If bed bugs are in an apartment, who is responsible to get rid of it?

Question

I have sub -leased my apartment and the tenant told me that they have bed bugs. Who is responsible for getting rid of it? My landlord says that we are responsible since the apartment was beg bug free and the tenants traveled quite a bit in the last couple of months.

Answer 1

If the tenants travel alot, they probably picked up the bed bugs and brought them in with their luggage etc. There is a spray at Home Depot that is supposed to kill bed bugs. Have them do that, but read the label and make sure it won't annoy anyone with respiratory issues.

Answer 2

Bed bugs are dustmites that eat your skin cells, so they basically came to eat your waist, it would prolly be you, but it won't cost mush to get rid of them.

Answer 3

If the apartment was bed bug free then the tenants who brought them should be responsible.  That's nasty!  They probably got them form a motel somewhere.  You need a pest control company to take care of that because store bought products will NOT work on bed bugs.

Answer 4

If you sublet it then you are responsible for spraying.

Answer 5

Check your lease.  Some leases have provisions for pest control and other leases do not.  If there is nothing noted about pest control, then it's up to the tennant to handle that themselves.  

Your sub-lease tenants can treat the problem now and then you can treat the problem again when the lease is up and they move out.  Bedbugs can hide for a full year and this apartment is probably going to have to be treated more than once.

Answer 6

Get a new mattress!!

Answer 7

The tenant is most likely responsible to get rid of it because the tenant did tell you that they had the bugs, but they let you rent the place with them in there.

Answer 8

Bedbugs are Dustmites.  They eat the dead skin that you shed.  They live in your matress and pillow.

are you sure you are talking about bedbugs?  you can't see them.  If you have bed bugs that bite, you probably have fleas or lice.

Set off a "bomb" (fumigator) and leave the place for a a whole day.  Go to the drug store and buy a lice removal kit.

Answer 9

They are full of it.....

It is the landlord's responsibility to remove any and all bugs from the apartment.  If they don't, the apartment can be reported and condemned until it is free of bugs and liveable.  

Just let the landlord know that if they don't take care of it, you will report it.

Answer 10

It is ur responsiblity if u have a good living habit then u wouldnt have any bed bugs lol u must not clean alot lol vacum clean more  

Answer 11

It depends on the state you live in. Your landlord may be right, but you should find out what the law is in your state. A local tenants’ rights organization probably exists in your city, and they’re probably the best free source of information regarding landlords’ responsibility to pay for treatment.

Answer 12

because there are many guessers, i will lay a better answer for you in the real world...

what you are asking is a legal question. in order to truly know what the answer is, the answerer must know what jurisdiction you reside in, for example, what state (or country) you live in. the law can vary widely depending on what the courts of your area say.

if you are in the united states, consult your state bar association. this will be easy to find if you google search "(state name) bar association." many of the states will have a section for landlord tenant law. this page will lay out exactly what rights you have. the page will also have a wealth of information if you need to consult an attorney, low cost or otherwise.

the general law of the united states would be that the landlord has the responsibility to maintain a habitable apartment for his/her tenant. that means that the landlord would have the responsibility usually to ensure that there are not bugs living with you. check your local state, call an attorney, and do some research using the internet and you will quickly come to a conclusion on your own. the law is not complicated when you set your mind to finding the solution. don't rely on anyone in yahoo! answers to help you because there are a too many pretenders here to be helpful.

Answer 13

Bed bugs eggs are carried by humans (thus if you don't get yourself disinfected the eggs will just keep hatching).

So given you brought them in, it's your responsiblity to get rid of them.

Answer 14

whoever brought in the bed bugs are responsible...bed bugs are deadly! if they are in one bed only...it can spread through out the whole room in one day....look under the corners of ure bed...dass where they love to hide.