Pest Control ?

For years our association has paid for pest control. I have questioned the board why this is included in our annual assessment fees, and their answer is because of renters causing bug infestation for their neighbors. I've been fortunate to have wonderful renters as neighbors, and can understand the dilemma for those who have not been as fortunate, but nowhere in our documents does it mention pest control. Our documents say ““Purpose of Assessments. The assessments levied by the Association shall be used exclusively for the purpose of promoting the recreation, health, safety and welfare of the residents in the Property, and for maintaining, operating, insuring and improving the Common Area and the improvements located thereon”. I believe, inside the townhouses whether it is plumbing, electrical, or bug infestation these problems are the owner’s responsibility, and assessment fees should only cover common areas. If I’m wrong please let me know. I’d love to have the pest control eliminated from the budget and monies put towards much-needed repairs or improvements or an audit that has not been done in years. Do you see anything in the “Purpose of Assessments” that would imply that pest control should be paid by our assessment fees? Any suggestions or input that might persuade the board to my point of view would be greatly appreciated.

Missy, "robbing Paul to pay Peter" is how some HOA's have to manage sometimes. While I sympathize with your need to have an annual audit, it should not result in removal of services to the community. Pest control is VERY important to a community's health. Be it the human health, where you prevent pests and disease carriers; or the community's structual health, where you protect your common elements from pests (i.e. buildings from termites, ants, etc). This is often one of those "out of sight, out of mind," features that a community grapples with. If your pest control contractor is performing his/her duites correctly, you probably do not "notice" the advantages of such a service. But believe me, if you didn't have the service, or it was done poorly, you would notice the difference, both in your community's quality of life, and also in your budget. Remember pest control is sometimes required as part of certain warranty conditions for other items. A building not treated or covered by pest control, can effectively be claimed as not properly maintained by the HOA if there is an issue.

Not sure how much your community pays for pest control, but ours is about $50 a month for just our common elements. I would tend to agree that service should be limited to common areas - unless specified to be part of the overall responsibilities of the HOA. If your community it TH's spead out and that the HOA has a "perimeter" of services which stop at a designated line around the house - then pest control may not be applicable. However if your HOA is responsible right up to owner's exterior, it could be argued that you do need to provide pest control. Does your doc's/assessments state that the HOA is responsible for exterior elements, like roofs, siding, landscaping, etc?

Please remember that most bugs/pests are "gatherers" they have a nest, and then forage for food, etc. You can have a termite nest yards/blocks/in another community, away from your structures, but they will still "feed" amd travel to their food source.

Whoa.. Missy, I cannot speak for most, but my community does NOT pay for pest control for inside of units, that is the owner's responsibility.

However the original statement of checking your documents to see if this is a required (valid) part of the assessment expenditures (part of the budget which the assessments support). I would also look into the contract itself to see what clauses exist for termination, when entered, by whom, etc.

If this is not an expenditure supported by assessments, then I would alert the community that the board is considering ending this practice. But as I mentioned check the documents, resolutions, meeting minutes, so that you have a solid argument (and understanding of why and how this came to be). Additionally, it may be a good idea to engage the contractor to see if there can be discounts for owners who choose to continue the service on their own (if it leads to this).

... for $7k a year and no termite protection, the company better be called MIB (Men In Black...)

Missy:

Condo's and Townhomes almost always carry Pest Control, it would consist of termites and ants. Roaches would not be included in the pest control because they are usually brought in.

In my 25 years in this business Condos and Townhomes benefit from a pest contract.

Gloria, I totally agree with you, spraying the common ground and terminate protection is a must. We actually have three pest control companies, one sprays the common ground, another for terminates, and finally a company we pay $7000 yearly for killing roaches lol.

Jade, thanks for the information; I’ll pass it along to the owner. The owner had the type you described as the “teen” stage. Living in Florida $200 is a great investment. The owner had no objects to the warranty fee and plans to continue paying the yearly warranty. If I find myself in the same situation…the warranty would be a no brainer!

Melissa:

I agree with you that pest control in non common areas is not an HOA issues. However, I disagree that you can't spray the ground. A lot of places, people, etc., use pesticides on grounds. You can buy over the counter stuff at any hardware store to put on your grass. To get more potent stuff such as the stuff a Pest Control person would use you have to be licensed and follow regulations, but people like that, farmers, etc. all use liquid pesticides on the ground. Heck, I even bought a concentrated formula and use it around my homes foundation.

The Wood retaining wall is BEHIND the houses. Eventually, yes they will have to be replaced because of the damage. However, they are in essence "protecting" the homeowner from termite damage to their home. Putting up another type material could send these pests straight to the owner's house.

As explained to me by a PROFESSIONAL pest control company, this is the scenerio: The WOOD retaining wall works more like a "feeding" source for the termites. As long as the termites have a healthy abundance of wood at their leisure, they will eat it. A retaining wall offers them sanctuary, food, and moisture. You remove this "sanctuary" and where are they going to go? Straight to another food source. That could be your house. In our case, the wood retaining walls are only about 5 - 7 feet away from the houses. Close enough to send those pests packing. That now means the homeowner will be responsible and have to be more vigilante in their Pest control.

I had a hard time with a couple who insisted the HOA replace their wall. Their concern was getting termites into their home. They demanded the HOA pay for their pest control! I explained to them that the Retaining wall was acting as their pest control in essence. If the HOA removed the wall, then the homeowner would have to start establishing their OWN pest control for their house. They insisted that they would sue the HOA if they got pests and any damages they received. I simply refused to pay for anyone's pest control because in our situation the owner's own their house and the HOA controls the property around the house. The HOA has NOTHING to do with a home's structure. Hence, pest control for the home was the owner's responsibility.

Quite frankly, everyone in the HOA maintained and paid for their own pest control. It was NEVER EVER in the CC&R's for the HOA to provide it. However, this couple insisted it should have been and refused to get their own pest control program established unless the HOA paid for it. I finally had to tell them, don't call me if you get damages. We aren't paying! Ironically, my first month in my house, I had severe termite damage. Had to replace half the back of my house's wall. I had to shell out the money for the repairs and get a new pest-control contract. The pest company didn't reimburse me any money for the repairs even with a bond.

I hear what you're saying, Melissa, I really do. I know that guy is a professional, but it's also in his best interest to sort of, I dunno, spin it that way since, I'm guessing he is being hired to spray the wall, too?

Maybe not. I'm flying without a chute on this one.

I will have to think on this one a bit. Again, not second guessing him or you, just trying to work out the logic of it.

10 year-old thread re-activated for spam.