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Bed bugs-tenant or landlord?

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  • 25-04-2017 1:00pm
    #1
    Onthefence
    Registered Users Posts: 103 ✭✭


    Hi,
    A family member has a new tenant in their property since January. This week, the tenant says she has bed bugs bites and has seen bed bugs on the mattress.

    So we understand something will need to be done, but the question is who is likely to be responsible for the cleaning and the bill?!

    The mattress was not new and had been used by the previous tenant, but it was cleaned before the new tenancy. Given that she has been living there three months without a single bite, is it likely that she has introduced the bugs herself? She provides all her own linen. Thanks in advance.


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    #2
    Ms Doubtfire1
    Registered Users Posts: 1,422 ✭✭✭Ms Doubtfire1


    Uhm..tricky but would almost think the LL as the bugs can survive for 5 month without food.You won't be able to prove she brought them in


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    #3
    Cuddlesworth
    Registered Users Posts: 13,995 ✭✭✭✭Cuddlesworth


    Unless its a detached house, they can come in from neighbouring propertys as well. Nasty problem that is returning to Ireland.


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    #4
    dev100
    Registered Users Posts: 1,002 ✭✭✭dev100


    It would make your skin crawl with the thoughts of it 😂


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    #5
    Onthefence
    Registered Users Posts: 103 ✭✭Onthefence


    Ms Doubtfire1 wrote: »
    Uhm..tricky but would almost think the LL as the bugs can survive for 5 month without food.You won't be able to prove she brought them in

    Good to know! I never knew that.


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    #6
    Onthefence
    Registered Users Posts: 103 ✭✭Onthefence


    Cuddlesworth wrote: »
    Unless its a detached house, they can come in from neighbouring propertys as well. Nasty problem that is returning to Ireland.
    I've heard of a few cases lately myself.


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    #7
    Ms Doubtfire1
    Registered Users Posts: 1,422 ✭✭✭Ms Doubtfire1


    it makes me wanna scratch immediately...:eek::eek::eek:


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    #8
    jimmycrackcorm
    Registered Users Posts: 14,339 ✭✭✭✭jimmycrackcorm


    Ms Doubtfire1 wrote:
    Uhm..tricky but would almost think the LL as the bugs can survive for 5 month without food.You won't be able to prove she brought them in

    Yes but no history of bed bugs before. Mattress was cleaned prior to new rental so the odds are that it's the tenants problem.


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    #9
    Ms Doubtfire1
    Registered Users Posts: 1,422 ✭✭✭Ms Doubtfire1


    jimmycrackcorm wrote: »
    Yes but no history of bed bugs before. Mattress was cleaned prior to new rental so the odds are that it's the tenants problem.

    I was thinking that but you're going to be hard pressed to prove that.Cleaning a mattress in the usual way does not kill Bedbugs or their eggs...

    https://www.orkin.com/other/bed-bugs/bedbug-life-stages/


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    #10
    pilly
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 9,005 ✭✭✭pilly


    For a sake of a big row I'd be providing a new mattress straight away, they're not expensive.


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    #11
    wordofwarning
    Closed Accounts Posts: 697 ✭✭✭wordofwarning


    Has he/she been on holiday recently? You feel bed bugs quickly. I find it hard to believe they were there for 3/4 months and they are only feeling it now.

    I imagine they brought them into the property


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    #12
    .......
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,057 ✭✭✭.......


    This post has been deleted.


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    #13
    pilly
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 9,005 ✭✭✭pilly


    ....... wrote: »
    This post has been deleted.

    Jesus I don't think so, I hope not. I've never experienced them myself but I remember my mam telling me they had to burn the mattresses, I don't remember her saying anything about the carpets.

    I'm starting to itch now as well.


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    #14
    Grawns
    Registered Users Posts: 2,169 ✭✭✭Grawns


    Bed bugs don't just live in mattresses, they live in the base, and behind the skirting and lay their eggs. They love wood. You need a professional exterminator. It's a business expense so can be offset against tax. Definitely the landlords responsibility.


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    #15
    jamesthepeach
    Registered Users Posts: 992 ✭✭✭jamesthepeach


    Replacing the mattress is a waste of time and money. they will just end up straight back in the new mattress


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    #16
    the_syco
    Registered Users Posts: 37,301 ✭✭✭✭the_syco


    Ms Doubtfire1 wrote: »
    the bugs can survive for 5 month without food.
    And they can hibernate for two years.


