Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums » Reader questions (do not fit into other categories)
How can I find a bed bug free tenant?
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islandgal
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Joined: Oct '09
Posts: 25offline
Posted 2 years ago
Wed Aug 25 2010 16:58:39
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I am in the process of trying to find a tenant to rent the basement suite of my family home in Vancouver. The main part of the house will soon be empty as I’ve moved out to live with my boyfriend, my sister is moving out of town for work and my dad spends most of his time at our other home which is in another town. We’ve agreed to keep the main floors vacant for my sister’s and dad’s use while visiting. We have never had a bed bug infestation in our home.
Bed bugs are a problem here, as in most cities, but there are still those who are ignorant of the problem. Even though I don’t live there, I am very afraid of renting the suite out to someone who is not educated on this topic, trying to flee their own infestation and believing that they will be successful in doing so by simply moving apartments. Or someone who values the bargain of free furniture brought in off of the street.
My family said asking a prospective tenant if they had ever had a problem with bed bugs might lead them to believe that we have or had a problem. Another point my sister made was that even if someone applying for the suite did have a problem, they may deny it in order for us to agree to rent it to them.
I am wondering if all of you wonderful, knowledgeable bed buggers could provide some suggestions on how to approach this topic in trying to find a responsible tenant to live in our home.
Thank you.
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Eve
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Joined: Apr '10
Posts: 297offline
Posted 2 years ago
Wed Aug 25 2010 17:03:45
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In the same way that I would feel more comfortable with moving into a place that had the problem and dealt with it, I would feel safer with someone who had the problem and dealt with it.
If the city you're in is something of a hot zone, the only way to prevent getting them into your home (or alternatively recognizing the problem and dealing with it quickly) is to find someone who has been exposed. I'm sorry, there are are so many issues to keep on top of these days, that I don't really blame people who aren't aware of every nuance of this problem.
Someone who has had them and dealt with them probably has protocols in place to make sure it is unlikely to ever happen again.
Eve
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islandgal
newbite
Joined: Oct '09
Posts: 25offline
Posted 2 years ago
Wed Aug 25 2010 17:11:08
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Eve, do you think I would be out of line by requesting our future tenant not bring in furniture off the street/be wary of used furniture?
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Eve
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Joined: Apr '10
Posts: 297offline
Posted 2 years ago
Wed Aug 25 2010 17:20:21
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Until thermal chambers are routine, I would absolutely insist on that Islandgal. Sort of my point really. Someone who has fought these things and won would never ever bring in anything like that to their own home.
But buying new furniture doesn't solve the problem until all dealers have separate fleets of trucks for the picking up of old furniture and the delivery of new stuff.
Eve
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Joined: Aug '10
Posts: 166offline
Posted 2 years ago
Wed Aug 25 2010 17:41:04
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Personally I've given up; I'm too traumatized. I bought this house with my ex-husband -- technically a "one family" house, though it was built more than a hundred yrs ago with multiple kitchens & really only makes sense to partially rent out, due to both its size and how expensive it is. (Besides, even in a single family, you're allowed to "rent out rooms").
Anyway, even though my mortgage is supposedly so "cheap" (you can't even buy a one bedroom apt. in Brooklyn for what I pay! But my house is still, after 7 yrs., a handyman special; the tenants' space was nice, but where I live downstairs is a s*hole -- guess you get what you pay for), it's way more than I can afford without tenants. I'm a professional do-gooder; we don't make that kind of money.
I've applied for a home loan modification through the government Making Home Affordable program. (Between my divorce and not being able to find tenants for a recently infested place -- go figure -- I'm definitely facing what the program calls a "hardship.")
If I don't get the modification, I guess I have only a few options: 1) foreclosure, 2) renting to more ironic "vintage"-everything-collecting hipsters and cross my fingers after giving them my whole lecture, or 3) selling a house that was recently infested with bbs & where it rains in my kitchen & saying goodbye to all the money and hours I've spent working on it (& hope to find somewhere I can actually afford to live).
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