Who is responsible for the pest control at your rental property: landlords or tenants? How do you take care of pests at a rental home? Are there habitability laws that affect landlords and their tenants? While this is not expert legal advice, hopefully, these questions and answers can provide some guidance on your landlord-tenant relationship.

Who is Responsible For Pest Control?

For the answer to this question take a look at your lease. Most of the time in Houston rental property management, a lease will state landlords are responsible for reasonable pest control treatments. As a landlord, it is a good idea to take this matter into your own hands, because you never know if your tenant will pay for treatment on their own. If your tenant fails to do their part in keeping pests out, that could cause damage to your property.

Pests and Habitability

As a landlord, you may be required by law to keep your rental property in a habitable state. If your property has an insect or rodent infestation, it could be deemed uninhabitable, and you may be forced to make repairs, so the property does not violate health and safety standards. If you leave pest control in the hands of your tenant, there is a possibility they will let pests get out of hand to the point the property is uninhabitable. That is one reason good Houston rental property management recommends landlords take responsibility for the pest control.

How To Manage Pest Control

Performing proactive maintenance is especially important when it comes to pest control. Hire a local pest control professional to spray around your rental home periodically, such as once in the spring and once in the fall. This will help keep most insects and rodents at bay. Be sure to let your tenants know when the pest control will be at their home, so they can keep pets indoors during the spray.

How Houston Rental Property Management Can Help

Pest control should be something your Houston property manager takes care of as part of their proactive maintenance schedule. Specialized Property Management Houston takes an extra step with regular inspections, reports, and pictures uploaded to your online portal, so you know exactly what state your rental property is in. To learn more about all our services call Specialized Property Management Houston today.