Ant infestation

I’ve noticed one of my tenants who is staying for a month has been eating in his room even though my house rules mention not eating in the room. (I found a piece of bread wrapped up in a towel with something inside that he put in my recycling bin with his Heineken bottles. He drinks a lot to drunkenness on his days off). And also mentioned he thought I was lax on the food rule when I took him on a taco Bell run. If an ant infestation were to occur, how much would you charge? And would the security deposit cover it through Airbnb?

@Yen1 - this is your second post in just a few minutes asking how much to charge for items which are regarded as wear and tear. You really can’t go around charging guests for every minor thing.

Now that you know that the guest is eating in his room and (presumably) you’ve put a stop to it, then an ant infestation is unlikely to happen.

However, if your home is prone to ants, then presumably you have some ant gel in your cleaning cupboard already so why would you charge the guest?

The security deposit certainly wouldn’t cover it because the guest has to agree that they caused the ‘damage’ and it’s highly unlikely that you can prove that they did. What’s interesting though is that you’re asking about a situation that hasn’t even happened yet!

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Flatten the ants with the busted up spatula.

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Just liking your post wasn’t quite enough so I had to add a reply too to say hahaha! :smile: :smile: :smile:

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Tell him that you think it is great that he feel so at home in his room, but can he please eat in the dining room (or whatever space it is you want him to eat in.) and dispose of his food rubbish in the kitchen (or wherever you want him to put it.) I have that rule as well, and it is broken quite often which I find out about upon departure. I also have a service that comes every other month to spray for ants around the outside of the house and are on call in between services. If you are prone to ants you may want to look into something like that and pass the cost on into your pricing. ( I know I did :smile:)

Also, If you are uncomfortable with his drunkenness… like if he is sloppy and you feel that he may be a danger to himself or you… you should look to having him removed from your rental. I have a " drug use or excessive intoxication will not be tolerated" in my rules that the guest has to agree to at time of booking. If someone is drunk at my house and they are breaking things or are being disgruntled I would have them removed immediately with Airbnb host services.

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Loved the comic relief! Long overdue in these here parts, as we say in the south.

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I really hope that @Yen1 spoke to the guest as soon as she realised that he had been eating in the room and that they came to an amicable arrangement. I’ve found that it’s best to talk to guests about infringements immediately. Hopefully there will be no further problem.

@Yen1
Ants in the house are not, like let’s say, fleas, where you need some intense mitigation or even professional assistance. First you clean up whatever is attracting them. Then you go to the hardware store and get some TERRO ANT KILLER. Within a few days ants are gone. (I have no association with this company, I have used the product)

I did mention to him during the taco Bell run that he eat his food in my dining room because of ant infestations as it mentioned in my house manual already. I’m hoping that the stale bread was before taco Bell. Was just asking preemptively because he may have eaten more than just bread in his room beforehand

I’ve had a few guests attract ants. I find that once I clean up the food the ants leave.

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LION!!! Comment of the day!!! Congrats!!!

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Yen, you need to take charge here. You can’t rely on the security deposit to cover things like this. Air won’t pay it, I guarantee. So tell this guy he can’t eat in his room or he is out. The drunkenness is not something that will get better. If I were you, I would call Air about this guest, you might be able to get him cancelled. If you don’t want him to leave, talk to him NOW about his behavior. The security deposit is not meant to enforce house rules.

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First of all you should give him a first and last warning, that not to eat any food at room. Second, right now you should arrange a pest controller to provide an obligation-free quote on what should be done to fix the problem. If the infestation occurs again, then, the tenants are responsible for the eradication of the pests.

Now I see what you all mean about people making accounts to advertise things here! A lot happened while I was away.

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I don’t think in home hosting is a match for the OP, she seems to have anxiety about not being in total control of every little thing. Pick your battles a piece of bread is not worth the angst IMO

RR

@RiverRock - we are often accused here of telling new hosts that they have no business being hosts if they can’t cope with simple issues. Most of the time I’m in total agreement.

Airbnb have (or used to have?) on their website the quote ‘almost anyone can host’. This is total bollocks. A good host - one who is going to stay in this business for more than a few months - needs a huge variety of experience, a load of tact, what others would call huge balls ( :slight_smile: ) and what Americans call ‘people-skills’.

Hosting really isn’t something that just everyone can do and enjoy.

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