Landlords are generally responsible for providing extermination services for their residents, no matter the circumstances that led to an infestation. This can be frustrating for landlords who have tenants in one unit who are largely responsible for creating a building-wide infestation. However, you’re not powerless in these types of situations, but you need to take decisive action. You should work quickly to prevent infestations in one unit from spreading to others and also cite tenants for lease violations that led to an infestation.
Seal Cracks and Crevices
Issues with crawling insects can be particularly frustrating for landlords. In the case of bedbugs, they didn’t come from outside; they were brought into the unit. A problem in one unit can quickly spread to others, so it’s best to get professional help right away. When you’re looking for help with bed bugs Fort Myers, work with a pest control company that can help advise you about where these pests can travel from one unit to another. You can seal off cracks and crevices where bedbugs can travel with a clear silicone caulking. This will help offer immediate protection to other units in the building while helping to isolate future problems to individual units.
Issue a Notice to Cure
Your lease terms should oblige tenants to keep the inside of a unit clean and sanitary. When someone has failed to properly clean their unit to the point that it’s really unsanitary and causing infestations of pests that thrive in those conditions such as cockroaches or mice, you can issue a notice to cure. This type of legal notice provides tenants with a reasonable amount of time to cure a lease violation and informs them that you will return to the unit and inspect it to see that they have done so. If a tenant fails to act after receiving one or more notices to cure, you may need to consider terminating the tenancy.
