Old landlord wants to charge us for fleas

[Clarabellawilliamson]

Hi all, I wasn't sure where to post this but thought you guys might have an opinion!

We moved out of our rental about 8 weeks ago, not sure when the new tenants moved in but I just had an email from our old landlord saying that they have an infestation of fleas from our cat.

We were inspected (by him) when we left and he returned our deposit in full, but he would like to bill us for fumigation costs/ sorting it.

My husband says point blank no, we're not paying it but I'm in two minds because it clearly was our cat that caused the issue!

What would you do?

As a cat owner, I would pay for professional treatment. We need to do our best to be excellent tenants or the option to be a pet owner while renting will go away.

Surely the landlord checked off the premises and gave the deposit back. End of story.

THe landlord will have to deal with this surely.

The fleas wouldnt have been visible the day you moved.

Still don’t understand how you could know for sure that your cat caused the infestation..?

Please pay up for this if you believe your cat caused the issue. We bought a house where the previous tenant had a cat and a few weeks into doing renovations started noticing fleas and bites!! We tried all the household sprays etc but ended up having to get a professional in the spray the floors. It put a right dampner on our new house, was a massive inconvenience and not to mention expensive.

Was your dcat treated? Get a receipt of that treatment and send him that.

Yes you should pay

@MinesAPintOfTea

It's fairly easy to find fleas for free

Made me laugh. :-D

Thanks everyone! Nice to see most people agree with me that we should pay. DH has now agreed, and admitted that he was hot and hungry and grumpy when we got the email.
To answer questions- I guess the new tenants don't have a cat, and no we are no longer renting and have bought a place.

My question- why is our current house not infested? Or why did we never see it when we were there? Is it because our cat gave them something to live on?

I’d have sent two cans of indorex.

@HowFastIsTooFast

I didn't know that! Fleas are vile. I treat our cats and dog with itch monthly and the house with indorex or whatever it's called at the same time.

We had a mild infestation once and it was because front line had stopped working.

So many oeople saying frontline doesn't work anymore. Is that because fleas have naturally become immune to it? Like herd immunity?

My question- why is our current house not infested? Or why did we never see it when we were there? Is it because our cat gave them something to live on?

It’s exactly that. I didn’t think my cat had fleas until he went missing for a bit, and I then became their primary source of food .

A couple of cans of Indorex applied liberally over a couple of weeks and regular treatments for the cat when he reappeared has solved the problem.

If your cat has fleas you’ll often be able to see flea dirt or eggs where they’ve been sitting if you look closely, that’s how I keep a check on mine now being flea-free!

I'd be careful about agreeing to pay, op. If it were 2 weeks after you moved out, then yes, I might pay. However, it's been two months. What if the landlord comes back in another month or two and says there's still a problem? Are you going to keep agreeing to pay for treatment? After this amount of time since moving out, and after the landlord inspected and returned your full deposit, any issues with their property are their responsibility. The fact is, fleas can come from anywhere. My aunt had a massive infestation in a new build home and she has never owned a pet of any kind.

Surely the landlord checked off the premises and gave the deposit back. End of story.

^This. There's no way of knowing if it was your cat, humans can bring flea eggs into their homes on their shoes. I would just tell him to buy a couple of cans of indorex and get the hoover out, you left 2 months ago! It's not like dealing with bedbugs or something which requires professionals.