Bed bugs are a serious issue for property managers and building owners. A pest control budget that used to be 90% general pest control and 10% bed bugs has now flipped to be predominantly bed bug extermination costs. It is critical to have a plan in place to protect your tenants AND your bottom line.
The common goal is of course to prevent bed bugs, prevent them from spreading to other units, and hold responsible parties accountable financially. Let us guide you through the process, providing all of the information needed to understand the risk factors and create a custom tailored plan for your property and tenants.
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Why Apartment Buildings are Higher Risk
Apartment buildings can be the perfect storm for a few different reasons. We run into a few common scenarios with our property management clients and building owners.
Reason 1; Shared walls, shared halls, shared laundry etc. A tenant can very easily drop bugs off around an apartment building during routine daily activities. If person A has bed bugs and walks down a hall way, or goes to the laundry room or sits on a chair in the lobby, this can be the start of spreading the issue throughout the building. The bugs will look for someone else to hitchhike on or another door to crawl under. Bugs can also get dropped off furniture during the moving process if a tenant is moving in or out.
Some apartment building structures can also be very conducive to spreading bed bugs. Any sort of shared heating vents or plumbing entry points for example, can lead to bed bugs going from one unit to another.
Reason 2; Friends and neighbors often visit each other, so if one person has an issue, it can quickly spread just by visiting each other or kids playing together in one apartment to the next. Neighbor kids playing together can also increase the spread of an issue.
Reason 3; Bed bugs travel fast! An Ohio State University Study showed how tagged bed bugs on one floor spread throughout an apartment building quickly, under a variety of different situations. In some instances only a few bugs were able to travel throughout the entire apartment building in just a few short weeks. Self treating with repellant based products can also expedite spread.
Unfortunately any one of these reasons (or any combination) can lead to a serious infestation pretty quickly.
Bed Bugs in Rental Homes
Rental homes present a unique set of factors versus an apartment building. Many renters have more autonomy and can result in a problem becoming established without the landlord or property management’s knowledge.
Self treatment can also increase the resistance and spread of an issue quickly. Products available at big box stores and online retailers are largely repellant based and ineffective.
Establishing clear rules in your rental agreement for policies and procedures is key.
Less Access
Less physical access to a property can lead to a bed bug infestation establishing quickly.
DIY Self Treatments
DIY sprays and bombs are repellant based and can lead to spread and resistance.
Lack of Bed Bug Policies
Clearly outlined bed bug addendums are key.
Common Bed Bug Issues in Rentals and Apartments
Most commonly, we see property managers and building owners battling tenants bringing bed bugs in. Tenants are moving in with bed bugs, or otherwise bringing bed bugs in during their lease, and then you end up paying the expense.
Unfortunately you may have a tenant that does not admit to an issue, thus putting other tenants at serious risk. By the time a situation comes to light, the expenses far outweigh a normal deposit.
The solution is to include a bed bug addendum in the lease agreement, and ensuring any units are bed bug free prior to a new tenant moving in using a bed bug K9 inspection.
A bed bug K9 inspection not only shows good faith effort, it stands up far beyond a visual observation or maintenance statement in the event of a dispute.
Click below to view a sample bed bug addendum. This document is for reference only and should not be used without consulting proper legal advice. No information located on this website should be construed as formal legal advice.
What to do if you Find Bed Bugs in your Apartment Building
We work with apartment owners, property managers and residents across Northeast Ohio to identify and treat bed bug issues in a single unit, or throughout an entire property. The very first thing to do is to call a professional bed bug extermination company.
Do not self treat, as DIY products are repellant based and can spread bed bugs throughout the apartment building even further. Self treating can be ineffective and a huge liability, particularly in Ohio where it is illegal to self treat if there are four or more units under one roof. Professionally treating individual units and implementing preventative maintenance in common areas, hallways, stairways, etc. is essential.
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Dog Inspections for Property Managers and Landlords
K9 inspections are critical for rentals. If you have tenants moving into units that are already infested in bed bugs, this keeps the expense and blame on you, causing serious cost and reputation issues in addition to exposing other tenants to bed bugs.
Implementing routine dog inspections is also a key component. Inspections of all common areas and routine tenant inspections to ensure issues are not being hidden to avoid financial responsibility, and potentially putting more units and tenants at risk.
Clear units or rentals before leasing
Landlords and property management companies utilize K9 inspection services to verify a unit is bed bug free, prior to rental. This also allows the property manager or landlord to be able to enforce a bed bug addendum in a leasing agreement.
Routine inspections for tenants
Multi unit residential and commercial properties benefit from bed bug inspections particularly in shared common spaces, to reduce the risk of infestation.
Verify Treatment Success
In the event that treatment is needed, verify it is successful and the property is bed bug free upon completion.
If you’ve discovered a bed bug problem in your apartment building, give us a call today to go over the steps to take next! If you are a tenant in an apartment and facing a bed bug problem, learn more about our residential services here.
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