covering my bases - bug control

[Kelly G.]

Greetings all;

I'm having an issue with "bugs" and am just trying to be sure I'm covering my bases in handling this. Here's a quick summary: (Milw, WI house - not CA - fyi)

Long story short: after being in the house about 3 months, my tenants complained to my PM that they are being bitten by something. They threw my PM's pest guy out of the house, hired their own exterminator who didn't fix the problem, now they want to stick me with their bill!

Tenants said their pest guy said they had "bird mites". Now, I bought the house in 2005; never had a bird; mom and co. lived their for 7 years, never had bug problems. House was vacant for most of 1 year - though I was there doing some work on occasion and slept on floor - no bug issues.

So . . here I am:

a) After being there 3 months - I'm thinking they brought the bugs with them - they did have their stuff in a POD when they moved in.

b) according to Milw. ordinance, pest control in a SFH is the tenant's responsibility.

c) OTOH - I have an interest, as property owner to know what the problem is and to be sure it is dealt with promptly, correctly, and efficiently . . so . . I have hired a pest co. to do an inspection - including setting traps for several days to identify problem. This I am willing to pay for. Exterminating?? That's to come . . .

What's your best advice going forward? Pay the full cost of extermination? Share w/ tenants? Bill the tenants - and refuse to pay their exterminator costs?

Thanks in advance

Kelly