Fumigation: Do You Have To Cover Your Renters' Housing Costs?
From time to time, you may have to fumigate your apartment or rental housing. If you are a landlord or property management company, it is critical for you to take care of the building appropriately. If there are termites or other pests in the building, one of the fastest ways to get rid of them is to fumigate the property.
Fumigation, by its nature, is designed to be toxic. Therefore, your residents will not be able to stay in the apartment or rental house during the fumigation process. Do you have to pay for them to stay somewhere else while you are fumigating your property? There are several important points to keep in mind.
Typically, You Have To Cover Resident Costs
Typically, you are required to cover resident expenses if they are displaced for a certain amount of time. A lot of it comes down to how the contract is structured. For example, it might be enough to simply prorate the rent for that month if your residents are displaced by fumigation.
On the other hand, if you want to avoid a dispute, and if you want your residents to renew their lease, you may want to pay to put them up in a hotel for a few days.
What To Consider With the Fumigation Process
Ideally, you should fumigate the apartment in between contracts. That way, you don't have to disrupt any of your residents as you fumigate the property. If that is not possible, there are several important points you should keep in mind. They include:
Coordinate With Your Tenants
Even if you cannot get the fumigation process completed when all of your units are already bacon, you might be able to coordinate the fumigation schedule to make it more convenient for your renters. For example, you might be able to fumigate the property when all of your residents are on vacation. Or, some of your residents might be in the process of moving out, while others are visiting family. You need to give yourself, and your tenants, as much leeway as possible. The ultimate goal is to minimize the disruption to your residents.
Offer Your Residents a Daily Room Rate Allowance
Once you figure out exactly how many people you are going to displace during the fumigation process, you should offer your residents a daily room rate allowance. You should also provide them with a per-person, per-day stipend. Essentially, you should be covering all of the expenses that they would not typically incur if they were in the house. This means you need to pay to put them up in another apartment or a hotel somewhere. Even though you might not necessarily be required to provide them with a meal stipend, this might be prudent if you are interested in maximizing the chances of your residents renewing.
Call Multiple Fumigation Companies
You should also reach out to multiple fumigation companies. You want to get as many quotes as possible for the job. Even though you probably want to minimize the amount of money you spend, you must make sure the company does a good job on the first attempt.
If one company is significantly cheaper than the others, you need to figure out why. Perhaps they are relatively inexpensive because they don't do a great job. If the fumigation process doesn't work, you will simply need to start over, which means you will need to displace your residents again. This could become very expensive.
Is Now the Right Time To Sell?
If you aren't interested in dealing with the hassle, now might be the right time for you to sell the property. You probably have the property as an investment, and it could be a great time to capitalize on that investment. If you believe that the market is hot, you might be able to get a lot of money for your property without dealing with the termite infestation. Offer to sell the property as-is, and see if you can maximize its value.
What If Your Residents Are the Cause of the Infestation?
One way you might be able to avoid covering the cost of your residents being displaced is if you can prove that they were the cause of the infestation. State laws can vary significantly from place to place, and housing regulations could have an impact on whether you can prove this. For example, furniture has been known to cause termite infestations, and unreported water penetration could also fuel a termite infestation. Termites are also known to feed on cellulose, so if your residents have termite food laying around, they might be the reason why termites are present. You would probably have to prove this if you don't want to pay for your residents to be displaced.
Understand the Law in Your Area
Typically, you should pay for your residents' housing costs if they are displaced due to termite fumigation. Even if you are not required to do so, it is generally advisable, as you could increase your chances of your residents renewing their leases when the contract expires.
1,000,000+
SQUARE FEET MANAGED
800+
UNITS MANAGED
$100,000,000+
VALUE OF REAL ESTATE SOLD
1000+
SATISFIEID TENANTS
