Pest problems can be a challenge no matter where they occur, but pests in multi-family buildings such as apartments or condos truly demand extra attention by all parties involved. Ultimately, it is the job of the pest control contractor to resolve pest problems at an apartment property, but it does take a village to get the job done. Property managers, the pest control company, and the residents all have to remember that apartment buildings come with special challenges built in. These are the main issues that we face in apartment pest management:

1) Apartments Share Pests – You can think of an apartment building as many different houses all touching each other. They sometimes share noise, odors, and pests. Apartment walls and doors are no barrier to the movement of cockroaches, bed bugs, mice and other pests. In an apartment building, if one resident has pests, others are likely to have pests, too. When new residents move in, there’s always the possibility that they have brought pests with them from their previous home.

2) Residents Don’t Always Complain – Not complaining may sound like a good thing, but we need residents to tell us when they have a pest problem. If we service the four apartments in a building that have complained about cockroaches but there are three others who have cockroaches but have never notified management, then we have little hope of resolving the problem. Every infested apartment building has one or two “focus” units that have serious infestations and that feed pests to other units on an ongoing basis.

3) Residents Don’t Always Cooperate – When an entire apartment building is scheduled for service, there are almost always one or two units in that building that don’t provide access to the exterminator, either by refusing entry or by failing to provide a key. Unfortunately, the apartments that don’t cooperate are often the ones that have the worst pest problems.

4) Management Has a Job, Too – In multi-family housing properties, management has a role in eliminating pests. It is the property manager’s job to see that units are in good repair, that garbage is properly handled, and that an adequate level of sanitation is maintained. Management must also ensure that residents cooperate with pest control service and that infested units are serviced and rescheduled if necessary. If management gives pest control a low priority, everyone suffers.

For more on pest control in apartments, see these Colonial blogs:

• Pest Management in Multi-Family Housing
• “Focus” Apartments Can Spread Cockroaches
• Steps You Can Take to Prevent Pests in Your Apartment