Pest Control Checklist

Open a work order in AppFolio, Buildium, or Yardi with the unit number, tenant contact, date of first sighting, and reported location. Attach any tenant photos. The work-order timestamp is the start of the habitability response clock under most state warranty-of-habitability statutes.

Most state landlord-tenant acts require 24-48 hours written notice before non-emergency entry. Send via the lease-designated method (email, text, posted notice) and save proof in the tenant file. Skip only for documented emergencies (active rodent infestation in shared kitchen, wasp nest at entry).

Bed bugs and German cockroaches escalate immediately to a licensed applicator — DIY treatment spreads bed bugs to adjacent units. Single-ant trails, isolated wasp nests, or one mouse can route to in-house maintenance first. Match the routing to the named pest, not the tenant's distress level.

Check baseboards, behind appliances, under sinks, mattress seams, and any plumbing penetrations. Photograph droppings, frass, shed skins, or live specimens for the file — these are the evidence base for any future deposit deduction or lease-violation claim.

For bed bugs, German cockroaches, and rodents, inspect units sharing walls, floors, and ceilings — pests travel through wall voids and shared plumbing chases. Send entry notices to those tenants on the same schedule. A single-unit treatment without adjacency inspection is the most common reason infestations recur.

Glue boards for cockroaches and rodents, interceptor cups under bed legs for bed bugs, snap traps in suspected rodent runs. Map placement on a unit diagram so the follow-up inspection counts catches against placement, not memory.

Pull prior work orders for this unit and adjacent units from the property management software. A unit with three bed-bug treatments in 18 months is a different problem than a first report — and the lease may put financial responsibility on the tenant if the pattern points to introduction by occupant belongings.

Confirm the technician's state pesticide applicator license is current and that the firm's general liability + workers comp COI names the property as additional insured. Lapsed COIs leave the manager personally exposed if a tenant or pet has an adverse reaction. Save the certificate to the vendor file.

Provide tenants with the product name, EPA registration number, active ingredient, application date, and re-entry interval at least 24 hours before treatment (some states require 48-72). Households with infants, pregnant occupants, or pets need explicit acknowledgment of the re-entry window.

Bed-bug treatment requires bagged laundry, hot-dryer cycles, and furniture pulled from walls. Cockroach treatment requires emptied cabinets. Rodent treatment requires sealed food. Skipped prep is the #1 reason a treatment fails and the tenant disputes the re-treatment fee.

The applicator leaves a service ticket showing products applied, EPA reg numbers, target pest, areas treated, and re-entry interval. File this in the unit's maintenance history — it is the document that proves due diligence in any habitability dispute.

Count and photograph catches against the placement diagram from the initial inspection. For bed bugs, the 14-day check catches the next generation hatching from eggs that survived the first treatment. Empty traps are not proof of resolution — they are one data point.

Bed bugs and German cockroaches typically need 2-3 treatments at 14-day intervals to break the breeding cycle. Re-issue the EPA pre-treatment notice; do not assume the original notice covers the follow-up.

Caulk gaps under sinks, install door sweeps, fill plumbing penetrations with copper mesh and foam, and replace damaged window screens. Treatment without exclusion is a recurring expense; exclusion turns a single treatment into a durable result.

Add this incident to the integrated pest management log with pest type, units affected, treatment dates, products used, and resolution. Quarterly review of the log surfaces clusters — three rodent reports in one stack of units suggests a building-wide exclusion project rather than unit-by-unit treatment.

Send a closing message confirming the resolution, the warranty period (typically 30-90 days from the applicator), and the contact path if activity returns. Close the ticket in AppFolio/Buildium so the unit's maintenance metrics reflect the resolution date, not the report date.