Here is a question to the blog clinic from Tina who is a landlord
I am a landlord renting to three young sharers – all are on the same tenancy agreement.
The property was let furnished, all items were purchased brand new at the start of the tenancy which began in 2013.
One of the original sharers moved out last month and was replaced by another – sourced by the tenants themselves. I had no involvement in this process other than to produce a new tenancy agreement.
The new tenant has complained of bed bugs and has a doctor’s note to confirm she has been bitten. She has asked for the bed and mattress to be replaced and the room to be fumigated. I have responded to say that I will not be replacing them because all furniture was brand new in 2013 and the problem must have been caused by the previous tenant’s lack of cleanliness.
The new tenant has retorted and said that the bed should have been checked when the previous tenant left. She now stopped paying her rent and threatened to get environmental health involved. Her grandfather has also got involved and sent me a letter asking if I have a conscience about forcing her to sleep on the floor, he has demanded that the tenancy agreement is annulled and I fund her moving costs.
Even if I did visit the property, how could I check if there were bed bugs and even so, why would I have to do anything about it?
Am I right to insist the tenants sort this out themselves?
Answer
I am afraid not. The new tenant is entitled to find a bug free bed. This was a new tenancy and she is right when she says that this issue should have been resolved at the time the previous tenant left.
It sounds as if the bed is infested and she is not just making this up, particularly as you say she has a doctors report (why should she make it up anyway?). If you want to check this though there are specialist pest infestation companies who can do an inspection for you.
From what you say it sounds as if the bed bugs were introduced by the previous tenant. However you cannot say this for sure. I am not an expert on bed bugs but I understand that they are very difficult to eradicate. So they could have been there for longer.
Assuming she is correct, I would recommend that you arrange for a new bed and mattress to be provided as she asks. I would also recommend that you get a report from an expert on bed bug infestation and seek advice on how the bugs came to be in the property in the first place.
You should also make sure that they are not elsewhere in the room, otherwise the new bed and mattress may become re-infected.
If it looks as if they were introduced by the previous tenant, you may well have a claim against the remaining tenants in the property (but not the new tenant) for the costs that have been incurred.
They were all on a joint and several agreement so will all have been jointly and severally liable for the infestation – even if it was just the departed tenant who introduced the bugs to the property. You may also have a claim against the departed tenant.
However you need to do something about it and not just leave it to the tenants. For example if your new tenant calls in the Environmental Health people they will require you to deal with this and you could find yourself served with an improvement notice.
Have readers had any experience with bed bugs?
I am, and have been, dealing with this for a while in one of our properties. We contacted the Council who have a pest control team and found their charges more reasonable than other pest control companies. Our furniture was also reasonably new, but once infested it is difficult to eliminate completely and requires the tenants co-operation. We replaced all furniture except the sofa, and sure enough it is in the sofa now (two months after the last pest control visit) that we find there is still a bed bug. Look up online and you will find a lot of information on how to identify them.
We contacted environmental health and they were not interested as bed bugs are such a major problem in shared houses these days (we were told). In fact they explained that they do not categorise them as a hazard at all, unless the occupant is very young or if the person being bitten has a particular allergy to them (a doctor’s note is not confirmation of this). Nb. this is in London. This confirmed the position to us and so we were able to liaise with the our tenant on the problem. It is not pleasant, so it is a problem during a tenancy despite the above. Bed bugs travel between properties typically on a changeover of tenants and can be brought in by anyone viewing – they can arrive in someones coat pocket or in their belongings when moving from one place to another, so very difficult to prevent it happening to you!
By the way, if you have had this problem already and are buying new furniture, ensure it doesn’t arrive until the old furniture has been removed and the room sprayed for the bugs. Seal the floor where it meets the wall so there are no gaps for them to hide within. New furniture – avoid padded headboards that seem to be a favourite place for them to infest, and ideally a bed with 4 legs rather than a divan as it reduces the areas where bugs can climb up the bed. We favour the wooden and metal beds to avoid bed bugs.
It is amazing what you have to learn when you are a landlord!
I was a visiting officer with social services. I visited a young family in cramped bedsit. I had to sit on the bed to conduct the interview. The following day the exposed parts of my arm were covered in red itchy splodges. I reported it to environmental health after a visit to the gp. My aim was to support their rehousing but no action was taken.
Some years ago we let a cottage for holidays without any issues. The tenants said they had been bitten by bed bugs and asked the letting agency for a return of their holiday costs at the end of the stay. The sheets were changed and washed with each new occupant and the floors hoovered. We had no further problem. The bites could have come from other sources.
Student accommodation usually has the same bed and mattress but I am aware of students requesting new to them beds and mattresses
Bed bugs need humidity to grow, therefore check if washing is being dried on radiators etc.
You still need to kill the current bugs as well.
I read the wikipedia page (first few chapters anyway): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bed_bug
While wikipedia is not the law, they mostly have vetted information, so I’m ready to trust them on their word.
Based on the text and my own knowledge you have zero chance of proving it’s the tenant’s fault. It may very well have happened in the tube, by sitting next to somebody who lives in an infested dwelling.
Even though it’s their responsibility to maintain hygiene, there are too many random factors that can result in this infestation. Unless you have a strong case to pursue them for lack of hygiene, you better drop your act and proceed to tackling the problem before it get’s worse.
By the time you’re arguing with the tenants on who should pay, the rest of the property is probably getting infested as well, so you better hurry if you want to get off with the least expenses of one mattress and fumigation costs.
In ANY case, the new tenant has no fault and no responsibility for the infestation as it has happened during the previous one’s occupation. They are in clear right to request the problem being dealt with without paying a penny.
You should either provide them with suitable accommodation while you remedy the situation or compensate them financially for the inconvenience, or otherwise approve their request to terminate the contract and cover moving costs.
It’s sad you have no fault, but sometimes this is the case with landlords – unpredicted costs are always possible.