Pest Control in Our Dayton Rental Homes: Who Is Responsible for What

Pests are one of the most common maintenance calls we get, and one of the few where the person calling is already frustrated by the time they pick up the phone. So it is worth being direct about how pest control works in a home managed by Proper Management: what you are responsible for, what we now offer to cover it, and who does the work.

The short version: everything mice and smaller is the resident’s responsibility

Pest control is not part of the standard tenancy package at our properties. Under your lease, the resident is responsible for pest control for everything mice and smaller — mice, roaches, bedbugs, fleas, ants and the rest of that list.

We are not going to bury that halfway down the page. It is the single thing most people want to know, and it is far better to know it on the day you sign than the day you have a problem. Your lease is the controlling document here: if anything on this page and your lease disagree, the lease wins. Read it, and ask us before you sign if something is unclear.

The resident pest plan: $19.95 a month

We have just started offering an optional pest package for residents, and it exists precisely because “you are responsible” is a hard place to leave somebody standing.

For $19.95 per month , if you get an infestation of roaches, bedbugs or fleas , we send a licensed technician out to treat it. No separate call-out charge in the moment, no scrambling to find a company that can come this week, and no surprise invoice at the worst possible time.

That is the whole trade. Twenty dollars a month against a bedbug treatment nobody budgeted for. Bedbug work in particular is not cheap and it almost always needs more than one visit, which is exactly the sort of bill that turns into a rent problem a month later.

A few honest notes on what the plan is and is not:

• It covers roaches, bedbugs and fleas — the three that most often turn into a genuine infestation in a rental.
• It is optional . Nobody is enrolled automatically, and it is not a condition of renting from us.
• It is not a substitute for the basics. Sealed food, prompt trash removal and no standing water still prevent more problems than any treatment plan cures.
• Pricing and coverage are what they are as of today. If that changes, the change applies going forward, not retroactively.

If you rent from us and want it added, contact us and we will set it up.

Who does the work: Greater Dayton Pest Control

Pest work at our properties is handled by Greater Dayton Pest Control, a licensed Ohio pest control company operating across the Miami Valley. You can find them at greaterdaytonpest.com.

A disclosure we would rather make than have you find out later: Greater Dayton Pest Control and Proper Management share common ownership. You should know that before you look at an invoice or sign up for a monthly plan, not after.

Why the arrangement exists is simple enough. Pest work at a rental is time-sensitive, has to be scheduled around resident access, and has to be documented properly. Having a licensed operation we can schedule directly is most of what makes a twenty-dollar-a-month plan possible at all, and it means the company treating your home is one we can actually get on the phone. Owners are welcome to ask what a treatment cost and why, and we will tell you.

If you have a problem right now

• Report it early. One sighting is worth acting on. Waiting until it is a pattern makes treatment longer, more disruptive and more expensive — and since the cost is yours, that is your money.
• Prepare for the treatment. The technician will tell you what is needed, usually clearing under sinks, pulling items away from baseboards, and being out of the unit for a set number of hours. A visit that gets skipped because the unit was not prepared just gets rescheduled.
• Follow through on the second visit. Most treatments need a follow-up to break the life cycle. Skipping it is how a solved problem comes back.
• Tell us either way. Even when the cost is yours, we want to know what is happening in the home. A problem in one half of a duplex is something we should hear about.

What owners should know

Pest problems in a rental rarely stay small, and the usual failure mode is predictable: a resident knows there is a problem, cannot afford a treatment, and says nothing until it has spread through the unit. The resident plan exists to close that gap. It costs the owner nothing, and it means a problem gets treated at the sighting stage rather than the infestation stage — which is the difference between one visit and a turnover.

Separately, for owners buying in this market: wood-destroying insect inspections are their own discipline and their own license class in Ohio. A termite or WDI issue found before closing is a negotiating point. The same issue found afterward is just yours.

Reporting a pest problem

If you rent from us, submit a maintenance request through your resident portal so it is timestamped and tracked, even where the cost falls to you. If you own property in the Dayton area and want it looked after properly rather than reactively, talk to us about management.

This article describes how pest issues are handled at properties Proper Management manages, and the terms of the optional resident pest plan as of publication. It is not legal advice and it does not replace the terms of your own lease. Pricing and coverage are subject to change.