Bed Bugs Owner Responsible?

Question

Tenants who have lived in this property for over 2 years, thought that there were bed bugs.  A BB professional came to the property and did an inspection.  No bed bugs were found.  Now, the tenants want me to pay the bill for the BB inspection.  Is this really my responsibility?

Ned J. · Answer

I agree with Nathan....again.

If a tenant requires a service call for a problem that doesn't really exist, then the cost should be incurred by the tenant, not the LL....... consult your lease.

Most landlords.... including  myself ......want a tenant to feel comfortable and obligated to contact us if they feel there is an issue, but not one that calls us for every little thing and especially for stuff that doesn't really need to be addressed. We don't want them neglecting issues out of fear of having to pay for it themselves, but we also don't want to keep paying for service calls that don't need to be done.... that's why the lease needs to cover these scenarios

If this was  really good long term tenant that rarely called or was a PITA in some way, I'd probably eat the cost of this one inspection, but make it perfectly clear that future issues will be dealt with EXACTLY as the lease states

Nathan Gesner · Answer

It depends on what your lease says. Mine says tenants are responsible for "ordinary pest control" which means ants, flys, deer, rabbits, or whatever.

I absolutely would not split the cost with them. Your tenants reported something that didn't exist. That's their expense. Even if you found bed bugs, that would be a tenant cost because bed bugs are brought into the home and your tenants have lived there for two years so that's evidence they are responsible.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

It actually is. If the tenant reports the electric is out but the electrician determines they failed to plug their computer into an outlet, that is a tenant-caused service call and the tenant should be held responsible. If the tenant reports bed bugs and there are no bed bugs that is a tenant-caused service call and the tenant should be held responsible. It doesn't matter if it's a single-family home or an apartment on the 14th floor.

If bed bugs exist, then you would have to determine the source and who was responsible. But in this case, it was a false report. Tenants should always be held responsible for service calls caused by them, including false reports.

Mary M. · Answer

I would split it with them.....

Mary M. · Answer

maybe in a SFH, but this is not applicable if there are shared walls.

Adam Azam · Answer

@James R. What does your lease say? I have pest control is the responsibility of the tenant. 2 years after a person comes in and complains about bed bugs means it is from them. They pay for it.

Matt M. · Answer

@James R.

Depends what kind of property it is. If it’s a single family house, then I’d say it’s on them. If there’s other units attached, etc. that’s a different story.

Bed Bugs Owner Responsible?

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