Landlord Question and Answer Forum

I bought a condo to in a 28 floor building. It was empty for about 2 months while I was working on it and advertising. I did not see any pests during this time but when my tenants moved in they found some roaches in the kitchen, mainly in the cabinets. I had an exterminator come out to spray the next day. 5 days later they said they were still seeing roaches. Once again, I had the exterminator come the next day. He sprayed again and confirmed that there is no infestation and that they had to be coming over from another unit. My tenants are very upset because they keep seeing roaches and are threatening to move out. I have a 1 year lease and we are only 3 weeks into it. I have tried everything that the exterminator said to do such as sealing plumbing holes and putting down combat roach gel. They said at the beginning of the month that if the problem is not fixed they would be moving out. If they leave, am I required to return the deposit even though I have taken action to professionally fix the problem? The exterminator is coming out again to spray. Any other advice on how to handle the situation? Thanks a lot.

It's a really hard situation, esp if it's coming from another unit. It's also hard to keep their deposit, since it's been such a short time frame.

Posted by karen s, WI on Friday, June 29, 2012

Have you visited the unit yourself after the complaint? You may want to check for yourself together with the exterminator. You can also coordinate with the facilities management of the whole building if this is not confined within your unit. Roaches will only need a little opening and they can move one place to another. This will happen again and again if the whole building is not treated. You may have done everything you can to have the issue fixed, within your unit, still you will have to return the deposit as the tenant is not at fault in this case.

Posted by Randal B, CA on Saturday, June 30, 2012