keys and pest control

[Walter C.]

I am wondering... should I have a copy of key to every room within the apartment? I wonder if this would be an invasion of privacy. With 1 unit, there are 2 people living there, with their respective bedroom being their own mini-apartment. Now, I did run into a problem when these people were either sleeping or out at work when I had an inspector come in, and their doors were locked. And I did tell them ahead of time, but apparently, I did not do it enough. Not helping matters, is that they don't speak or understand English. And now, I will need access to their room for pest control.

Speaking of which, do you go with a local or national brand like Orkin or Terminix? And should I give the tenants some information in their native language on preparations beforehand and other things to do when an exterminator arrives and after?

Also, I am thinking about having all the residential units treated at the same time, as they are all overdue.

I know this is all over the place, but I am trying to figure out how to do all this without going insane.

[Richard F.]

Aloha,

The key situation should be clearly spelled out in the Rental Agreement...but yes, you need access. It does little good to "tell them" an inspection or access is required at a specific date/time, always put it in writing. If you rented to them, how could you reach agreement? One of you needs a translator available, or use google translate. It sounds like you are renting each BR individually? Or did you rent to several people and they put their own locks on the BR? You should also have a set of "House Rules" to cover the common areas. Pest Control should be specifically acknowledged by Tenants, especially if they have ANY food/meds within their BR.

I recommend avoiding Terminix at ALL costs. Their idea of marketing endless emails, added to the fact they apparently have no way to track multiple contracts for one PM/Owner, results in total chaos and aggravation. They also completely fail to actually perform service, based on their own online portal info, but still charge for it. I ONLY work with proven, local pest control companies...and when they get bought out by the Big Guys, I change to another local company.