Mice - whos responsible

Hi all,

Had an email today from my PM saying that the tenants in one of my Cairns properties has called to say they are having a problem with mice...they have apparently put down mouse traps, but they clearly haven't caught them all.

Surely the tenant has more responsibility than this to eradicate them - ie using mouse/rat poison, which is available at the supermarket (RatSack in the manhole has always worked wonders for us..and costs about $5). The are requesting pest control.

They are relatively new tenants, their last inspection was fine, and the house is less then 3yrs old. For all I know they might be leaving food scraps around..

Have had a quick look at the RTA site, but cant find anything relevent.

Can I refuse pest control at this stage? Seem a bit of overkill...

Nadia

This is what I have in my Leases.....but I'm guessing you don't have that luxury.....or more likely are prevented as such by law.


7.6. Pest Control

The Tenant shall take reasonable precautions to firstly establish and secondly maintain the Leased Premises free of cockroaches, insects, white ants, termites, rodents and other vermin and, if necessary, shall employ and pay the fees of professional pest controllers to eradicate the pests from the Leased Premises.


So - to your specific question, no I do not believe you can refuse your tenants, especially if they kick up a fuss.

They are responsible for breathing only - but only when you won't help them. Good luck.

Nards said:

Can I refuse pest control at this stage? Seem a bit of overkill...

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Pest control, by definition, cannot be overkill

they are having a problem with mice...

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...maybe the mice are responsible ??

send em a pussy cat

ta
rolf

Who's smarter

At times you gotto wonder! Who is smarter. The mice or the tenant.
Tenants mostly seem to pay rent (If U R Lucky) Then expect the world.

I had a tenant a few weeks back that rang the agents emergency phone number at 2am as it was windy. The agent enquired as to the problem. Is the roof lifting? No. Is there any damage? No. Is there a problem ? No. Well what do you want. Could you send someone around in case the wind gets worse and the roof blows off?

I suspect that if the home is only a few years old it may be in a area that is being carved up and sub divided. Even if not rodents seem to come and go depending on weather or area.

Throw a few THROW baits in the roof. But warn the tenants there may be a few yucky smells around if something dies in the roof or wall cavity.

I don't like the idea of baiting yard areas unless contained in a Flick like container, especially if children or animals are around.

Gee Cee

Nards

With the current (or nearly past) mouse plague which surfaced all around Qld this year, a few traps definately will not catch all the mice.

The plague this year was extreme. In fact I am still catching them. And I have 4 cats and about 10 traps set up around my home.

They need to persist for only a few more weeks and then hopefully they will mostly be gone.

There are right & wrong locations for setting up traps. Mice generally will run along a wall, so they need to set trap up close to a wall and not set willy nilly all over the place. Best to keep them to the path of mice and not expect that the mice will like what they have on offer out in the middle of the floor. If not set along a wall would only lead to a hit and miss approach.

Mouse glue traps are really good as well. Usually 2 to the packet and only $2.75. Best traps I have had success with are the grey Safe N Sure mousetrap which you can buy at Woolies for a couple of bucks each. These are so good, I don't even bait them. The mouse runs along the wall and soon as they run over/through the trap I have them.

One really bad year here (back in 2000 I think) I caught over 100 mice in the grey traps.

Kinga

Thanks for all your helpful (and not so helpful ) suggestions guys!

Don't worry - I know plenty of ways to kill/catch a mouse! But obviously this tenant does not, or more likely cant be bothered...if I lived nearby I'd sort the little buggers out myself!

My prob is they want me to get a pest controller in - at my expense naturally (I realise there is some interest in it for me, as the little guys might be eating the wiring or something..) - but surely I can expect them to try other measures first?

To me, this is one of the increased costs of owning interstate IP's - cant just nick out and put some Ratsack in the roof and instead will probably end up having to pay a pest controller an exorbitant amount to do the same thing... tenants - gotta love em hey!! Well residential tenants anyway Dazz

Cheers, Nadia

Surely the property manager could throw some bait in the roof for you. I feel it should be part of the property manager's friendly service to help interstate owners.

had the exact same thing a few weeks ago. As my IP is only a 10 minute drive from my home, I told PM I would gladly drop off a few packs of Talon and even place them for the tenants. Didn't hear anything for a week, until PM emailed me to let me know the tenants bought their own baits and the pesky rat was gone.
Saved me $80 for pest controller which tenants were initially asking for.....

angela said:

As my IP is only a 10 minute drive from my home, I told PM I would gladly drop off a few packs of Talon and even place them for the tenants. Didn't hear anything for a week, until PM emailed me to let me know the tenants bought their own baits and the pesky rat was gone.

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There's only one thing a tenant hates more than the sight of a mouse.....and that's the sight of a Landlord coming down their driveway