Work With Manager to Get Pest Problem Under Control
Question: I live in a large apartment complex and have a persistent problem with roaches. I have had my unit sprayed and treated by a professional pest control firm with bait traps on five occasions in the last six months. I still have roaches because apparently some of the tenants in my building refuse to allow the pest control company into their units.
The roaches go to these units until the bait wears off, and the manager claims she cannot force these tenants to cooperate. I don’t want to move, but what can I do?
Property manager Robert Griswold replies:
Though the landlord is responsible for pest control in the apartments, the cooperation of all tenants is required to control many pests, particularly cockroaches.
The owner or manager should take a firm stance with tenants who refuse to cooperate or who are violating the lease requirement to maintain their units in a clean, sanitary and habitable manner.
The first step the landlord should take is to voluntarily seek the cooperation of all tenants to perform a thorough inspection of all units with the pest control firm. The pest control firm can identify the source of the persistent roach problem and develop a plan of attack. This works as long as there is complete cooperation by all tenants.
The landlord may need to serve uncooperative tenants on leases with a three-day notice to cure or quit for any violation of sanitary conditions. For uncooperative tenants on month-to-month rental agreements, a three-day notice may work, but the landlord also has the option of serving a 30-day notice to vacate to either get their cooperation or to get possession of the unit so that professional pest control techniques can be used.
Attorney Ted Smith replies:
You should keep living there and work with the manager while he or she evicts the tenants next door if they don’t cooperate.
I do not recommend that you withhold rent in this case, because that should be done only when there are substantial defects in the apartment, and that depends on the extent of the roach problem. If a court rules that it is minor or trivial, then the landlord has not violated the warranty of habitability.
The law states that the neighboring tenants must allow access to management to spray. If they don’t, the owner will be able to evict them. Because you like living there, continue paying rent and cooperate with management to resolve the roach problem.
Attorney Steven Kellman replies:
A tenant does not ordinarily have to consent to having his or her unit sprayed. Pesticides sprayed in the unit can be uncomfortable for some individuals, and preparing for the spraying is inconvenient. However, if the refusal to allow access to spray the unit causes an enhanced infestation in neighboring units, the right to refuse access will probably be lost.
You may wish to contact your neighbors who refuse to cooperate and explain your situation. If they hear it from you and not the landlord, they may have a different view toward the spraying.
How to Handle Touchy Issue of Raising Rent
Q: I would appreciate your input on raising rents. I am an owner of a condominium in a nice area without rent control. Recently, rents in similar units to mine have been steadily increasing, and the vacancy rate is very low. I have been renting the unit on a month-to-month basis to good tenants who pay the rent on time and care for the home.
Many people have told me I am not charging enough and should raise the rent. My problem is that when the tenants moved in, I told them I would not raise the rent.
Am I held to this verbal agreement although nothing was put in writing? Other units in my complex are renting for $50 to $75 more per month. My conscience tells me to just keep the same rent and raise it when these tenants move out. What is your opinion?
Griswold replies:
Legally, you can raise the rent at any time with a month-to-month rental agreement, upon giving your tenant a written 30-day notice. Naturally, I cannot tell you to ignore your conscience, but the ownership and management of a rental unit must be treated as an investment. Thus, you need to be able to balance the emotional and business aspects of managing your rental unit.
Many owners prefer to use a property management company for this reason, as they are unable or unwilling to raise rents, enforce rules or evict a tenant, if necessary.
I always advise owners that it is better to be a little below market with a good renter rather than get every dollar and risk your valuable investment to an unknown tenant. However, your tenants cannot expect that your verbal agreement will be good forever. I suggest that you contact your current tenant and negotiate a reasonable rent increase.
Smith replies:
I understand your dilemma, but it’s time to put your conscience aside and view this as a business matter, as it should be.
Remember that owners have been taking a beating on rents for years. You may want to wait a little while, and then write your tenants a letter stating that you have had an opportunity to further evaluate market rents in the area and, although you want them to stay, it’s time to raise the rent to market based on proper notice.
Why don’t you offer them an incentive to stay, like a new microwave or fresh paint? That way, you get your market rate and promote good tenant relations.
Landlord Responsible for Making Repairs
Q: I have applied and been approved to rent a unit that needed some minor repairs that the owners agreed to make before I moved in. Yesterday, I went to move in and the owners told me that they changed their minds and that if I want the rental unit, I must make the repairs at my own expense.
Many of the items are minor but relate to health and safety: broken stairs, a medicine cabinet with shattered glass, exposed electrical wires and stepping stones that could cause tripping or falling.
I really love the area and there are no other vacant units. Isn’t the owner required to make these basic health and safety repairs?
Griswold replies:
Yes, the owner is required to make the repairs unless there is a different agreement with the tenant. Though it may be legally possible for the owner and tenant to voluntarily agree that the tenant will move into a unit with health and safety hazards, it is extremely unwise. The owner retains ultimate responsibility to ensure that the unit is in a safe and habitable condition. Because you have already moved in, I would suggest that you work with the landlord to see that these repairs are completed promptly to minimize the risk to you and your guests and to reduce the owners’ liability. Though there are state laws defining habitability, landlords are reminded to check with local authorities regarding any regulations that they impose on tenants.
Smith replies:
California’s rental owners have to meet minimum legal requirements for a rental dwelling to be habitable. In this case, the defects you mention are on the borderline. At this point you do not have the right to cancel the binding agreement. But, the owner will have to make the small repairs. Legally, he cannot shift the legal burden of the repairs to you. It sounds like these repairs can be made with minimal effort.
If you like the apartment despite the defects, you need to work it out with your landlord. Remember that as far as he is concerned, he’s required to maintain only minimum habitability--bare living conditions--to be in compliance with California law.
On the other hand, he should take care of the most serious problems at his expense, especially the electrical and stairway. Perhaps a deal can be struck to split the costs so the matter can be amicably resolved.
Check Out Special Deals for First-Time Buyers
Q: I am seeing and hearing a lot about large rent increases and feel that now may be the time to purchase a home rather than continue to rent. I just don’t know if I have enough money for a down payment. Friends told me about a program that enables first-time home buyers to purchase foreclosed homes for a down payment of $500 and a monthly mortgage payment equal to the median price for the area. Have you heard of this first-time buyer program or the name of the company making this special offer?
Griswold replies:
No, I have not heard of this specific program, but there are a large number of attractive financing programs to assist first-time home buyers. The number of offerings and the specific terms and conditions fluctuate weekly, so be sure to thoroughly check out the details.
I always suggest to watch out for any deals that seem too good to be true, as they probably are. Though many are offered directly to consumers by private lenders, the best programs are backed by such institutions as HUD, FHA or the VA. These institutions establish guidelines and will purchase first-time home-buyer loans on the secondary market made by lenders if the loans meet their stated underwriting criteria.
The availability to package pools of these loans and sell them to institutional investors is extremely important to the financing markets, and you should find many programs that meet the institutional criteria.
Note that some programs define a first-time home buyer as any individual who has not owned a home during the last three years.
This column is written by property manager Robert Griswold, host of “Real Estate Today!” (KSDO-AM [1130], 10 a.m. to noon Saturdays), and attorneys Steven R. Kellman, director of the Tenants’ Legal Center, and Ted Smith, principal in a law firm representing landlords.
If you have a question, send it to Rental Roundtable, Real Estate section, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A., CA 90012. Or e-mail rgriswold.latimes@retodayradio.com.
