Landlord or Tenant. Who Pays for Pest Control?

Hawaii Property Management Podcast with Duke Kimhan

If a tenant leaves food out in the house and a rodent problem develops, who is responsible for pest control: the owner or the tenant?

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Pests can be a formidable adversary. Their job is to come into your house and find whatever food and water they can.
That’s why pest control is an incredibly important subject for tenants and owners.
As an owner, it is totally optional to carry pest control through the lease period of the tenants. That said, our addendum states that pest control is covered by the tenant.
Pest control includes rodent control. The owner has no control if tenants leave out food, which attracts pests—so they should not be held responsible. If rodent control is an ongoing problem mentioned in the owner’s interview, I would recommend that you continue to carry rodent control in your house.

The owner is not the one who attracted the pests, so the owner does not incur the costs of pest control.

Rodents are brought in by food not being stored properly in the home. So, as I mentioned, since the tenant is the one who attracts the rodents, they are the ones responsible for the costs of rodent control.
Although pest control is important, I would say that 90% of my homes do not have a rodent problem.
If you have any other questions about pest control or would like to learn more about how we take care of your investment properties, just give me a call or send me an email. Feel free to check out our site as well. I would be happy to help you!