Full question:
Am I as a landlord responsible for rat control under one of our rent houses. The tenant has lived in the house 8 months and is now complaining about rats under the house. Our lease is the standard Texas Association of Realtors lease.
- Category: Landlord Tenant
- Subcategory: Lease Violation
- Date:
- State: Texas
Answer:
As a landlord, you have an implied responsibility under the warranty of habitability to maintain safe and sanitary housing. This means that if a rodent infestation occurs, it may be considered a breach of this warranty. The warranty of habitability requires landlords to ensure that the rental property is fit for human habitation and to address issues that affect tenant health and safety.
Factors determining whether a condition violates this warranty include:
- Whether the condition violates housing laws or regulations;
- The seriousness of the defect;
- The effect of the defect on safety and sanitation;
- The duration of the issue;
- The age of the property.
In your case, the presence of rats under the house could impair the habitability of the rental unit. If the tenant has notified you of the issue and you have not taken steps to resolve it, they may have grounds to withhold rent, make repairs themselves and deduct costs, or seek damages. It’s important to act promptly to address pest control to maintain the property’s habitability.
To assert a breach of the warranty, the tenant must show that they notified you of the issue and that you had a reasonable opportunity to fix it but failed to do so.
This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Legal statutes mentioned reflect the law at the time the content was written and may no longer be current. Always verify the latest version of the law before relying on it.