Hey all you homeowners, renters, landlords and ladies, Here at Hometown Rent Rant, we’re trying not to bug out, and you should be too, unless you like spending your hard-earned cash waging war against insect kind on your own home turf. Bedbugs are a huge problem for everyone involved, and if you’re smart you’ll make sure that your house or apartment stays totally uninfested.
Anyone who is renting out a dwelling, be it house, apartment, loft, condo, duplex, house-boat, tree-fort, castle or bungalow has a responsibility to make sure it is bug-free before renting it out. Fortunately, bedbugs only really like living in beds, and furniture, and other soft things like luggage. As long as you or your last tenants didn’t leave a bunch of stuff in the house, you should be fine. Just make sure any couches or mattresses are bug-free by giving them a visual inspection. if you want to be sure, steam clean or heat treat those babies. That way if your house or apartment does end up with bugs, you’ll know it wasn’t you. If you can get your tenants to attest to this when they move in, that could cover you later.
Renters: you’re the ones who live in the rental property, so you’re the most likely to bring in new bugs, and the most affected by their presences. Side effects of bed bug infestation can include nasty itchy rashes and even psychological damage. The last part might sound a little extreme, but try going to bed imagining that there are tiny bugs drinking your blood in microscopic amounts. You might just end up like this guy.
If the house or apartment you’re renting is bedbug free in the first place, (which it most definitely should be,) then your only job is to not bring any bedbugs home with you. Sounds easy enough right? All you need to do is be careful what you bring home. I know that sofa sitting out on the fraternity lawn looks like it could use a good home, but so do the thousands of tiny bloodsuckers living in it. Same goes for that incredibly cheap armchair from goodwill and the free box of trendy clothes left on the curb down the street. Think about it–there’s probably a reason someone’s trying to get rid of all that stuff. Don’t be the poor sucker who’s going to give those bedbugs a home in your rental property, and don’t expect your landlord to pay for exterminators. If the house was bug-free when you moved in, then it’s on you to keep it that way.
Some of you may be thinking well this advice is all fine and dandy, but I already have bedbugs chewing on my unmentionables! What do I do now? Well first you probably want to take a hot shower. Then you want to treat your house, apartment, condo or loft, including mattresses, furniture, clothes, and whatever else you think the bedbugs might be living in. Remember, they like soft, dark folds in things. Hit ‘em where it hurts before they hit you where it itches.
Do you have rental questions of your own? Comments? Concerns? Love letters? Hate mail? Holla at us, we’ll holla back: Hometownrant@hometownrent.com