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How to kill bedbugs and other pests with kindness and professionalism.
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partment owners have a duty to maintain habitable units. Under sections 341.011 and 341.012 of the Texas Health and Safety Code, bedbugs are considered a public health nuisance, and individuals in possession of real property must remove a public health nuisance “as soon as the person knows that the nuisance exists.” Anyone who has worked in multifamily housing has dealt with bedbugs and the hardships that they come with. The data shows the apartment industry needs employees. It’s time apartment owners and managers embrace transferable skills. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an unemployment rate in the Houston area of 3.6% in December 2019. The apartment industry can do its part to boost the Houston employment rate by considering candidates who lack direct multifamily experience but who have strong applicable skills. Really, promoting RPM Careers Those tiny, blood-sucking parasites can be a nightmare and they can drive a wedge between you and your residents. When dealing with a bedbug infestation, property managers, residents and pest management professionals (PMPs) all share a feeling of frustration and each party plays defense. When you’re faced with an infestation, the most powerful tool against crawling pests is communication. Communication between residents and property managers, between property managers and PMPs, between PMPs and the maintenance team. Sincere, professional, empathetic communication between all parties can alleviate frustration and embarrassment. When bedbugs are found in a unit, each party partakes in finger pointing. This is because bedbugs don’t crawl in through a window or up a drain, they are a parasite that enter via someone’s belongings. With residents coming and going in apartments, it’s sometimes hard to find the blame. Your resident with the bedbug problem could blame their neighbor or the previous resident, and they might be correct. You theorize the bedbugs came in via the resident’s queen mattress that looks like it was bought from a thrift store, and that is equally probawww.haaonline.org
By
NICHOLAS NUNNERY, Preventative Pest Control
ble. The hard truth is that either explanation would be extremely difficult to prove in a court of law. A good PMP can ask questions, perform an inspection and put together a treatment plan, but he or she cannot perform forensics to find the absolute origin of the infestation. Plus, an honest PMP would know better than to make a claim. So, you’ve got an infested unit that could potentially infest other units and you could pay hundreds or thousands of dollars in treatment costs. Your resident is equally stressed. They have to sleep with the pain and irritation of bites. They feel angry at what they perceive to be your inaction. They feel judged and attacked by questions. It’s best to deal with bedbugs at the very beginning of a resident’s lease by executing a bedbug addendum along with a lease. Bedbug addendums hold both the property owner or property manager and the resident accountable for inspecting the unit and timely reporting of any signs of a possible infestation. The Texas Apartment Association lease requires reporting of health hazards by residents, and compliance with safety standards by property managers. The TAA bedbug addendum requires residents to inspect and disclose if they previously lived in a location that had bedbugs, while detailing the reporting requirements and payment responsibilities in the event of an infestation. Including a bedbug addendum can help alleviate the issue right at move-in. If a bedbug addendum is not included and the issue is not resolved at move-in, tension could create a lack of trust from your resident and a great deal of frustration among your staff. In addition, if you have a stubborn bedbug problem on-site, remedy each unit as they become vacant. This is when a thorough inspection and accurate communication are most powerful. When a unit is still vacant, A PMP can thoroughly inspect the unit and any remaining furniture or belongings left behind by the previous resident. If bedbugs are found during this inspection, he or she can perform a treatment at, likely, a lower cost and without any damage to your relationship with a future resident. If bedbugs are not found, your PMP can pro-
vide you with written, dated documentation that says no live bedbugs or evidence of bedbugs were found in areas accessible for inspection. This documentation can provide clarity should there be a future infestation. In these documents, your PMP should speak plainly and say nothing more or less than what they saw during the inspection. Vacant unit inspections aren’t an airtight control method, they are however, a valuable tool. Communication is another valuable tool. Your job is to protect your resident from that which can harm them while protecting the integrity of your own brand. You can do this by not giving into the hysteria or emotion of the situation. Bedbug Myths Here are some myths about bedbugs that can help you remain calm in a bedbug situation. “They can go years in a vacant unit without a bloodmeal.” The reality is closer to months, not years. Some people will worry that they can catch a disease from bedbugs, but scientists have found no evidence of bedbugs spreading disease through bites. Staying informed on bedbugs and other pests will help you ease the your resident’s concerns and guide you in making sound decisions. If you want to stay informed, a good PMP is be a great resource. German Cockroaches In addition to bedbugs, an apartment owner and/or property manager has an obligation by law to maintain units free of any infestations of roaches, rats, termites and other pests. German cockroaches are long, half an inch, tannish-brown invaders that lay 400 eggs in their lifetime, and they seem to dramatically lower the appeal of the apartment homes they infest. Like bedbugs, German cockroaches are a parasite that evolved to live off human scraps. You will not find them in the wild. They are mankind’s cockroach. Gag! When a resident has a German cockroaches infestation, it is natural to conjure up ideas of filth and mess, but, again, it is important to effectively communicate while avoiding the pitfall of the blame game. / See Pests, Page 73
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