Pest Control - Who is responsible?

[Sandra Regnell]

Who pays for pest control?

My tenant has a wasp nest which is obviously an issue. He asked for a gardener to remove it which I think is a bad idea.

TIA.

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Sandra Regnell:

You can kill off wasps for under $10 and it's pretty safe. Use a wasp spray, which shoots from 20 feet away. Make sure you are up-wind so it doesn't blow into your face (it's like Mace). Use half a can to douse soak the nest. Repeat the next day. Then knock it down, put it in a garbage bag, and throw it away. 

Here's a sample product: https://www.amazon.com/Spectra...

If they have any leftover, they can hold onto it as a home-defense remedy.

I recommend changing your lease to make tenants responsible for ordinary pest control, meaning anything that an ordinary person is capable of doing: swatting a fly, spraying wasps, bait traps for sugar ants, etc. I'll take care of any pests discovered in the first two weeks of occupancy, then it becomes a tenant responsibility. Here's my clause:

PEST CONTROL. Tenant acknowledges the Premises are free of pests at the time of occupancy. Ordinary pest control shall be the responsibility of the Tenant unless evidence demonstrates the situation is extraordinary and the Tenant is not the cause.