Question by Curzon:
Bed Bugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .?
Who is responsible when bed bugs are found in an apartment? Is the landlord responsible for getting rid of the infestation? We didn’t have this problem in our last apartment, it happen after we moved – I think the apartment whole building has got it.
How I can be responsible forit when they will spray for every other kind of bug – roaches, ants ect ect . . . .
Also how does one go about proving it was already here? It’s my word against their’s isn’t it?
Bill, that’s why I am on the computer at 3.27am and not in bed. Every time I feel the slightest itch I am out of my bed like a shot of lightening but at this rate I won’t be getting any sleep at all for weeks until I can get this place under control.
I wish I could just drop everything and run for the hills but alas I cannot.
Thanks for the sympathy, I needed it. And I will look into the renter’s rights down here and see what I can find. Thank you.
Zero – I did read through my lease and no where in it does it implicitly state who is repsonsible for pest control, it simply says they can enter your home to spray if you aren’t there to let them in.
Best answer:
Answer by Zero
Your lease will tell you who is responsible for pest control.
Normally it is the tenants.
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You are certainly responsible for basic pest control. However, the landlord is responsible for the building as a whole and if your efforts to remove the pest are hindered by other tenants or the landlord then you have a case. Can you prove that when you moved in the pests were already there? If not, then you are responsible for the basic pest control. Read your lease agreement
If you live in a building and there are bed bugs there and you know it, just treating your apartment is pointless. I truly feel sorry for you, I moved into bed bugs one time too and it has psychologically scarred me the rest of my life. Anytime I feel the slightest….ugh anyways…I would check about renters rights in your area if the landlord gives you any issues about paying for the multiple chemical treatments of your entire place where you’re not allowed back in for hours.
If you can abandon all of your belongings and move then I’d recommend that.
It kind of depends.
My grandmother’s apartment complex had bedbugs. It started on the first floor and worked all the way up to the second. At first she called the exterminator herself because she thought it was ants, however they found them to be bedbugs and the entire complex had them.
So, the building owners paid for the entire complex to be exterminated and everyone had to find somewhere to say for like two days.