
That is a lot of money. I would consult an attorney and get their opinion.
1 Reply
Dennis M.
Rental Property Investor · Erie, PA · Member since 2018 · 6k+ posts · 9k+ votes
7y
tell them you’ll pay for a flea dip and spay or neuter servIce , but not rabies shots . I’d call an attorney .. obviously this sounds completely ridiculous . Donot agree to pay anything ! If you do you will look guilty in a courtroom because paying is like admitting you knew and are guilty .
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Paul Salmela
OP
Investor · Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2011 · 14 posts · 7 votes
7y
Yes, I require that they have renters insurance but I'm not sure that their insurance would cover this. I called my agent and I'm waiting for him to return my call. I'm thinking he'd be able to let me know if insurance would typically cover this.
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Matt A.
Investor · St Augustine, FL · Member since 2016 · 135 posts · 126 votes
7y
If they sue your absolutely going to find out how comprehensive your liability coverage is!

Sounds a bit like a shakedown to me, but then again if I went for rabies vaccination and this was my cost you can bet Id be looking to get reimbursed.
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Maurice D.
Coppell, TX · Member since 2015 · 485 posts · 310 votes
7y
did they get the shots before alerting you to the problem? was the problem neglected? the timeline isn't clear to me, but the second they mentioned bats inside the house I would have had them out until an all-clear by the pest control people.
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Marian Smith
Real Estate Investor · Williamson County, TX · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 961 votes
7y
@Paul Salmela No one gets rabies shots for fun. It is time comsuming and painful. I would pay. It isn‘t as if they left their windows wide open or had a bunch of bat food laying around. You could ask them to sign a release of some sort but that might get them thinking about damages. Right now it sounds like the only damages they feel they have suffered is monetary. It may be nobody’s fault, but if it is anyone’s it would be yours...because you offered them living quarters for a fee and it would be presumed the living quarters are free of dangerous pests.
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Marian Smith
Real Estate Investor · Williamson County, TX · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 961 votes
7y
@Paul Salmela i read $330. 3k for shots! No idea rabies shots cost so much. That is what insurance is for.
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Pat L.
Rental Property Investor · Upstate, NY · Member since 2012 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
7y
Next time tell them to go to their Vet it's only $110 a shot.
4 Reply
Max T.
Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
7y
@Paul Salmela Sounds like you began addressing the problem as they notified you about it.
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James Mc Ree
Rental Property Investor · Malvern, PA · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 934 votes
7y
I would ask for documentation for the expense, but it doesn't seem unreasonable. It would be worth it to keep a several year tenant happy for years to come to avoid the vacancy expense. It is a defect in your property that led to the expense.
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Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
Moderator
Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
7y
They should contact their renter's insurance and you should contact your insurance. See if either of them will pay up. I've heard the rabies vaccine is a two-week series that can cost up to $10,000. Unbelievable!
If insurance doesn't cover it, I would pay it. I know it's not your fault and you responded well to have it taken care of, but it's not the tenant's fault and your home played a part in it with open holes that allowed access.
Bite the bullet.
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Thomas S.
Member since 2016 · 13k+ posts · 12k+ votes
7y
Your good tenants are now evolving into bad tenants. Good tenants would have discussed the issue with you regarding shots before they got them. Rabies shots is a ridicules knee jerk reaction that boarders on insanity. Do not waste your time dealing with this request. Tell them no and leave it at that.
Probably a good time to start planning for new tenants.
Buckling to requests like this from tenants is not reasonable. If they want to take you to court they had better have medical proof showing that the bats actually carried rabies.
6 Reply
Christopher Phillips
Real Estate Agent · Garden City, NY · Member since 2016 · 3k+ posts · 1k+ votes
7y
@Paul Salmela Did they say if they were actually bitten? You can only get rabies if the animal was infected and but you. Not just because it flew by you or landed in your bed. If they didn’t specifically tell you that they were bitten and they were going to get rabies shots ahead of time it’s not your problem to go feed their paranoia.
7 Reply
Sam Shueh
Real Estate Agent · Cupertino, CA · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
7y
I will explain to them as landlord you have done what you can. Point the exit door out hinting they should start looking...… They are trying to be disruptive using it as an excuse.

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Maurice D.
Coppell, TX · Member since 2015 · 485 posts · 310 votes
7y
ok, I re-read your original timeline. they sat on this for two weeks (aware of bats in the house) and didn't notify you until after one was on the bed, and after they got the shots.
I would not reimburse based on their neglect to bring the problem up and allow you to remedy (and follow state protocols etc) it BEFORE it appeared on the bed.. (For example putting them up in a hotel for a night or two until the place was sealed)
so for example in Nebraska, a bat would be tested by the University and if it positive you would get the vaccine but if not, then it's over.
http://dhhs.ne.gov/publichealth/Documents/Nebr_Rab...
so I'd envision animal control call -> testing -> resolution would have been a path, but they shunted all that.