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    #17
    pilly
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 9,005 ✭✭✭pilly


    This is all freaking me out!


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    #18
    Onthefence
    Registered Users Posts: 103 ✭✭Onthefence


    Thanks all for your input. I'm completely freaked out myself now, and will be going nowhere near the place with her!! No chance I'm bringing one or two home!!


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    #19
    Grawns
    Registered Users Posts: 2,169 ✭✭✭Grawns


    Onthefence wrote: »
    Thanks all for your input. I'm completely freaked out myself now, and will be going nowhere near the place with her!! No chance I'm bringing one or two home!!

    They can't jump on to your clothes but they do hitch rides on suitcases. When I first came across them I got super paranoid in hotels.


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    #20
    Ms Doubtfire1
    Registered Users Posts: 1,422 ✭✭✭Ms Doubtfire1


    the_syco wrote: »
    And they can hibernate for two years.

    :eek::eek::eek:


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    #21
    pilly
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 9,005 ✭✭✭pilly


    Grawns wrote: »
    They can't jump on to your clothes but they do hitch rides on suitcases. When I first came across them I got super paranoid in hotels.

    Can they fly?


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    #22
    tuisginideach
    Registered Users Posts: 2,067 ✭✭✭tuisginideach


    Are you/ is the tenant sure they are bedbugs? I had a female tenant who, along with her parents, threatened me with all sorts of costs and hassle because there was - supposedly - a bed bug in her bed months after she had chosen to go into that bed & bedroom after her housemate had left. He had lived/slept there for three years without a bite/problem. She sent me a photo to prove her story.

    I phoned a pest control company who were extremely helpful, told me to send on the photo and confirmed that it was not a bed bug but some other sort of creepy crawly (I've forgotten the technical details) which would probably have come in on her clothes. Did I get an apology from her or her parents - not one word of an apology or even an acknowledgement from the parents.


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    #23
    Grawns
    Registered Users Posts: 2,169 ✭✭✭Grawns


    pilly wrote: »
    Can they fly?

    No, thankfully they can't fly but they can move around a good bit. They wait until you are asleep as they monitor the carbon dioxide levels or something like that . Then when you're sleeping they have their dinner😱

    Not everyones skin will react to the bites so they can be there a while before they're found.


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    #24
    Ray Palmer
    Registered Users Posts: 8,394 ✭✭✭Ray Palmer


    the_syco wrote: »
    And they can hibernate for two years.

    Yes they can survive but if the place had tenants for 3-4 months and the place had been let before they wouldn't need to hibernate or go without food. If there was food and heat about for 3 months before any bite they were most likely brought by the tenant. It maybe very expensive to deal with. They can get into everything and books are a very common hiding place


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    #25
    TresGats
    Registered Users Posts: 181 ✭✭TresGats


    http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/8k-payout-for-children-bitten-by-bed-bugs-while-living-in-dublin-hostel-35659598.html

    The Judge ruled in this case in today's Indo that the owners should have contacted a pest control company as soon as the plaintiffs received bites. I wouldn't like to be a Landlord arguing in court that they brought them in themselves.


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    #26
    pilly
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 9,005 ✭✭✭pilly


    TresGats wrote: »
    http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/8k-payout-for-children-bitten-by-bed-bugs-while-living-in-dublin-hostel-35659598.html

    The Judge ruled in this case in today's Indo that the owners should have contacted a pest control company as soon as the plaintiffs received bites. I wouldn't like to be a Landlord arguing in court that they brought them in themselves.

    Jesus H, 8k for a few bites. :mad:


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    #27
    LuckyLloyd
    Registered Users Posts: 36,350 ✭✭✭✭LuckyLloyd


    Definitely a Landlord's responsibility to arrange and sort. Professional services are required to exterminate them successfully.


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    #28
    Michael D Not Higgins
    Registered Users Posts: 7,223 ✭✭✭Michael D Not Higgins


    The landlord must be shown to be negligent in their duties in order to be liable. There's no claim to be made if the landlord is willing to rectify via pest control.


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