An update on this ongoing saga.

Well today was the day for my first Covid no-payer to be moved out and on to her new bigger apartment with some other landlord.

She's only skipped a month on me so far, but with a clear "you can't make me pay due to the Cares Act" message. However due to my own bad luck that one freeloader has made my financial situation somewhat dire.

I checked this morning for the (finally!) glorious empty apartment, and found it was still chok full of her stuff, though she was nowhere to be found. So, I tried a few emails asking for status and telling her we were going to "file for an eviction on Monday", adding that: "we absolutely cannot afford to keep this building open with renters not paying rent".

That was true enough, lol.

She wrote back after awhile, saying this: She planned to move, but all her relatives including truck backed out- and so she had no means to move.

So I said: "Okay, if I meet you there with a truck and helped, can you be out by tonight?" She says yes. So off I go to provide the free moving service.

Which beats a permanent no-pay renter I can't evict.

I show up, and cart about four trailer loads of junk out of her apartment over to her new bigger place, leaving the stuff on the curb out front.

- And there's her family! All sitting there relaxing, watching me do all the work.

I remarked, "Are you her sister?- Its a shame she couldn't find any help to move out of her apartment today."

She says, "Its working out." :|

Anyway. As I'm loading her belongings, I suddenly notice for the first time- a "Bedbug Removal Kit" amongst her garbage bags full of stuff.

Jesus.

I asked her: "Did you see [aka, BRING IN] bedbugs in this apartment?"

She says "OH there were bedbugs, but I got rid of them."

So on my last dropoff load, I told her relaxing relatives: "Enjoy your new roommate!", and set the Bed Bug box on top of the pile, facing them......

Thank you for your update, and I'm glad that she finally is out. Will you be changing the locks?

It would be great to obtain the unpaid rent, and please post what happens in that process.

At least she is gone plus you know where to serve papers.

She's good. You got played. But it's worth it to not have this drag on for weeks or months.

Before I found this site I Was very weak and pisssed off', The knowledge shared here is amazing.

you will be ok

You have done above and beyond to help your fellow man regaurdlesss of the outcome

Now fix your problems

No mistakes

The current COVID-protections climate seems to have put tenants in charge of everything now, especially when and whether they pay rent. I've complained everywhere including calling the governor's office and leaving a couple messages, but nobody has listened- and they certainly never called back.

As far as evictions: I know Illinois extended another Moratorium until August 22nd, but they DO let you file.

Except that they raised the cost of filing to somewhere around $300, landlord pays this- and only recovers that back if and when they win a judgement (when they finally get a court date), and THEN if the tenant can be found and made to pay. Or so I've been told. If anyone is from Illinois and knows differently, please update.

As far as the bedbugs. She claims to have killed them "many months ago". I now strongly suspect the episode in the Spring where her couch suddenly appeared on the curb, was a bedbug couch- perhaps something she picked up second hand.

Also her mattress had disappeared months ago and they were sleeping on a blow up one. They had no other furniture, except for dozens of garbage bags, many full of clothes.

All of that has been "delivered".

I have not seen any bedbugs, though the bedbug poison is sprinkled everywhere. She claims she kept doing that for gnats- which I have seen lots of at her apartment.

She never seemed to do the math that leaving unwashed plates in the sink/glasses of liquid/crumbs everywhere was feeding the gnats.

Once apartment is empty, what is the best procedure for detecting bedbugs and cleaning apartment of them?

I thought about putting traps out.

Vaccumming? Steam cleaning carpets?

I have the Ozone machine, has anyone found this effective with bedbugs.

Again I haven't seen one so far. Its possible she could have killed them early.

If they've spread to the other two apartments well..... that would be game over "again", lol

Go, Triplexer, go!

Good for you. That was a great idea to get her out. How much easier you will sleep tonight! You did the right thing to get her out. Who knows how much longer she would have lingered there if you hadn’t moved her?

May I very gently say to please not let the “somewhat dire” situation you are in make you feel pressured to accept just anyone as your new tenant.

I know how that can feel and so many very wise posters on this forum have said an empty unit is much less expensive than a horrible tenant. They are right, especially now in this increasingly landlord hostile environment we are in.

Here’s to onward and upward!

Renne

Don't mention them to the other apartments. If they have them, they will let you know.

Add fees to her for treating for them.

You are incredibly combative

I am out of doors for you

Good job getting her out. I hope you stripped down and put the clothes in the dryer before you came in your house. Leave your vehicle out in the sun with the windows rolled up for a few hours to kill any in there.

