|
Fighting bedbugs a team effort: Landlords, tenants must work together to rid buildings of these pesky critters
June 2011
|
|
Vince Brescia, President and CEO,
Federation of Rental-Housing Providers of Ontario (FRPO) |
|
| *V-Report Sponsor |
 |
| |
| |
By Clare Tattersall
They’re creepy, crawly and their meal of choice is blood, just like the abhorred mosquito. But unlike the fly-like insect, bedbugs are more than a nuisance; they present a very real problem to cities across North America that have been inundated with infestations and can’t seem to get rid of these tiny suckers.
“We need to take this issue seriously as a society and apply larger resources to eradicate them,” says Vince Brescia, President and CEO of the Federation of Rental-Housing Providers of Ontario (FRPO), which represents those who own, manage, build and finance residential rental properties in the province.
Contrary to popular belief, says Brescia, bedbugs are not just a problem for public housing and apartment buildings. They can and have been found in Class A office buildings, swanky five-star hotels, movie theatres and even single family homes.
“All types of real estate are affected. Bedbugs even travel on buses and subways, so they’re not just a rental housing phenomenon.”
However, bedbugs are commonly reported in apartment buildings because they can easily spread unit to unit, escaping extermination when professional pest treatment is only applied to what’s believed to be the “source” suite.
“Sometimes where you get the (bedbug) notice from isn’t necessarily the core of the problem in the building,” explains Brescia. Therefore, “you often have to treat the neighbouring units – the one immediately above, below and those on either side – of the reported ‘source’ unit to ensure you’ve killed off the infestation.”
In Ontario, landlords that fail to provide a dwelling that is reasonably free of insects and pests face a variety of repercussions; that is, so long as the tenant files a complaint with the Landlord and Tenant Board. These include abatement of rent, termination of the tenancy or compensation for damages incurred due to the failure to act.
While landlords are responsible for getting rid of an insect or pest infestation, tenants are obliged to take reasonable precautions to not bring bedbugs into their unit, says Brescia.
Unfortunately though, “it’s pretty difficult to prove a tenant’s responsible for bedbugs.”
This is one reason the FRPO would like to see the Residential Tenancies Act amended to include specific obligations of tenants with regards to bedbugs.
“We’d also like to see the legislation changed to deal with tenants who are non-responsive to requests for (bedbug) treatment,” notes Brescia. “This creates a problem for all tenants around them because if a tenant won’t cooperate then you’re not going to be able to properly deal with the problem.”
|
| Additional V-Report Opinions: |
|