Tenant brought rats from his previous residence?

Question

One of my rental units never had rats. I used to live in the unit before I rented it out to the current tenant who has been living in the unit for little over an year.While vetting this tenant

I found this tenant works in a niche sector and felt he would be a great long term tenant so ok I offered him a below market rent the first year.For the second year when I raised the rent by offering him a lease, he came back the very next day with couple of things he said he is looking for another job out of state and his tenancy will be contingent upon him not getting an offer out of state so he will prefer month to month until he gets do form of a confirmation, so far so good but what startled me the most was he mentioned that there are mice in the apartment and I was in utter disbelief and asked him if he has actually seen them? and they spilled the beans rather accidentally that they had rat infestation in their previous house and they are very well aware how it "looks". Could it be possible the tenant accidentally brought rats from his previous residence when he moved to my apartment?

George W. · Answer

the new house is great except for the rat problem.

Jill F. · Answer

Rats or mice? There is a difference. I seriously doubt that the tenant brought them with them. In places like Ohio (and probably Iowa) field mice look for a warm place in the winter. We use fastrac blox bait stations to kill rodents (and remediate the immediate problem)  and then we try to find the entry point. They can get in really tiny spaces.

Jim K. · Answer

Here we go again. Last time it was bizarre Australian rodents in Iowa. You couldn't be bothered to use a 50-year-old weed control chemical on an overgrown yard because you believed some quack somewhere that told you it might cause cancer.

Now you're hypothesizing that your dirty tenant brought a breeding population of rats with him.

Come on, Peter. Are you really the right kind of guy to be getting into self-managed landlording?

Account Closed · Answer

Not unless he names his rats Willard. (look it up). ;-)It's something he is doing. Rats look for food. Either the garbage isn't getting put to the curb properly & timely or there is another source of food they are finding. In Phoenix roof rats are a problem. They jump from tree to tree (yes, there are actually trees in Phoenix not just Saguaros) and land on roofs. You'll have to take care of the problem either way. You want to protect your investment.

Rats

Phoenix Trees

Phoenix Sahuaros (kind of like a tree but not really) They attract a really cool beetle but not rats

Cactus Beetle (it isn't a rat) but it sure is big

Peter Morgan · Answer

@Jim K.

When I was in school I had a classmate a great sportsman but a ranked bragster and his hubris always put him in deep trouble and all our classmates gave him several nick names a meathead,a dingbat,a nincompoop,a poop head(Rat's), a moron,a boob,a fuddy-duddy,an ass,a bully,a loudmouth,a dodo,the murderous Macbeth,an idiot and so on so forth.

Investors come in many forms and they are all wise,the know it all smart Alecs , the wannabe investor who are always stuck in an eternal analysis paralysis.Few are game to risk it to at least give it a try least and learn from mistakes and if things don't work call it quits with a well thought exit strategy.

Jim K. · Answer

A hefty rat once got caught in one of my snap traps. The sumb**ch was so big the trap didn't break its neck. Just kept flopping around and squeaking. I had to beat it to death with a baseball bat right there. I was really feeling my passion for this, ah yes, the enchanting glamour of passive income through rental real estate investing...

Peter Morgan · Answer

@Jim K.

"Are you really the right kind of guy to be getting into self-managed landlording?"

Nope! I am a noob almost gave up yesterday, trying to bounce back today!

Peter Morgan · Answer

@Bjorn Ahlblad

Yeah I am familiar with rat poop seen it many times in my childhood, I have been scanning every nook and corner within my building

for traces and I haven't found even the slightest trace of it let alone an actual mice/rat.Perhaps I am getting paranoid about a non-existent issue but as said I just want to err on side of caution.I will most probably reach out to a professional but I am somewhat sceptical about them as most resort to predatory practices.

Bjorn Ahlblad · Answer

@Peter Morgan look for scat-poop. Mouse crap is about the size of a grain of rice-and slim. Rat poop is easily twice that size both are black. If you have either there will be a lot of poop everywhere that they hang out.

Nicholas Wallraff · Answer

If you want to keep your tenant happy and in place then just call a professional for a pest inspection.  For around $50-60 you can have someone check for all manner of nuisance and structural pests.  If you want to save the money then like Jill F. said, get a few outdoor bait stations and place them around the building (likely what a pest control service would do anyway), then inform the tenant that they have been installed and the issue should be resolved with time.  Either way, problem solved with a few bucks and an hour of your time.

Tenant brought rats from his previous residence?

Most Popular Reply