Bed bugs problem: Who's responsible for it?

Bed bug problems can come even to the best apartments. It can come for a ride in your clothing, mattress, or in other furniture. It can even travel from one apartment to another on the same building. You can learn how to identify bed bug problem in your place by searching for resources such as US Environmental Protection Agency website.

As soon as you got a hint of a bedbug problem in your apartment, report it to your landlord immediately in writing. Your landlord should hire a qualified exterminator to inspect and measure the concentration of bed bugs in your rentals, including adjacent units.

Before a hired exterminator can enter your property landlord should give an advance notice to enter or should coordinate with you on how will the exterminator access the property. As a tenant, you are responsible for cooperating with your landlord's efforts to control bed bugs. You should also set with the exterminator the places which they will need access to.

How to get rid of the bed bugs? Exterminator recommend to remove all clutters and all items inside drawers, closets, and shelves, and to wash all beddings and clothings. Carefully and thoroughly vacuum these spaces(i.e. drawers, closets, shelves). Move out while exterminators are treating the place.

Who is responsible for the bed bug extermination cost? States require rental properties to be habitable, and those which have bed bugs on are considered uninhabitable. So the general rule, as long as the tenant did not introduce the bed bugs, it is the landlord owner’s responsibility, he should shoulder the cost of extermination.