There is bed bug news for everyone! These bugs are showing up everywhere, including some unexpected places like nice hotels, airports, and supermarkets. They are making themselves right at home on your things. You can bring bed bugs home with you or pick them up from a hotel or neighbor’s place. They could come back to bother you again. Likewise, they can move on to your neighbors.
It can get hard to tell bed bugs apart from carpet beetles. But there are things you want to know about bed bugs. You can identify them before they have a chance to become an expensive problem for anyone who lives on your property.
Be Prepared
You need to prepare your rental property in preventing bed bugs from entering. Below is a guide:
Laws and regulation
The bed bug law considers these bugs a public health pest. Any bed bugs in your home should go away just like from your neighbors’ residences. It is part of the law that landlords and tenants work together about these bugs.
You and your tenant need to inspect for bed bugs regularly and treat them upon discovery. Continue inspections after treatments because bed bugs can reappear between visits. This is despite doing all that was required of you.
The bed bug law tells landlords to give their tenants an infestation notice. You get this from your local health department or code enforcement office. A bed bug report is another thing you receive from the authorities.
This bed bug information for landlords helps in knowing more about them and the laws in your area. It also tells you what to look out for when inspecting for them. Likewise, you will know what to do next when you find some on your property.
Training staff
Your tenant needs to handle bed bug problems. But this does not mean your employees also do not need training. You can hold bed bug training that teaches them how to inspect for these bugs and what they should do about infestations.
You may want to review bed bug registry reports in your area when looking for tenants. This way, you know when the potential tenant had bed bugs before or knows how to deal with these pests.
Preventing Bed Bugs
The law requires you to provide bed bug educational materials. You need legal documents printed or copied for all tenants in your building. Do this before an infestation issue occurs.
Give a bed bug inspection notice form to the tenant after they move out of your property. This lets them know what went on during their stay and how it affected you as well as other tenants next door. It also tells them that you want their opinion about the problem. You can address it at once when there is another bed bug attack around your area again.
You can give bed bug prevention tips, such as:
- Keep all bedding and clothes clean and dry
- Inspect for bed bugs regularly
- Wash all bedding at 120 degrees Fahrenheit or higher to kill bed bugs
- Use mattress cover made from tightly woven fabric, zippers, and encasements for mattresses and box springs
Educating tenants
Prevent bed bug infestation in the future. It may keep them out or limit their numbers while they are staying on your property. Teach your tenants about bed bugs in an educational session. They need to take responsibility for dealing with them.
The tenants will thank you once they get through a bed bug attack without having much trouble getting rid of them. Though the law may require you to do inspections, this does not mean that it is alright when your tenant puts up a fight.
Hiring professionals
Bed bugs are your problem as a landlord. This means that you can hire professionals to deal with infestations. But you need the right people and equipment for extermination treatments.
The bed bug law lets you hire or retain professionals on behalf of your tenants. You also bear the expense of their services while they treat your property. Your tenant does not pay nor reimburse them in any way.
Your tenant does not have to appear during bed bug inspections and treatments. Though it is best when they know what happens on their property every time workmen visit. You also need them there just in case trouble occurs when doing bed bug treatment and inspection duties.
Develop a plan in advance
You need bed bug policies in place before an infestation happens. Tenants need to know what they are, how to spot them, and how to respond when they appear on their property. Teach tenants about bed bug laws for landlords.
When bed bugs are not too bad yet
It is alright when your tenant reports bed bugs only during the initial inspection. Still inspect further to see whether there are eggs or feces present. Bed bug fecal material looks like black dots that easily rub off on fabric or walls. See whether these spots contain bloodstains that change color.
Bed Bug Identification
Bed bug feces look like this right after feeding and they tend to defecate with disturbance during their sleep. The bed bugs also do it when you try to inspect them.
Do not wait for an infestation issue to happen before taking action! You need bed bug policies in place before tenant screening takes place. This way, your property stays safe no matter who will live there later on.
Do Landlords Have to Disclose Bed Bug Problems?
The bed bug laws for landlords are meant to prevent infestations before they occur. They do not have to disclose bed bugs on their property when they already happened. No blaming on landlords when tenants do not tell them about bed bugs that appear on their property.
Tenants’ Options When a Landlord Fails to Make Bed Bug Disclosures
Tenant bed bug remedies may become available in laws for landlords. The bed bugs make them ask the landlord to disclose infestations in their property when they happen.
Commercial Bed Bug Management
The bed bug laws for landlords are clear when it comes to treatment. It is alright to outsource bed bug extermination services to commercial management companies. You can find one through the internet, phone books, or by asking other landlords in your area.
Let this guide enlighten you on the landlord and tenant relationship about bed bug information. It is always best to receive the right information about them. These are also for your tenants to know of.
