Hi,
My tenant has been renting the flat for over 6 months. He’s a junior doctor, country of origin being Sudan. He contacted me a couple of weeks ago saying there was an issue with the sofa. He described it as “allergens” on the fabric, making it increasingly uncomfortable and itchy to sit on. I advised in the first instance that he could try washing the removable seat covers. He came back a week later to say this hasn’t helped. There was nothing wrong with the sofa when he took the tenancy on, but he has a tendency to moan about little things that aren’t to his taste 
. He was travelling to the Sudan and Egypt over the Christmas period and I’m concerned that he may have unwittingly brought some bugs back in his suitcase? I just can’t think what another feasible cause might be? So my question is…if there’s now an infestation going on, that he has introduced, who is liable for cost of pest control?
Any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated 
Are there any bites, spots of blood, or brown dust etc to evidence an infestation? You would want to have evidence of this before going to the trouble and expense of arranging pest control.
If not, has the tenant tried just using a soft fabric throw over the sofa?
People can pick up bugs from anywhere, so I’m not sure how his ethnic origin or him travelling to Sudan and Egypt would be relevant.
Surely all of the furnishings would be causing the same issue, then?
I’m also at a loss as to how this fellow’s ethnicity or country of origin & travel factor in.
Hi Mita
Thanks for your comments, though not actually helpful to answer my query regarding who is liable for the cost of tenant induced infestation. Of course I need evidence of what the cause of the problem is, I’m not stupid.
I’m am really offended by your insinuation of racism here, how inappropriate, rude and uncalled for.
There are a whole host of Sub-Saharan species or bacteria that he could have brought back, including our own UK bred bed bug!. It’s the fact that he’s TRAVELED to sub-Saharan Africa that’s my point, not that he’s Sudanese!! I merely wanted to give my query some context in that he’s a non-uk national and may have picked something up when he travelled home for Christmas!
All I wanted was some advice, not a horrible insult.
Please read my response to Mita. Your comment is insulting and your advice is unhelpful.
I can appreciate that you don’t care for either of our replies, but please consider the way your initial post might read to others.
None of the details you shared about this man are actually relevant.
You really only needed to state that you’re concerned your tenant may have brought something into the property and are looking for advice on handling it.
Once again, unhelpful and I’m feeling somewhat trolled. So perhaps if you’re unable to answer my question, probably best not posing further eh?
Best of luck to you, Fiona. I hope you have a really wonderful day and get exactly the response you’re hoping for here 
never came across an itchy sofa. I have been itchy myself though . There must be a spray you can use? This is a furnished rental?
Hi Colin
Yes, it’s a furnished rental. I’ve been trying to get hold of the tenant for the past week, to go and check it out …I just know that if it’s bed bugs, it can be a very costly process to eradicate them. Just wanted to see if anyone knew who’s liable to foot the bill?
if it was clean when he moved in ,then I cannot see how you are liable ,as you did not put them there
Yeah, that was my thought too…here’s hoping he’s just allergic to his washing powder!
Hi Fiona, an interesting question. if it was your issue it would have been advised shortly after becoming a tenant. ie it’s his issue… but keep a note of any correspondence as you might be hearing from the council.
In future you might consider renting unfurnished. I started off renting furnished but it just complicated things and took up time.
Another option is to say to him just dump that sofa and buy yourself a new one. If there is some form of infestation you may have to dump all soft furnishings anyway.
Or he may have another agenda.
good luck
Thank you, Sidney, I will definitely give going unfurnished some thought following this tenancy. It would take a lot of hassle out of keeping everything in a clean, rentable state! I guess I just need to get to the bottom of the itchy cause first! I had the sofa professionally cleaned before he moved in, so I know the issue has arrived with him……thanks for your advice, and I’ll definitely log all correspondence. 
Wow that is quite an overreaction to my comment:
Please point out where I have called you a racist. I would have asked the same thing if anyone’s post started off with stating their tenant is Icelandic, Spanish, Guatemalan, Scottish etc. It’s completely irrelevant to your post. Asking about the relevancy of what you said does NOT automatically mean I am calling you racist. Just like how someone’s travels does NOT automatically mean they have infested your sofa with Sub-saharan insects. This is common sense. You have made no effort to ascertain the root cause of your sofa problem so it seemed you were jumping the gun about pest control, which was the whole point of my initial response.
I was not insulting you, but ironically your disproportionate reaction and defensiveness speaks volumes. If you want to be so offended on a public post asking for opinions, then go ahead. Please do kindly update us on your tenant’s reaction when telling them their ethnicity and travel history is to blame for the itchy sofa.
Aha! This information is very pertinent: not only will he be well-acquainted with bedbugs, he’ll be able to diagnose them as the cause.
Mita, I think we can agree that your recent post is similarly defensive.
For clarity, you will remember that I asked opinion on this forum in relation to the hypothetical question of who would be liable for cost of pest control in a case of a tenant introduced infestation…at no point did I seek opinion on descriptors chosen to pose my question.
On reflection, his ethnicity may well be deemed irrelevant, yet it would also be seemingly irrelevant to point that out. My other chosen descriptor was that he is a doctor, also irrelevant, yet that seemed not to bother you in the slightest. Why are you so seemingly fixated on his ethnicity? Seems a little odd don’t you think? Why bother pointing something out that is irrelevant?
Moreover, if we look at what advice you HAVE actually offered through this now tiresome and increasingly unpleasant exchange…you worryingly suggest I approach my tenant directly, and tell him his ethnic origin is the cause of his itching when sitting on the sofa! Mita, you should be ashamed. How inappropriate of you to suggest this course of action. Have you no thought how this may be perceived by others on this platform?
We have seemingly reached an impasse, and I therefore I would suggest no further pointless interaction regarding the matter….we’re done here!
Oh please don’t go… You can’t leave us in suspense over the sudanese bedbug saga…
Ah Tatemono, don’t stress, if I have any “relevant” update I’ll be sure to cautiously word a post! …
Fiona, your post is literally titled “advice about itchy sofa” rather than “completely speculative and hypothetical question about pest control” hence I thought you were after advice on the itchy sofa. Silly me!
I wasn’t actually being serious about telling your tenant that, I thought that was obvious but perhaps not to you. Imagine telling others that they should be ashamed… for calling out the lack of logic in your post? Umm ok.
Oh, and please don’t stop commenting on this post, I’m rather enjoying all this outrage and can’t wait to hear more about your pest control endeavours with the sofa. If pest control fails, perhaps you should simply stop renting to Sudanese doctors who travel, that will definitely sort the sofa problem out 