Question by dragonrain11:
Can a landlord kick ppl out of an apartment if they call about bed bugs?
My friend and her family found bed bugs in their apartment. I think they got them from the people in one of the other apartments. I told them to call the landlord so he can send in an exterminator, but they don’t want to call because they are afraid that the landlord will kick them out of the apartment because of the bugs. Could he really do that?
I asked her – they don’t have a lease, they go month by month or whatever it’s called.
Best answer:
Answer by Lilac Rose
I don’t think they’ll be kicked out of their apartment. Bedbugs can be a health hazard, especially since it’s coming from other apartments. They pay the rent to the landlord, therefore it is the responsibility of the landlord to maintain a habitual living for his/her tenants. If the Landlord doesn’t budge, call the Department of Health and file a complaint.
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Many states have very strict landlord tenant laws. No state would allow a landlord to “kick out” a tenant for reporting a living condition issue that needs to be addressed by the landlord. With that being said, however this issue may not be the responsibility of the landlords. I suggest your friends read their lease to see what responsibilities the landlord has agreed to. Most leases only hold the landlord responsible for dwelling issues, but some may provide for insect infestation. If this is the case than your friends should feel comfortable reporting the problem, because that provision is in their lease and the landlord has already agreed in essence to resolve it. I would also like to suggest that you pose this question on another subject heading to find out how to get rid of bed bugs in a through and cost effective manor. I don’t think it would be that difficult and may alleviate some embarrassment for your friends.
They are prob up to something that they are not suppose to be- like too many people living there… drugs…. have a pet…..
They might be worried about getting kicked out for other reasons…
You can actually bring bedbugs into your home from a hotel or an airplane- something as simple as that.
No, the landlord cannot kick them out but he does need to be made aware. The building walls, not just your friends furniture could be infested as well and they would have to send notice to all the tenants and treat the entire building. It is better to say something now then to wait for the problem to get worse.
The common bedbug (Cimex lectularius) is the best adapted to human environments. It is found in temperate climates throughout the world and has been known since ancient times. Other species include Cimex hemipterus, found in tropical regions (as well as Florida), which also infests poultry and bats, and Leptocimex boueti, found in the tropics of West Africa and South America, which infests bats and humans. Cimex pilosellus and Cimex pipistrella primarily infest bats, while Haematosiphon inodora, a species of North America, primarily infests poultry.”
There is a simple and well known cure:
1) Get 4 Medium Sized Plastic Containers and fill them half full with water. Place each continer underneath each of the 4 legs of the bedframe. This will prevent the bugs from leaving the bed at night and spreading to the rest of your furniture and clothes- if they have not already infected them. It will also drown them. Change the water every other day.
2) Use a HAIRDRYER on your bed and furniture! A friend of mine traveled through Africa and brought back bed bugs! I tried to help her for months trying to get rid of these creatures with every kind of spray, buying new mattresses–it was a total nightmare. They were biting her son almost every night–it was disgusting and frustrating. She spent a lot of money and time with all kinds of products and professionals and they would the bedbugs would just return. She was becoming very discouraged and depressed over it. Finally, I read online(after searching for months for a solution) that blowing a HAIRDRYER on the infected areas on high heat would kill them–permanently. Slice open the back of your mattress with a knife. Use an ordinary hairdryer on HIGH HEAT all along the edge of the mattress, the top, the bottom and carpet, and anywhere you think they could be hiding(usually no deeper than 1/4 inch into the mattress so you just need to heat this up good). Also do this to your sofa / dining chair cushions and pillows. Putting the dryer on high heat, blowing the hot air closely for several minutes will kill the bugs and any eggs before they hatch. Do this BEFORE buying a new mattress so your new one doesn’t get infected! It’s been several months now and no bugs have returned.
3) Purchase some Raid Bombs at the grocery store to Bomb your home. Make sure all your pets/children/family are out of the home when fumigating, cut off the air conditioner, fans and close the windows in your apartment. Cover your fish tank with aluminum foil or cling wrap and cut off the filter/air pump. Then Remove ALL the Linens from your bed and house-sheets, pillows, blankets, comforters, rugs and any other linens around the house and put them in the wash. Place a bomb in your closet as well, but cover your clothes with trash bags. While the clothes are washing, fumigate your house, time yourself and go to the park or spend some time at a local cafe for 1 1/2 hours. The time will allow the air to suffocate / smother the bugs- do not go in to the apartment sooner. After 1 1/2 hours go into your apartment and open all the windows- leave again for another 30 minutes so the apartment can air out. Throw your linens into the dryer and when they are done, you should be ready to go back upstairs.
Repeat this procedure again in another week to make sure you kill the hatching eggs if any. If other people in the building are having the same problem then you may need to schedule to fumigate all the apartments at the SAME TIME to kill all the bugs at once.