If anyone on the lease has a job I would go through small claims court rather than eviction court since you have possession (it would be worth a call to the court to ask) . It should be cheaper and will give you the monetary judgement you need and then I believe IL allows garnishment of wages for back rent, hopefully someone from IL will chime in with the process.

Skip the heat they will crawl behind the wall till the coast is clear. Hire pest control if you are not familiar with diluting pesticides. More is not better w bb. chemicals in box stores are ineffective. You can dust w diaetameous earth. Take off switchplates and under baseboards sweep up visible dust. Caulk gaps. Vacuum and throw the Bag away. Bb live up to a year w/out feeding. High impact zone is 5 to 10 ft from bed or sofa.

I agree with Small potatoes. Professional inspection and treatment is your best bet before getting a tenant in. Do "interview" pest control companies before hiring them. Speak with the actual technician and ask what they will be applying. I found that my regular pest control company operated in the "spray and pray" mode. They used only one product, and operated on hope. The company that I eventually engaged was very straightforward, identified the multiple products they would use, where, and why. They were even very helpful in tenant management. Told the tenant to "get your a-- in gear" when she had not properly prepared, and after I left, gave the tenant a few facts of life about bedbug management. The tenant was appropriately remorseful, and told me that she had simply thought I was being hard on her earlier. We mutually and agreeably parted ways shortly thereafter. For some reason, the apartment complex that she moved to did not call for a reference before she moved in. They did leave a voicemail two or three months later.

If you do anything DIY, CimeXa is a silica gel found to be highly effective against bed bugs. In lab tests, it was found to be 100% effective within 48 hours. In field tests, "an 82.3 percent reduction was noted after one week and 98.1 percent fewer bugs were found by the final evaluation". The final evaluation was 6 weeks later.

The field trials were conducted a few years ago by the University of Kentucky. CimeXa was the only treatment officially used. My interpretation was that the field trials were conducted in the apartments of people who could not afford more professional treatment, could not afford to move, and were willing to live with the problem until it somehow disappeared. The results are documented at pctonline.com/article/pct0814-silica-gel-research-bed-bugs/. If you go DIY, in an empty unit, you would probably also need a CO2 bait to get them to crawl out of their hiding places and through the treatment.

I ordered this product after the apartment had been professionally treated, so did not treat an active infestation. Nor do I want to again. I use it proactively to prevent a potential infestation from taking hold. I have it applied with an insecticidal puffer /duster along the edges of carpets and baseboards and behind switch plates whenever a unit is turned over. Apparently, these bugs like to travel between rooms and units through electrical conduits. There is one contractor that I hire that I trust him to ensure that his team does it. There are some other contractors that I would not trust to do it, since it is not obvious when it is done.

CimeXa was very effective in getting rid of a bad roach infestation left behind by a departing tenant. Multiple other roach treatments did not work. One day after liberally applying Cimexa under and around all appliances and along all baseboards, I stopped seeing marching roaches. The remnants of a roach nest was behind the dishwasher when I later switched it out. It looked like the dessicated remains of a nest from the creatures in the Alien movies.

My only problem now is that the puffer that I bought seems to have stopped working, despite following all of the tips for unclogging it. I will probably switch to a hand held squeeze bottle. But that leaves open the problem of applying the dust into narrow and deep areas.

Hope you have good collection laws? As a LL and business owner sometimes you gotta bite the big one! Document document document then send all documents as required so when this deadbeat has a job or money-- your first in line.

Many think collection is a waste but the is case-- even if you don't collect will give you piece of mind that you got it on the record-- what a real loser this person is.

To me you did the right thing--maybe not moving it your self-- there are many looking for work at h-depot parking lots-- but taking positive action.

This wasn't mentioned, but I DO hope you got her to sign a document saying she was out, has all of her stuff in good condition, has no further claim against you, and she returned the keys.

Know the difference between food grade DE and pool grade DE if you use it to sprinkle in the apartment. (hint: use food grade.) However, when you go to clean it up, it ruined my vacuum... so don't vacuum it up. :)

There are bedbug-sniffing dogs. They need to be calibrated daily, and not all dogs are created equal. They're trained to detect bedbugs in any of their (six?) life stages. Some have good reputations, and others not-so-good. I used them to check my heat treatment, as a verification of its effectiveness, but you could also bring them in prior to additional treatment to get an idea of the situation.

Caulk any seam that can be caulked . Helps give critters less hiding spaces.

