Do-It-Yourself Landlord's Blog

I’m still on the fence concerning the whole Bedbug disaster. As a Landlord, I’m not interested in being legally responsible for any more than is necessary (could price me out of being a Landlord, so I’m simply being reasonable). But as a human being, I understand the plight of any Tenant who feels that they’re being unnecessarily menaced, by anything, while living in a property I own.

So I’m just going to periodically update the happenings surrounding Bedbugs, and try to answer any questions in the comments which a) I am qualified to, and b) do not require me to hire a lawyer for legal advice on how to sue someone (because we’re a litigious enough society as it is). That said:

Bugged Out, the good ol’ GO-TO site for anyone in the NYC area with bedbug issues, posted this up back in July. The post focuses on a sort of shell-shocked paranoia which (understandably) occurs after having had an infestation. They liken it to the delusions typically associated with schizophrenia or psychedelic drug use (I can’t believe I actually typed that out, so sterile sounding, like a high school principal or something).

I had a friend in high school who every time he tripped on acid, he swore his body was covered with worms. It was funny to watch, until he chose to pick up a razor to scrape them off. That obviously didn’t work out as well as we all had hoped it would, and lots of bandages were employed to remedy the situation.

Point being: there are obviously effects of an infestation which go far beyond the lingering worries associated with standard domicile infestations (roaches, ants, etc). I believe this is directly related to the actual human body being violated (fed upon). But, I’m no psychologist.

Bugged Out also dips into the whole Is DDT Really THAT Bad? question, which a perfectly fair thing to wonder. But that’s a mad-touchy issue, one with deep political ties, considering the reams of “research� out there which brought about its demise, and the number of political careers which were built by (and still somewhat stand upon) the environmental movements spawned from the death of DDT.

I’m just sayin’.

I’m still on the fence concerning the whole Bedbug disaster. As a Landlord, I’m not interested in being legally responsible for any more than is necessary (could price me out of being a Landlord, so I’m simply being reasonable). But as a human being, I understand the plight of any Tenant who feels that they’re being unnecessarily menaced, by anything, while living in a property I own.

So I’m just going to periodically update the happenings surrounding Bedbugs, and try to answer any questions in the comments which a) I am qualified to, and b) do not require me to hire a lawyer for legal advice on how to sue someone (because we’re a litigious enough society as it is). That said:

Wow. Even more bedbug commentary happening here. It’s crazy how a miniscule menace from the prior century can come back and cause such a ruckus here in our modest, and modern times.

This time, the issue is legal responsibility. To begin, I must note that we’re something of a Landlord-centric blog, but we really do want to be reasonable on every front. And on the subject of infestation, of any variety, being reasonable is key above all else.

Again, this is a brief discussion on the legal responsibility for bedbug remediation. Who shoulders it?

Specifically, a commenter from a previous post, David, who is apparently from Canada, wondered about who it is that is responsible for remediation if the bugs are discovered AFTER the Tenant has already spent some time in residence.

The assumption here is that it was not a horrific infestation to begin with, but that it has become one, and that it is impossible to pinpoint an obvious source of entry for the pests. Considering the feeding patterns of bedbugs, the little buggers could have been hiding out for the initial months, waiting to feed, and simply took their time in getting established. Or they were brought in from Singapore by the Tenant and immediately set up shop.

No one knows for sure, it's a fantastic mystery. A mystery which, as a Landlord, you need to be aware of your liability in.

So there's quite a bit of conjecture on this. As I posted before, the Bed Bug Blog even lists out the things a Tenant might do to arm themselves before throwing it in litigious gear. Obviously, that assumes there’s a precedent somewhere for winning such cases, provided you follow their directions.

Hm.

Overlawyered discusses a case involving a couple and a Motel in Arkansas. The interesting points come out in the comments. Sure, they’re comments, so they aren’t Primary Sources or anything. But they give good leads.

This feels like the least helpful post I've ever made... Not sure how I feel about that just yet.

I’m still on the fence concerning the whole Bedbug disaster. As a Landlord, I’m not interested in being legally responsible for any more than is necessary (could price me out of being a Landlord, so I’m simply being reasonable). But as a human being, I understand the plight of any Tenant who feels that they’re being unnecessarily menaced, by anything, while living in a property I own.

So I’m just going to periodically update the happenings surrounding Bedbugs, and try to answer any questions in the comments which a) I am qualified to, and b) do not require me to hire a lawyer for legal advice on how to sue someone (because we’re a litigious enough society as it is). That said:

Bedbugger has a two-part series focusing on a couple who are INTENTIONALLY getting bitten by bedbugs. You know, for the scientific fun and all that.

Part 1- The anatomy of different-stage bug bites, and how they may or may not have any notable skin-effect, depending on the host.

Part 2- The results get broken down, and sprinkled with some philosophy for good measure.

Dear lord, I still don’t fully understand the need for someone to do this, but bless them for clearing up some outstanding issues related to pinpointing evidence (or lack thereof in the case of some who don’t react to bites) of an infestation.

And at the time that this is being written, there is no Part 3, but I’m guessing that it’s been published by the time you read this, and it is probably HERE.

You never know who is living next door. Not that there’s a need to promulgate any further paranoia of our neighbors, but it is good to know who is who in your direct vicinity.

Knowledge, after all (and as the cliché goes), is power.

And safety, or the feeling of it, is very valuable within all communities. Continuing along that line of logic, it’s important to your renters that the neighborhood they live in is relatively safe, especially from violent or particularly disgusting crimes as those perpetrated against women or, more importantly, children.

Among the many cool sites out there made available for us to search out our ‘hoods from the comfort of our homes, we have Family Watchdog and Family Beacon. You just enter the street, zip code and such, and then pow: up pops an interactive map with color-coded indicators of particular offenders: Offenses Against Children, Rape, Sexual Battery, and "Other". The details are pretty nice, too, including photos and descriptions of the offender.

I do believe I've actually seen one of the offenders near one of my properties.

Obviously this service is valuable in helping an investor when analyzing a new potential region for purchasing property, or for re-analyzing the marketability of properties currently in a portfolio. After all, safety is indeed a selling point.

But I do wonder a bit about the "Other" section being lumped in with rapists and such. Do I really want to get worked-up over a neighbor with a load of traffic violations? I mean, what is IN "Other"?

Over all, the implosion of the subprime loan market is a disaster to everyone. The large-scale failure of any leading investment vehicle is bound to have reverberations throughout the economy as a whole.

And with the mortgage/loan industry, as previously seen/experienced in the Savings & Loan debacle of the 80s, the resulting mess eventually gets cleaned up by those of us who thought we were smart enough to avoid getting involved in the first place.

Awesome.

I would enjoy the opportunity to wax philosophic about the basis for this implosion (why isn’t THIS issue a “bursting bubble" instead of an “imploding market"? Has the “bubble" cliché gone passé?)

But here’s where I believe there’s something of a sweet-spot for the value investor, who is also likely to be amongst the majority who will eventually be covering that loan default gap produced by the recent spate of reckless lending/borrowing.

Soon, all those ARMs, “teaser" loans, and other exotics are going to explode all over the borrowers, and those properties will wind up in the lender’s lap. None of those lenders (or more than likely: the lenders who loaned to the subprimes, or their syndicated lenders, or on up the chain) are interested in dealing in the disposal of physical real estate. They sell returns on principal, not dirt.

Come late 2008, I’m expecting some DEALS to hit the market. My only hope is that the good multi-units aren’t snatched up in poorly advertised, vaguely mentioned “auctions". I never seem to get notice of those in time…