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Bedbugs are almost impossible to get rid of. Google the topic; most exterminators will not even provide a guarantee that they can get rid of them; all of the chemicals that used to be used to kill them are now off the market. I had a friend in NY whose apartment was infested by another apartment. The building was finally closed for months to deal with the problem. Your problem is, if you don't get rid of them, the place in uninhabitable for anyone else to rent. Even if the tenants hadn't bought a used mattress, anyone can bring them home from any hotel. Check out bedbugregistry.com to see how many hotels have dealt with this problem. Those damn things are everywhere and are very efficient about hiking a ride in your suitcase to a new destination. Do whatever you need to do to get rid of them; but yes, it is costly.
You might TRY killing them yourself first.I stayed in someones guest room that had them.
It took me a few weeks to realize what was biting me and causing itching.
Lifted the mattress and killed them all.Never got bitten after that.
That was my experience anyway.
You might TRY killing them yourself first.I stayed in someones guest room that had them.
It took me a few weeks to realize what was biting me and causing itching.
Lifted the mattress and killed them all.Never got bitten after that.
That was my experience anyway.
Bedbugs just don't live in the mattresses, they live everywhere. Plus, they can go for at least a year without a meal.
I know Wal-Mart sells a "Black Flag" spray that specifically treats bed bugs. The one for bed bugs comes in a purple can. But I've never had bed bugs so I don't know how effective it is. Maybe someone else here might know.
Stuff in a can can doesn't work on bedbugs, and they spread rapidly. They'e extremely hard to get rid of, if it can even be done. With an infestation, sometimes the place has to be tented, sometimes it doesn't. It all depends on the pest control company.
As others have said, bed bugs are really hard to get rid of. They live everywhere and come back again and again. This is absolutely a tenant expense, so if you decide to pay for it, it would be a personal decision, not a business one, as a favor to otherwise good tenants, and I would agree that increasing their rent accordingly would be more than fair.
I agree with the person who asked the question "how many treatments does the $700 cover?" Is that for until the problem is resolved? Because that could honestly be a year or more.
I would be tempted to tell them to call the person they got the mattress from and threaten a lawsuit for knowingly spreading an infestation.
The question is, who should pay to have the bedbugs exterminated. The tenant brought the bugs in, let them pay to get rid of them. When the lease is up, I would plan to get them exterminated then. Plan to have to clean and exterminate when the place is emt]pty. It is much easier.
The LL is not responsible at all to help a tenant correct a problem the tenant caused. However, when they move, since you know they have bedbugs now, plan to exterminate them when the unit is empty.
The question is, who should pay to have the bedbugs exterminated. The tenant brought the bugs in, let them pay to get rid of them. When the lease is up, I would plan to get them exterminated then. Plan to have to clean and exterminate when the place is emt]pty. It is much easier.
The LL is not responsible at all to help a tenant correct a problem the tenant caused. However, when they move, since you know they have bedbugs now, plan to exterminate them when the unit is empty.
The only problem with that is that it could require several months of vacancy for a full extermination, plus the cost of the extermination itself. Since the tenant is living paycheck to paycheck, they aren't going to be able to come up with the money to pay for that, and their deposit wouldn't be enough to cover it. So the LL is going to eat not only the extermination costs, but the lost rent as well.
It might be less expensive for the LL to deal with the problem now. The tenant is going to have inconvenience either way. Either they live with the bedbugs for the rest of their tenancy or they put up with the extermination procedures.
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