Very good advice from others in this thread. I just wanted to mention the caulk, since it wasn’t mentioned above,

scrolling through I saw Dj finally asked what I was thinking-hope you got her to give you in writing possession of the unit and ownership of any remaining possessions for your disposal.

Does Soda water produce CO2. They use it to trap mosquito.

I've seen much talk online of steam cleaners for killing bedbugs/eggs in the carpet.

Anybody use these? Some run around $150. Wondered if it was a worthwhile investment for new tenants bringing them in in the future.

I agree with Busy about building capital reserves.

If you can't borrow a steamer, try Harbor Freight. They sell their own branded steamer for about $99, before applying a coupon.

When using a steamer, be careful to cover attachments with cloth so that you avoid blowing egg sacs around.

Nicole,

First of all, Triplexer would need to determine if he has an actual problem, or if it is just a situation that he should prudently check. The CO2 baits can be used for this.

Steamers are often use as part of an integrated pest management program (IPM). See this link from the University of Minnesota. www.bedbugs.umn.edu/bed-bug-control-in-residences/steamers

With IPM, multiple techniques are used to ensure the most complete coverage, and reach the bed bugs where they are. Expanding upon what I posted above, it is important to find a pest control company which can give you appropriate written directions which are best for your situation. Triplexer benefits from having an empty unit, and therefore having the flexibility to use multiple methods in conjunction with each other, both DIY prep and professionally hired.

I see from your earlier post that you apparently had experience with a three-step program. It may be helpful to Triplexer to identify what the three steps were so that he can figure out best how to spend his dollars, yet prevent any issues for the next tenant that comes in.

The pest control company I used gave instructions for prep and for post treatment. IIRC, their pricing included two treatments.

Prep included washing down the walls, baseboards, blinds, and around window frames with a bleach solution. Daily thorough vacuuming of carpet was required, with the bag disposed of daily in a sealed plastic bag. Vacuuming up a little bit of the CimeXa into the bag helps ensure an effective kill. Any soft furnishings that were left behind by a tenant was to be put on the curb for city pickup, but with the cushions slashed first so that it would be unlikely that someone would take the furniture with them. Carpet was steam cleaned to 212 degrees Fahrenheit, either by hiring out or using a steamer. If the home is badly infected, the carpet should be removed and discarded before professional treatment. Other areas like cracks and crevices around baseboards, curtains, and soft furnishings could be steam cleaned. These prep steps are to knock down any bug population before the professional application. The pest control company gave 2 or 3 days for prep before coming out. (Also have a plan for decontaminating yourself when you come home, from head to toe.) If there is an infestation, the thoroughness of the prep can be key in reducing the costs of treatment or the need for retreatment.

As previously stated, the company that I used had multiple chemicals that they applied, each designated for a different surface, such as walls, baseboards, carpets. After treatment, absolutely no cleaning was permitted for two weeks while the chemicals took effect.

After that, the company's service included coming back once within 30 or 45 days (to the best of my memory) if more bugs were seen.

As I stated, several companies in his area should be interviewed. This company gave the best price, but the most complete service, because they had a previously thought out but matter of fact plan of attack, but did not resort to scare tactics to get a higher price.

I don't remember the topics of insulation and framing treatment coming up when handling this situation, either from a pest control company or by doing online research. How exactly did your vendors approach insulation and framing?

SirWalter - I don't know. I hired a company. I refuse to treat an occupied unit so all are empty when I have treated them. I do know they remove all switch plates and outlet covers. One time they were so bad I had to have the carpeting removed. It was a 30ish day process they came back every 10 days or two weeks - can't remember. I did no prep work except empty the house out.

Hi Nicole,

Our first treatment was with the tenant in place. We finished the treatment with the tenant moved out. I think the amount of prep work might depend on whether it is occupied.

We also had to remove the carpet in that case. This is one of the reasons why I am looking to migrate away from carpet whenever I can.

This was a full infestation. I was diligent about quarterly inspections with this tenant in particular. From one quarter to another, the walls had changed color at the top to an aged streaky brown from the bed bug residue. That was when the tenant told me she thought she had bed bugs. I can't imagine what it would have been like if I had skipped that quarter's inspection.

I agree that multi units can be tough in this circumstance.

Busy's caulking suggestion is a good one. I'm not certain how that would work in a carpet situation. I may still find that I have to carpet upstairs rooms.

my problems were without neighbors treating their properties, they kept coming right back. Seems the little critters can't read a deed description so they kept trespassing every time I'd think I'd gotten rid of them.

