# a tenant landlord question **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 2, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-tenant-landlord-question/541588 "2010-06-02T01:51:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-tenant-landlord-question/541588/1 "2010-06-02T01:51:30Z")
My tenant, who rent’s Mama’s house has roaches, and wants me to pay for an exterminator. I’m still new at this. What is your experience, does the tenant or landlord pay for a roach exterminator? ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-tenant-landlord-question/541588/2 "2010-06-02T01:53:22Z")
IME, that’s a landlord thing. ---
**Author:** ![kathmandu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kathmandu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kathmandu)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-tenant-landlord-question/541588/3 "2010-06-02T02:06:04Z")
Landlord. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-tenant-landlord-question/541588/4 "2010-06-02T02:07:22Z")
This is not shaping up well. 🙂 Ya’ll were on my side when he put rice down the garbage disposal. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-tenant-landlord-question/541588/5 "2010-06-02T02:10:23Z")
IAALandlord. Is the house a stand-alone? If so, and the tenant is the _only_ tenant (or her and her family), I might go as far as to buy her a set of bug bombs out of my own money. But you don’t know what habits she has that may be contributing to, or even causing, the problem. Does she leave dirty dishes/food/garbage sitting around? Does she empty her trash regularly? Were there roaches there _before_ the tenant moved in? I pay $90.00/mo for an exterminator to come do the apartment building I own, but for stand-alone properties (like the trailers at the trailer park we own), roaches are the tenant’s problem, because it’s usually (not _always_) the tenant’s habits that either cause or perpetuate them. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-tenant-landlord-question/541588/6 "2010-06-02T02:10:27Z")
Why not just eat them yourself, being a carnivorous plant and all? In any case, it’s on the landlord, generally. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-tenant-landlord-question/541588/7 "2010-06-02T02:12:23Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > IAALandlord. > Does she leave dirty dishes/food/garbage sitting around? Does she empty her trash regularly? Were there roaches there _before_ the tenant moved in? No roaches before he moved in, but he keeps things clean. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-tenant-landlord-question/541588/8 "2010-06-02T02:24:21Z")
Well, out here you as the landlord could get fined and have the City force you to reduce rent for a pest infestation, so yes, your job. If they are filthy, then maybe you have a case- but for eviction. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-tenant-landlord-question/541588/9 "2010-06-02T02:50:41Z")
You know what’s worse than roaches? Landlords who look for any excuse to not have to provide a safe and habitable domicile for their tenants. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-tenant-landlord-question/541588/10 "2010-06-02T02:55:21Z")
Landlord, unless the tenant agrees otherwise. In our case, I asked the landlord not to spray his usual spray, because I’ve got a kid with lung issues and a fiance with COPD (asthma). I buy our own Maxforce gel and use that instead. I suppose I could press the issue and make him buy the gel, but we have a nice friendly relationship, and I don’t mind. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-tenant-landlord-question/541588/11 "2010-06-02T03:19:27Z")
Did the Landlord spray something, or did he hire an exterminator? ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-tenant-landlord-question/541588/12 "2010-06-02T03:22:48Z")
An infestation usually requires some sort of bug bomb, then an exterminator for maintenance. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-tenant-landlord-question/541588/13 "2010-06-02T05:16:01Z")
And if the source of infestation isn’t found, they’ll keep coming back. It could be something like an infested bag of flour or cereal. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-tenant-landlord-question/541588/14 "2010-06-02T05:42:10Z")
Back when we rented, the landlords always had exterminators come around and spray on a regular basis, whether we saw any roaches or other creepity crawlies or not. From what I understood, it was just considered to be a maintenance item, like getting the grass cut and repairing the furnace and painting the places now and then. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-tenant-landlord-question/541588/15 "2010-06-02T06:59:49Z")
If the tenant is generally clean, then it’s your problem. If not, then you evict the tenant and it’s still your problem. ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-tenant-landlord-question/541588/16 "2010-06-02T11:29:33Z")
When I rented an apartment and found out within two weeks of moving in that it was infested with tiny roaches, I had my then-boyfriend caulk/bomb/spray/sprinkle bug poison and then we just added up the totals and subtracted it from our rent check. With receipts. I’m going with the general consensus; pest infestations are the landlord’s problem. If it’s the tenant’s sloppy fault, you can evict them. But you’ll still have the pests til YOU take care of the problem. Why not solve it now? ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-tenant-landlord-question/541588/17 "2010-06-02T11:51:27Z")
Having been both a tenant and a landlord, pests are the landlords problem. As a landlord the issue was termites, not roaches. As a tenant, like **Lynn** , we had an annual inspection and treatment by an exterminator, regardless of whether or not there were any reports of actual bugs to be seen. I never saw any. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-tenant-landlord-question/541588/18 "2010-06-02T16:36:50Z")
Your house, your bugs, your bother. However, as you’re new to it, perhaps they have been there longer than the tenant, using their well known hiding abilities. In this case an alternative presents itself: eliminate the tenant and return the dwelling to it’s rightful vermin overlords. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-tenant-landlord-question/541588/19 "2010-06-02T16:49:09Z")
I have a guy coming out Thursday to spray. Much less expensive than I thought, BTW. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-tenant-landlord-question/541588/20 "2010-06-02T17:13:11Z")
Landlords have to take “positive” steps to eliminate pests. For instance, when I had mice in my flat last summer, my landlord gave me some spring traps. Total cost for him $2.00 I had to find my own answer to get rid of the suckers. But as long as the landlord can show he is “trying” to get rid of them, he’s OK. For roaches, nothing beats boric acid… Here’s the thing, in order for it to REALLY work you have to let the roaches live. Unlike Raid or other such insecticides, that kill ASAP, the roaches crawl through the boric acid and take it back. It then does something to their exoskeleton. This is the problem in order for it to work, you gotta let the roaches live to take it back to their nest. And if you’re squeemish, it’s problematic. If you never had roaches before, one thing to look for is boxes. If you are buying from some store (like Aldis) where you can use their boxes to carry home groceries, the roaches can live in their and you accidently bring them home. Also if you go to the gym they can live in lockers and you bring them home that way too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-tenant-landlord-question/541588.md?page=2)