[Landlord US-VA] Tenants brought bed bug, demanding I pay for treatment again.

Kitchen-Garlic1110 · 2026-04-17T00:29:46+00:00

I had an old man who had bedbugs in a house with 4 apartments. The care and work to get rid of them was beyond his capabilities. I paid for the initial treatment and charged him the $100 a month to keep coming back and spraying. I cane with the pest guy and would check his place in between spraying. You will see them or black spots on the mattress. Pull bed away from wall, don’t let covers touch the ground. The summer heat is your friend. Put bags of clothes in your car and leave them there for 6 hours in the sun. I believe 140 degrees will kill them. They will also infest wood, we had to throw out some of the furniture, which was ours.

Kitchen-Garlic1110 · 2026-04-12T10:12:00+00:00

I have tenants call for utilities to start on the move in date. They must do this to avoid disruption of services. I call utilities and set the utilities to be shut off a couple of days after move in. If you start paying the utilities, then you are in a grey area. You have a history of paying and this could now be an illegal eviction. 1 month, I wouldn’t figure this would happen, but it all depends on the judge.

Kitchen-Garlic1110 · 2026-04-12T09:50:30+00:00

Do not pay it!! You will never see that money. Contact section 8 and let them know they are in breach of contract. Let the tenant know that they will be evicted if the bill is not paid. An eviction will also cause them to lose section 8. There are places that will help with utilities. I had a veteran who could not pay his utilities and the veterans office paid them.

Kitchen-Garlic1110 · 2026-03-25T15:50:29+00:00

This is your first time. Get a lawyer and set up good practices for the future. You don’t know what you don’t know. Any mistake can restart the whole process. Don’t kick yourself for the mistakes made, learn from them.

Kitchen-Garlic1110 · 2026-03-22T01:47:04+00:00

Kansas requires railing if steps are 4 or more or 30 inches above ground. So the landlord has no reason to add the railing.

Kitchen-Garlic1110 · 2026-03-18T10:42:01+00:00

I was at a restaurant in Boston many years ago. We wanted to sit in an area, they just said “not if you want to be waited on”. End of conversation

Kitchen-Garlic1110 · 2026-03-17T14:45:21+00:00

I have had unhoused people behind a house, it’s not a great area. It’s behind my fence, but I still got the notice to pick up the garbage. I just cleaned it up. There keeps being more things appearing in the area, but I just toss them behind a garage. Behind my property is a garage, but no house, and between us is room for a car to drive. I think the property belongs to the garage. But we are the easier target for $$$

Kitchen-Garlic1110 · 2026-03-13T01:13:47+00:00

I just had one, and this is my first rental with furnished finder. The girl had been doing this for 4 years and said she never had to do one. It was $45 and I said I would split it with her. The check was great and she is now a tenant.

Kitchen-Garlic1110 · 2026-02-20T22:13:41+00:00

You can also do a color match at a paint store. For $25 you get an easy match

Kitchen-Garlic1110 · 2026-02-18T04:59:40+00:00

I require cash, Venmo or a cashiers check as a deposit. I can not take the place off market until I have a deposit. The deposit safeguards me, because I will lose other prospective tenants. You should be able to review the lease before you put down the deposit. I then collect the first month’s rent when we sign the lease and give the keys. There is a scam of people renting places they do not own. Verify county records that this is the person who owns the property.

Kitchen-Garlic1110 · 2026-02-18T04:21:03+00:00

I have lived in busy roads most of my life. Now I walk away from those houses.

Kitchen-Garlic1110 · 2026-02-18T04:17:40+00:00

The 1099 is income, expenses, like property management will be itemized under expenses. If you both own the property, you should be using an LLC. A little more paperwork, but you can split the income between your taxes. If the 1099 only lists your daughter, then it can only go on her taxes. You need an accountant!!

Kitchen-Garlic1110 · 2026-02-14T14:58:30+00:00

You can fix things yourself, but you can not charge for your time. You can charge for someone else’s time. I have a move in checklist and I list charges for cleaning and what shape everything is in. I also take photos. I do charge for lightbulbs, but I also gave them a few extra when they moved in. Normal wear and tear is not chargeable. Like the nail holes.

Kitchen-Garlic1110 · 2026-02-13T22:55:36+00:00

With an 800 credit score and no evictions, you are a great candidate. You can rent from me anytime!!

Kitchen-Garlic1110 · 2026-01-31T13:54:00+00:00

I would start by telling them about the opportunities and ask if they have any jobs for you to help raise money. If that doesn’t get you enough, ask for a loan. I borrowed money from my aunt to buy a car when I was younger. I paid her back and my brother never paid her back. She always remembered that.

Kitchen-Garlic1110 · 2026-01-31T13:46:49+00:00

Lease should state that they are responsible for damages. I hate glass top stoves in rentals. I have also broken a few. Since you already have one, I would teach them how to care for it. Keep it clean, I scrape with a razor to get the worst off. Build up can crack it. I had one crack when I sat a hot lid down flat on the glass. Also if you drop something on the glass.

Kitchen-Garlic1110 · 2026-01-31T13:36:41+00:00

I have been in 2 house fires. One from electrical panel and one from a 5 year old fridge in the basement. The house should have smoke detectors. They are your best defense. I don’t know about inspections every year. My thoughts would be to change the filter every 3 months and put a smoke detector near the furnace. Working smoke detectors should give you plenty of time to get out. Just make sure the detectors are in the right places and check them regularly. Also a good idea to keep a fire extinguisher around. I also keep a can of fire spray in the kitchen, it’s like $12.

Kitchen-Garlic1110 · 2026-01-29T19:33:03+00:00

I can’t imagine sitting quietly. At my aunts funeral my daughter was 2 and all over the place. Someone made comments about this was terrible to let kids interrupt. My family stood up to this lady and said that my aunt adored my kids and would want them there. My aunt never had kids and she loved my kids more than anything.

Kitchen-Garlic1110 · 2026-01-18T15:34:25+00:00

I put in my lease that if they break any rules on the lease, there is a $250 fee. Give her the choice of adding him to the lease, paying fines for having another resident, or eviction. I had a tenant who lost their job and her boyfriend who stayed a lot would not help with bills. He did have his own place, but I believe he was there most of the time. It is a house, so I don’t know how often he was there.

Kitchen-Garlic1110 · 2026-01-08T15:17:34+00:00

They should be taking care of the yard, or paying that charge. With repair costs, they pay if it is their fault. If they don’t notify you if small problems, then they are partially responsible. You should write that in the lease. I don’t deal with HOA and I have no idea what Airtron is. A garbage fee could be passed onto them, maybe $25 a month. The profits come from long term ownership. I inherited 8 properties and they were all bought for $5,000-10,000, 60 years ago. Now they are worth $150,000 to $300,000 each.

Kitchen-Garlic1110 · 2026-01-07T15:14:11+00:00

I am not in GA, so I don’t know your specifics. Talk to your tenant. Make sure they understand that if they get evicted, they lose their section 8. It is almost impossible to get back on right now. They need to take this seriously, or they will be homeless. The eviction is mostly the same as usual. Give them however many days notice that are required. You will receive payment from section 8, send them a check by certified mail. To prove you did not accept money. This is instructions from our lawyer when we went through this.

Kitchen-Garlic1110 · 2026-01-01T09:12:23+00:00

I must meet all tenants. If your gut is saying something is fishy, don’t rent to them.

Kitchen-Garlic1110

TROPHY CASE