Triplexer, Looking for critters moving from one ( empty) unit to the other rented units is priority, in my opinion. Might be a good time to do a maintenance inspection of the other two units, and while you are checking pipes for leaks, and randomly testing a few electric outlets, be sure to look around the couch, the favorite recliner, and the bed headboards for those little brown specks.

Nicole,

"little critters can't read a deed description"

That is too funny...

Triplexer,

Regarding Busy's suggestion about checking adjacent units, definitely check the outlets and light switches on walls adjacent to the affected unit. While the switch plates are off, puff dust into those outlets. Prioritize caulking the walls next to the affected unit. If their food source is gone, the bugs are more likely to travel to the closest unit. That is another reason to get the CO2 bait traps into the affected unit ASAP, so that they are more likely to stay where they were.

I'm not trying to beat a dead horse, but this thread brought up a Post Traumatic BB episode for me. This prompted me to document a 30 day plan of attack in case I encounter the issue again, so I'm sharing it with you. Murphy does show up when you have one problem (need to carefully allocate remaining capital reserves) and are then likely to skip other steps.

30 Day Plan:

Definitely get an inspection from a pest control company, preferably if can be obtained for free. Otherwise, inspect for droppings or other residue.

Assuming that nothing is detected, follow this 30 day plan to confidently get the property ready for the next tenant, assuming that you are deciding not to hire out.

-Days 1-2: If you have carpet, carefully and thoroughly vacuum, as described above. Vacuum up just a bit of CimeXa before and after vacuuming to avoid bringing bugs home.

Wash down the walls, corners, baseboards, blinds, and window sills with a diluted bleach solution, rags, and a sponge mop. If you have carpet, Spread plastic sheeting or old shower curtains on the floor first to catch any drips and prevent spots on the carpet.

If the ceilings are flat and washable, do them too.

Do any other things that you would do to make the interior home ready (assuming a 1-2 day make ready is doable otherwise.)

Spray yourself down from head to toe with diluted alcohol spray each time you leave the home to minimize carrying anything back home.

- Day 3: Have the carpets professionally cleaned with a truck mounted cleaner. You want the steam reaching temperatures of af 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Ask the carpet cleaner about their equipment before hiring.

- Day 4: Remove all the switch plate covers. Spray the whole house with Temprid, including walls, ceilings, around light fixtures, and inside of the outlets. Pay extra attention to areas where your tenant's bed and sofa would have been.

Next apply CimeXa dust to the inside of outlets and on all walls and ceilings. A fine dusting on surfaces is all that is needed. You can buy a professional insecticidal dust applicator, but you don't need it. Something like a ceiling fan duster from Walmart would easily work, and you likely already have one. (www.walmart.com/ip/Ceiling-Fan-Duster-Soft-Microfiber-20-66-Telescoping-Extension-Cleaning-Wash/963617461) Just put the CimeXa dust in a small bucket, dip the duster in the bucket and twirl around to fill, then beat the duster against the walls, ceilings, and floors. Reference the pctonline article in my first post for tips. (You also are less likely to end up in the pulmonologist's office later in life, which is a danger of using diatomaceous earth if you don't mask properly. I've been in the pulmonologist's office many times with a relative. Not an activity to put on your wish list for retirement, and can be costly in time and energy and $$ you make or save now will later go to doctors instead of scuba diving in Mexico.)

Then put CO2 bait traps in the middle of the floors of each room, particularly bedrooms and living rooms, to draw out out any bugs.

Days 5-30: Advertise and show the property while completing any other tasks, putting away the CO2 bait traps before any showings.

Day 30: Move in a new tenant, assuming no bug activity has been seen in the approximately 21 days before move-in.

Shopping list

Bleach

sponge mop

CO2 bait trap

Temprid (enough to spray the whole house)

Cimexa (1-2 bottles)

Applicator for insecticidal dust

Masks appropriately rated for dust or chemicals

Whatever you do, do not put a tenant in before Day 30 to ensure that a new tenant does not have a problem, resulting in you have a bigger problem.

If your lease had the appropriate clauses, make certain that you charge the tenant for the loss of rents while empty, either for failure to complete the lease, or loss of habitability while being treated, no matter how long it takes. Document the bed bug treatment box that you moved for the tenant in the Security Deposit accounting letter that you send to the tenant. Follow the best credit reporting and collection practices applicable for your energy or focus at a particular time. Decisions on seeking judgment can be deferred until just prior to your state's statute of limitations.