Everyone’s worst nightmare is finding Bedbugs in their apartment. There are few pests that are harder to get rid of than Bed Bugs and the tell tail signs you have them in your unit are hard to miss, especially if you have experienced them before in a place you have lived.
But what do you do about it if you live in an apartment building? If you just moved in, is it your landlord’s responsibility to pay for them to be removed? What if you accidentally brought them in, what then?
The first thing you should do once you see bed bugs in your apartment is to tell your landlord. Other apartments are probably going to be affected by the bugs as well, and they have a responsibility to their other tenants to make sure the bugs get removed and they have a safe and healthy place to live.
Even if you end up being the one who brought the bed bugs in, your landlord will probably work with you with the cost of getting the situation under control. While a frustrating problem for anyone to deal with, the very LAST thing your landlord wants is for the bed bugs to spread to other apartments, which they can do quickly and easily. And there is nothing worse than having the reputation around town that your complex has bed bugs.
Even if you think that you somehow got all the bed bugs in your apartment, you have no idea if they have moved to apartments adjacent to yours. One of the trademark features of bed bugs is that they can move quite easily to other apartment units in the same complex.
Regardless of whether you know you got them all or not, if you see bed bugs in your apartment you NEED to tell your landlord right away for the sake of others in the building.
Can A Landlord Prove I Brought In The Bed Bugs?
While your landlord can’t 100 prove it was you that brought the bed bugs in, they are going to have a pretty good idea who did bring them in based on new move-ins, who just bought or brought in new furniture, and if anyone close to your apartment has had a guest stay for awhile with them.
Because bugs can’t talk, it is hard to ask them how they got from their previous residence to their current one, in your apartment. A bit of deduction though can narrow down the suspects pretty quick, however.
The vast majority of cases are when tenants have bought some used furniture from someone else in town and they unwittingly bring them into their apartment without even knowing. In almost EVERY case this happens, the tenants are going to swear up and down that there is no WAY they could have been the ones to bring them in. Yet, it happens.
If this sounds like you, and you have recently gotten some secondhand furniture or bedding, more than likely it WAS you. Don’t be too hard on yourself, know the risks of doing this for next time and look at ways to minimize the risk if you are going to buy secondhand furniture.
The second most common reason bed bugs show up is because someone new moved into the apartment building. In virtually ALL the cases of bed bugs I have had to deal with, it is a new complaint given to me by a tenant who has just moved in during the past couple weeks. Usually, they are pretty unhappy when they call because they are upset they chose an apartment place that apparently has bed bugs.
Well… because we have our carpets either professionally cleaned or replaced, spend a couple hundred dollars deep cleaning the apartment, replace the outlets and covers, and repaint every unit when there is a move-out, and because we haven’t had a bed bug complaint until THAT tenant just moved in, we can pretty much rule out that they had been there before then.
Most people have a hard time coming to the realization that they are the ones that brought the embarrassing pests into the apartment, and that they had been living with them for who knows how long. They are very indignant, defensive, and would swear on their mother’s life that THEY weren’t the ones to bring them in.
Yet, in the overwhelming majority of all cases, the new tenants ARE the ones that brought them in. It’s just something that has to be dealt with.
HOWEVER, if you see evidence of bed bugs on Day 1 and it is apparent the landlord doesn’t keep up his property the way it should be, then you have a legitimate complaint, and I absolutely would NOT finish moving your things in. Find someplace else, and protect your own clothes, furniture, and bedding from being infested as well.
Can I Refuse To Pay Rent Because My Apartment Has Bed Bugs?
Yes, if the apartment complex is responsible for the bed bugs, or they are not handling the issue in a prompt manner, you can withhold rent from them for not providing you with a safe, healthy apartment to live in.
Personally, I would continue paying the landlord as to not muddle the issue of the bed bugs and the rent. Be clear, that withholding the rent is a threat to your landlord and a criticism for the way they are handling the situation. Maybe that threat and criticism is warranted, but if you want to solve the situation in the most prompt manner possible, let the landlord focus on just THAT problem, the problem of the bed bugs, not your rent on top of it as well.
