They buzz, they crawl, they scurry, and they can infest nearly any HOA. Even the most well-prepared HOA organization can still face pest problems throughout their managed properties. However, there are a few must-know pest control techniques that every property manager needs to take advantage of in order to safely and effectively solve pest issues around homes, buildings, or public spaces.
Discover common HOA pest problems, essential HOA pest control solutions, and the best way to keep pests off of your properties before a problem even begins!
HOAs and IPM: Every well-run homeowner’s association utilizes IPM forms of pest control. Why? Because they know that just using pesticides to tackle a pest problem isn’t enough–and can occasionally do more harm than good.
It’s simple. IPM (or integrated pest management) forms of pest control are effective, humane, and safe for both animals and humans. IPM itself can be broken down into a broad range of categories: chemical control, physical control, cultural control, and biological control. Each of these different methods of control can easily target different areas of managing pest populations. For example, cultural control involves making changes in lifestyle and habits, like carefully removing the trash or rotating crops. Comparatively, biological control uses natural resources, such as the predators of pests or plant repellents, to lower pest populations. Oftentimes, a professional pest control specialist will employ a combination of these different IPM techniques to solve –or even outright prevent– a pest problem.
In fact, many IPM pest control techniques are preventative. This means the pest issue is stopped before it even starts. When it comes to keeping homeowners happy and healthy, preventive measures are of the utmost importance. Rather than wait until a home is infested with termites, spiders, rodents, or any other creepy-crawlies, preventative measures ensure that these pests can’t even enter in the first place.
Preventive measures come in a variety of different forms. Sealing up entry holes around common areas can stop pests from seeking shelter or food sources indoors. Changing the type of foliage in public gardens or parks can repel certain pests, instead of attracting them. Just a few key changes and techniques can stop pests in their tracks, and keep all homeowners far happier.
For HOAs and property managers, pest control responsibility generally only involves issues stemming from common areas. These communal areas can include parks, pools, clubhouses, or any other public place that the HOA is in charge of managing. However, HOAs will occasionally have to deal with pest control issues occurring in individual homeowners’ houses if the infestation was spread from a common area.
Some common pests that can infest even the HOA community spaces include roaches, termites, rodents, and more. Bees, bugs, and other larger wildlife can also pose problems for property managers. All of these different types of creatures can cause huge amounts of damage if left untreated, and also quickly spread to surrounding houses.
When it comes to the specific issues that homeowners report to their HOA, there are quite a few common occurrences. For example, countless homeowners all across the country have reported issues of roaches and bugs infesting their homes. Rodents are another common pest that infests buildings of all types, including private homes. While these pests all might be different, they all can cause severe damage to a house and carry diseases that pose health risks to anyone living on the property.
Remember, that when it comes to pest control in individual homes, it is generally the responsibility of the homeowner to fix the pest problem. HOAs and property managers typically manage the public areas, such as pools or clubhouses. However, if a problem in an individual home was spread due to an infestation in a communal area, then HOAs might be held accountable for those issues as well.
Nearly every HOA or property manager will have to deal with pests on their property, at some point or another. However, by actively implementing preventative measures of pest control, many of these situations can be stopped before ever becoming a problem. Keep any HOA or managed property in its best condition by partnering with a professional pest control company. A mixture of expert preventive care and pest infestation problem solving can help keep every property, home, or public space clean and pest-free.