Who should pay for dealing with vermin or infestations in rental properties, tenants or landlords?
Nothing is worse than thinking that you have creepy crawlies in your house. Mice scurrying around or wasps buzzing in and out of their nest. But what if you have a report of this from your tenants? Read this article to find out what you should do if your tenants report an infestation.
Calls from your tenants are often not great news - they don't call for a chat after all, do they - so when your phone rings and you see their name flash up on the screen, you steel yourself before answering, crossing your fingers that it is not a hugely expensive problem.
But what if the call isn't a report of something broken but that the tenant suspects an infestation. What is the protocol? Who is responsible for dealing with it?
In the majority of cases, it will be the landlord's responsibility. Vermin and bug infestations are not often caused directly by an occupant of a property and are simply 'one of those things.' It could just as easily happen at your own home.
However, there are circumstances where the tenant will have to deal with the bugs themselves. Namely, if they have pets and a flea infestation, it is fair to assume that the tenants' pets caused the fleas; therefore, they should deal with those themselves.
Unfortunately, pinpointing who is responsible for dealing with the vermin can be a sensitive topic, and tenants will often not respond well if they are accused of causing a problem and then handed an invoice for pest control.
If your tenants have an issue with maintaining the property and keeping things clean and tidy, it could be argued that a vermin infestation has developed due to this way of living. In this situation, you could also assume that the vermin would not have moved in and settled there had the property been better maintained. In this scenario, the cost of removing the vermin would be passed back over to the tenants. However, this can be a sensitive conversation that can cause massive damage to the relationship between a landlord and a tenant.
So, there is a process to dealing with this issue that can keep relations between you and your tenant harmonious and remove the vermin or bugs.
The report must be taken seriously, regardless of who is responsible. Since, in the majority of cases, it is the landlords' responsibility, it makes sense to deal with the issue yourself and worry about the payment of those invoices later. After all, as the landlord, it is fair to assume that your property investment is generating a profit that should enable you to pay for that bill without too much trouble.
It is likely easier for you to employ a pest control specialist, but if you are trying to save costs, you could provide traps or remedies to the tenants. But, you must be prepared to employ a pest control specialist if the problem persists.
If lifestyle factors could have contributed to the problem, you should confirm in writing what the problem is and how your tenant can prevent the issue from arising again.
It is unacceptable for a tenant to live in a property with any infestation for any time. They are paying rent for a habitable, safe home, and your responsibility is to provide this.
Crucially, any preventative action that you would like the tenant to perform moving forward to ensure that the problem doesn't return must be recorded to them in writing. This way, if the issue returns and it could have been prevented, you have a written record of your requests, which will assist in any deposit claim you wish to make if the tenants move out.
If you need help with your tenancy management, contact our professional property experts, who are always on hand to help with any property tenancy-related issue that may come up throughout a tenancy.