LANDLORDS BEWARE
BED BUGS ARE YOUR RESPONSIBILTY
According to the Florida State Statutes, you as the landlord are responsible for the extermination of insects in your rental dwelling including bed bugs. The law clearly intends that a landlord is responsible to maintain a safe and healthy residence for tenants. In Florida, the Florida Statutes Chapter 83.51 maintains that “unless otherwise agreed in writing….the landlord of a dwelling unit….shall at all times, during the tenancy, make reasonable provisions for 1) the extermination of …..bed bugs. The tenant shall be required to temporarily vacate the premises for a period of time not to exceed four days, on seven days’ written notice, if necessary….”
However, the law does state that the rental agreement can be modified to transfer the responsibility for bed bug control to the tenant. Because of the cost of bed bug treatments, many leases now transfer the cost of bed bug treatment to the tenant. Tenants are usually cash-strapped and cannot afford bed bug treatments, so the bed bug problem will escalate and become intense.
From the tenant’s perspective, an infestation of bed bugs may have spread from surrounding infested apartments. Then tenants believe the landlord should have the money from rents paid to pay for treatments.
From the landlord’s perspective tenants fail to cooperate with treatments and often reintroduce bed bugs after they have been eliminated. Of course, it is difficult for a landlord to tell whether bed bugs were re-introduced or not controlled with the treatments.
So, the debate continues. Who should pay for a bed bug infestation in a rental dwelling? Unless you spell out in your lease to your tenant, you are responsible for all insect control in your rental units according to the Florida Statutes. This information is for you to be informed and to protect yourself against the rising costs of bed bug treatments. We have been involved with the Health Department in a few rental disputes on who was responsible for the bed bug treatment and control. The landlord has been told in those cases that they are responsible and has to arrange and pay for the bed bug treatment.
Call, 239-455-4300, for a complete explanation of all the different types of bed bug treatments or any of our services, or look us up on our web site at collierpestcontrol.com. Remember Florida does not need to be shared with insects.
Posted via OnFast - http://www.OnFast.com
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