Pest issue - Landlord Forum thread 360877

Pest issue by NJLL20 on October 5, 2020 @20:54

our tenants moved in just 6 weeks ago. They have been very nitpicky since the day they moved in. We lived in that house till few months ago and everything has been in good working condition and well maintained but the tenants have been nasty & making rude comments about everything even though they visited the house twice & checked everything out before signing the lease. We had some angry exchanges in the short time we have had them bcoz of this.

Few days ago, they complained about spotting mice droppings. We promptly visited the property and plugged a hole found in the garage witb steel wool and set up traps, then shipped them more traps. In all the years we have been there, we never had a mice issue so its puzzling to us. Now they were not happy with the initial steps we took and demanded we eradicate the mice the same day. We have been tenants ourselves and have had this issue in our apartment and we did the same thing, our landlord never even showed up. We told them they are free to call an exterminator of their choice if they wish but most places suggest setting traps as the best solution. So they complained to the health department, the inspector showed up and issued us a violation notice asking us to get a licensed pest applicator to remedy the situation. We were not aware they had called the inspector and before we got the notice we ourselves hired a licensed pest control guy to visit the house. He set up bait traps and said he will visit after few days, he explained that the mice will consume the chemical in the bait & when it goes out it will die from the chemical. He said it was a proven method.

The tenants complained that the inspector did not do enough, they were not happy that he just set the bait traps. We explained to them we have done the best and even hired a licensed guy but now they are disputing his methods too. We told them of you can find someone who can guarantee getting rid of the mice in one day and that there will never be an infestation again, they can hire them. We also offered to let them out of the lease if they are afraid to live there.

We took all the actions speedily. It's understandable that mice can be scary & annoying but we feel the tenants are being more of a pest than the mice in badgering us constantly about the situation. Certain things take time, you just need patience. Is there any guidance on how soon things should be remedied or a specific course of action to take when dealing with pests. We are in NJ, the worst state for landlords.

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Re: Pest issue by lpadave on October 5, 2020 @22:27	[ Reply ]

Time to invoke the HAPPYNESS CLAUSE your tenant is not going to get better , is not going to be happy and is going to make your life miserable. It's obvious they are not happy with the way you run your business and you are clearly not a Good enough LL or businessman in their eyes. You are not worthy of having them bless you with their presence In your property. You should let them out of their lease obligation promptly at the end of the month. And return their security deposit in the fullest amount possible. Dats my recommendation. Dats da story and I'm sticking to it And dats dat ,! , !