During the summer months, it’s ant season in California. For many people, ants take over their homes, looking for water. If you leave things out, you could get a trail of ants in the kitchen, or any place in the house where you leave a sugary drink or a plate with food. Silverfish, spiders, bed bugs, fleas and other pests can lead to a tenant legally withholding rent if you don’t take specific action to mitigate these infestations. Today, we’re talking about pest control and maintaining rental habitability standards in your rental property.

Landlord Education: Pest Control

Use a licensed pest control company to address these issues. Your lease also needs specific verbiage regarding tenant responsibilities. This includes keeping the home in a clean and sanitary condition at all times. If you have managed your own property, you may or may not have encountered situations where tenants are constantly calling for the treatment of roaches, bugs, and fleas. You might wonder where it ends. Put some responsibility on the tenant to maintain the property for this reason.

Landlord Education: Document Your Response

Show a paper trail of responding to these issues. If the tenant withholds rent payments based on an infestation of bugs or creatures, you want to show you have been proactive and responsive. If it goes to court, you can show that you have been responsible as a landlord and gone through the proper channels to exterminate these types of pests and varmints that may visit from time to time.

These are important issues and not to be taken lightly. Have specifics in the lease to address these concerns. If you have any questions or you need help from a great Chula Vista property management company, please contact us at Noble Real Estate Services.