Is pest control the tenant’s responsibility?
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Is pest control the tenant’s responsibility?
I have a rental house. The house did not previously have mice but the tenants are reporting mice droppings now that the weather had cooled. The tenants do not keep the house clean. Is it my responsibility to take care of the problem or would it be reasonable to ask the tenants what they are doing to prevent mice?
Asked on December 17, 2011 under Real Estate Law, North Carolina
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Good question. The best way to answer your question is to carefully read the presumed written lease you as the landlord have for the renatl that you are writing about in that it controls the obligations owed you by the tenants and vice versa in the absence of conflicting state law.
Look for any provisions in the lease about maintaining the unit in a clean manner and whose responsibility it is to deal with problems arising to the unit if there are vermin issues.
You need to realize that a rental that has no vermin issues in decent weather may have issues when the temperatures cool where the rodents seek a warmer area to live. Most likely you as the landlord will have the responsibility to erradicate pests at your rental based upon my experience.
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