Chicago Bedbugs - Did you know...?

[Russell W.]

Fun fact I learned this week: Chicago landlords are required to pay for pest management services to get rid of bed bugs in a tenant's apartment, according to the Chicago Department of Public Health - "Preventing Bed Bugs" lease addendum; "What are my landlord's responsibilities under this ordinance? 3) Get rid of the bed bug infestation by providing pest control services by a pest management professional and paying for this service". Luckily it was caught early and is not bad.

I had a tenant reach out to me this week with concerns about a possible bed bug situation in their unit. They asked if I would please take care of the problem and my knee-jerk reaction was "no, that is your problem" but then I thought I better consult my lease before I respond. Lo and behold there was the language. Not sure that the tenant is even aware of the language, but I also don't want to create problems for myself later if/when they do find it. 

Thought I'd share to to make others aware, as I had absolutely no idea this fell under a landlord responsibility. Has anyone else had a similar experience?

[John Warren]

@Russell W. I have dealt with bed bugs many, many times and I had a new infestation even last week in one of my new buildings that I just purchased in Berwyn. Bed bugs are frustrating, but it is really hard to pin down the infestation to a particular tenant in a lot of cases in a multifamily. If caught early enough, they are also not the end of the world to get rid off. I have a great exterminator, and he helped me get rid of a much, much worse infestation that took us almost a year to completely eradicate. 

Personally, I have found **** roaches to be more annoying than bed bugs... **** roaches are also in every single building when I acquired them over the past several years and don't get me started on those Chicago style rats!