Remind your landlord that they have obligation to take care of the bed bug situation in a prompt and professional manner.
Maybe you aren’t even the tenant that has the bed bugs, but are a neighbor in a close, adjacent apartment and are looking for ways to get your landlord to take action. In this case, your landlord ABSOLUTELY has the obligation to take care of the situation on YOUR behalf. Bed bugs travel and they can travel quickly. The last thing you want is your neighbor’s problem becoming your own. Feel free to put appropriate pressure on them to get the bed bugs taken care of.
Just remember that the better the relationship you keep with your landlord, the better life will be for your at your apartment.
Should I Sue My Landlord Because My Apartment Has Bedbugs?
Suing your landlord is the very last course of action to take against your landlord if your apartment has bed bugs. Legal action takes time and costs money and you have to be able to prove it is your landlord’s fault. Resolving the situation before it becomes a legal situation is your best bet.
In the United States you can sue for just about anything, even someone giving you coffee that is “too hot” at the drive-thru. But simply because you sue someone doesn’t mean that you are going to win.
The Bed Bug Legal Group pretty much says you can sue your landlord if they have ever seen a PICTURE of a bed bug. Now, I might be exaggerating that a bit, but attorneys will tell you many times what you want to hear.
As a real person, and one that has been on both sides of legal proceedings, I can tell you that neither side is fun, it is expensive, it is time consuming, it is STRESSFUL, and the only party that really wins is the attorneys. That may sound like a joke, but it’s the truth.
I’m sure there ARE cases where filing a suit is the only course of action left to a tenant because the situation has gotten that far out of hand, but please, for the sake of your own sanity, make going to court be your last course of action.
If you are intent on hiring an attorney, sometimes a simple call from them to your landlord is enough to kick them into gear.
Should I Tell My Landlord If I See Bed Bugs?
You should ABSOLUTELY tell your landlord if you see Bed Bugs. Regardless of whether you think you personally brought them in or not, the landlord needs to know so they can help get rid of them on your end and protect your neighbor’s property and apartments as well.
So many times a tenant will find a bed bug in their apartment and because they are scared they are going to be held responsible because they are obviously the first ones reporting it, that they just don’t tell the landlord and try to take care of the pests themselves.
I have not met a landlord who would prefer their tenant not to say something over fear of reprisal. Landlords want to have a good reputation. That is what is attracting people to their complex, and that is what is making them money. They want to just get rid of the problem of the bed bugs and not have several people move out because all of a sudden now 4 apartments suddenly have bed bugs.
Most landlords will gladly bit the bullet on a couple hundred dollar extermination bill over having several people move out and spread the word around town that their apartment complex is infested with bed bugs.
How Can I Get Rid Of The Bedbugs In My Apartment?
While there ARE ways to get rid of bed bugs if you have them, the best way to go about riding bed bugs from your apartment is to have a professional exterminator come, analyze the situation and take care of the problem.
I will be doing another article on how to take care of your clothes and linens and bedding and furniture in your apartment if you find out, or one of your neighbors find out they have bed bugs. But the exterminator who comes in will give you all the information you need until then, and may even have your evacuate your apartment for a period of time depending on how bad the infestation is.
You’ll want to let the professionals take care of the bed bugs. They can always come back and their work is normally insured. The best thing to do is to let them do their job, especially if your landlord is picking up the tab.
If you find your apartment has bed bugs, the first thing you should do is tell your landlord. That way, they can start making the calls to get an exterminator into the building and see which apartments are affected. This is the only way you are going to be able to be assured that both your apartment and your neighbor’s apartment will be taken care of.
While it IS your responsibility to get the bed bugs taken care of if you brought them in, most landlords are going to work with you at getting the situation resolved to preserve their rent roll and their reputation.
The last thing you want to do is NOT tell your landlord about the bed bug problem and then have them migrate to other parts of the building where the problem is made worse. Contact your landlord, and let them get the ball rolling to rectify the situation.
