Prior to
moving into our current house, it had not dawned on me to ask certain questions
aside from the regular ones that people routinely ask. Knowing if the utilities
are included, what the policy is for having dogs at the property, and the
length of the rental term all seem like common questions to ask when doing a walk-through
of a prospective property. However, over the course of our rental history, we
have encountered incidents that would have benefited from additional inquiry
prior to signing a lease. So, I guess, our experience can help you to prevent
similar situations from happening to you! This is the first part of a multi-part
series, so stay tuned!
Do Bugs Bug
You?
One of our
rental experiences still haunt me to this day. A few years ago, we decided to
move to a bigger place and one that hopefully didn’t wake me up with water
dripping on my face from a leaking roof. While we did get a larger place and
the roof didn’t leak, we only stayed there for about a month. Fortunately, we
were transferring from one property to another within the same property
management company, so we didn’t have to complete an additional background
check or pay an additional deposit, as it was just transferred from one account
to the other.
The yard
was large, but it was not without fault. There were numerous stickers and other
non-dog friendly aspects to the yard that made it less than enjoyable for both
man and beast. Not only were there stickers and thorns in the sandy yard, but
there were scores of bugs. We noticed some bugs walking through our kitchen and
up on the walls while we were eating our first meal in the new place. There
were SCORES of them, all marching in a line as if they were lining up to induce
nightmares if or when I fell asleep. That night we tried to put it out of our
heads, as we were exhausted from moving that day. However, sleep was not
possible, at least not for me, as the bugs were also IN OUR BED! The would
crawl on the walls, on us, on the dogs, on basically any surface. I couldn’t
stay in the house due to the bugs. I ended up driving to our old place in the middle
of the night, where I proceeded to make a bed of sorts on the floor. However,
there were bugs on the blanket I brought over there, but fortunately, not as
many. I sent the landlord an email in the middle of the night to share my
experience. She sent out an exterminator the following day.
According to recent research, ticks that carry Lyme disease have been found to be present in over half of all U.S. counties (Asher, 2016). Lyme disease can lead to serious health complications, with the population of this type of pest experiencing an astounding 320% increase over past two decades (Asher, 2016). However, much of the increase in tick population has been found to occur along the West Coast, as well as the East Coast and much of the right half of the country, which is nowhere near where we lived in New Mexico...
The
exterminator told us that it was the worst TICK infestation he had ever seen.
Yes, we had ticks. Not just a few, but thousands. The handyman had noticed some
of the bugs when he replaced the sliding glass door that was in the kitchen,
but didn’t do anything about it. We were pulling ticks off of the dogs and
ourselves. The exterminator had to come out once a week and it didn’t put a
dent in the infestation. I spoke to my neighbor, as it was part of a duplex,
and he said they have the bugs too. How did they not affect him or his family?
Was he just used to living in filth? I suppose so. He was a strange cat.
Stay tuned, as Part II of What to Ask Before You Rent will
be uploaded tomorrow.
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