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Anthony Wick
Rental Property Investor · Ankeny, IA · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
7y
@Paul Salmela Is there more to this? You know, like they were actually bitten. Like the bat was shown to have rabies. Like proof these tenants actually go the shots. A letter from a doctor stating they needed the shots. Photos of the actual bites. I’d need a whole lot more evidence before I even think about reimbursing them $3,000.
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Paul Salmela
OP
Investor · Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2011 · 14 posts · 7 votes
7y
I have the insurance bills that they had to pay. No indications that they were bitten but they talked with the CDC and DNR and since the bat was in their bed they recommended getting rabies shots.
Maurice - thanks for the chart!
Talked with my Insurance agent and they wouldn't cover this no would the renters insurance my tenants had.
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Eric van Dalen
Dillon, MT · Member since 2017 · 31 posts · 9 votes
7y
Seems quite steep to me. Possibly offer to pay half.
0 Reply
Ray Harrell
Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 930 votes
7y
A bat in the bed. Wow!
0 Reply
Scott Poore
Rental Property Investor · Boston, MA · Member since 2018 · 1 post · 1 vote
7y
@Paul Salmela Hi Paul, the Medical Payments portion of your insurance policy covers injury to someone on your property regardless of fault, without a need to be sued. The issue you may face is if the insurance company determines there was no actual injury (sounds like the shots were precautionary).
1 Reply
Stone Jin
Rental Property Investor · Chandler AZ and Sylvania, OH · Member since 2009 · 708 posts · 561 votes
7y
@Paul Salmela I would just look at it as a math problem. Lots of people are telling you to say no and plan for vacancy and turnover. Based on your rents and what you think the turn over costs would be, just compare to see if it is worth the hassle. like if I know i'm going to lose a month's rent and spend 2-3K in rehab, then it may be better to work out a deal with the current tenants. Offer to pay 50% and say that's the best you can do as it was their choice to get the shots.
I provide fridges in most of my units and occasionally one goes out and the tenant's food spoil (shockingly all my tenants go and spending hundreds on meat the day before these things happen). I just pay them out for food and inconvenience and move on with life.
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Angela Smith
Member since 2018 · 161 posts · 152 votes
7y
The rabies shots following such an exposure is standard procedure with a high risk animal such as bats. Bats are a common species for rabies. Rabies is incurable, but preventable with vaccines upon exposure. Plus, you don't have to be bitten. You can be inoculated by exposure to an infected animal's saliva in contact with a break in your skin. So a bat in the bed is a high risk exposure. Rabies shots are not unreasonable in this situation. If it were me or my family member that had the exposure, I would want rabies shots as well. The alternative is death from rabies (if the bat had it...which has a high enough probability to warrant the shots). Also, post exposure rabies shots is not just one shot. It's a very painful multi shot process. When there is a bite, some of it is injected at the site of the bite! Yikes.
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Marian Smith
Real Estate Investor · Williamson County, TX · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 961 votes
7y
@Paul Salmela Read your insurance policy. I have found that insurance doesnt want to cover anything. If someone gets injured on your property you have medical liability insurance. Rabies shots are medically neccessary after exposure to bats. You’d fight for a full roof after a major hail storm and not settle for the cost to repair damage on the S and W quadrants and full replacement on the N. You’d get a roofer out to say you need a complete roof. Insurance never wants to pay. Get letters from those recommending shots, describe rabies as incurable, highlight the insurance policy coverage that should kick in and get an attorney to mail it with a demand to insurer on their letterhead.
1 Reply
Amy Beth
Rental Property Investor · Edison, NJ · Member since 2016 · 753 posts · 565 votes
7y
@Paul Salmela. The cost is probably accurate if their insurance Is not good. I had to get rabies shots earlier this year when I was attacked by a feral cat. The high bill for me was the ER visits (required four visits since it is a series of shots) since local doctors offices did not carry the rabies vaccines. Fortunately I have excellent health insurance so I did not have to pay anything. I understand that many do not have such excellent health coverage though. The shots are really painful and they were not even bitten so it seems ridiculous to me that they even got the shots considering all of this. Since you responded when they notified you of the bats, I would not pay for it. If you had ignored their report of bats then i would pick up the cost but that does not seem to be the situation. They decided to get the shots out of an abundance of caution and that is on them imo.
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Paul Salmela
OP
Investor · Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2011 · 14 posts · 7 votes
7y
Just wanted to provide an update. I talked with an attorney and was told that I should not be responsible for any of these costs since I acted quickly to remedy the issue. I offered my tenant $1,000 to help pay their bill and they accepted.
Appreciate all the responses!
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