My mom rents a duplex she lived there for 3 yrs-who pays for bedbug treatment her or the Landlord?

Question

My mother has lived in this duplex for 3 years and half now, they where fine until a family moved in the upper level 6 months ago then my mother's apartment started to have bed bugs all of a sudden. They have treated it washed the linen and the clothes put everything in plastic bags. Sealed and vacuumed the mattresses we even threw some of them away.

The bedbugs are under control but it is just to much for my mom to keep up with.

We called the landlord lady so she can get a professional company to do some treatment the lady said it is our fault and we need to pay for the expenses and call the company or else she will take us to court.

Does she have any right to do this? We can pay upto $500 but more than that my mother can not afford it.

Any Landlords out there? Tennants who had similar problems?

Answer 1

Did you tell your landlord that the problem started when the new tenants moved in? If you did, the landlord should have checked the new tenants apartment. If the landlord refuses to check the other apartment, then call the health department. If it turns out that you are correct, then either the landlord or the other tenants will have to pay. If it turns out that there is no sign of bedbugs upstairs, then you will have to pay. Either way,it is illegal for  the landlord cannot ignore this problem.

Answer 2

I assume the landlord.

My grandfather rents out many properties and he pays all repair, decorating costs etc.

The tenants only pay the weekly rent plus water, gas, electric bills.

It is the landlords duty to make sure the property is fit to live in.

Answer 3

At the very end of this long answer, there's a summarized plan-of-action.

1.  Check the lease.  If the lease specifies that the landlord is responsible for pests, then you can pretty much just point it out to the landlord.  2.  Landlords are responsible for the overall habitability of the property.  UNLESS you caused the damage.

So then, did you or did you not cause the bedbugs?

Bedbugs can travel a number of different ways.  If your mom does a lot of traveling, especially internationally, she might have inadvertently brought the bed bugs back in her luggage.  Bedbugs, however do not usually travel on a person or their clothing.  They DO travel extremely well between units of a building, so it's likely that if your unit is infected, several other units may also be infected.

I would do an informal survey of the units surrounding your mom's, to see if other units have been affected.  Of course, the fact that your mom had been there for three years before the infestation started could be indicative that she, or someone she knows, brought the bedbugs with them IF no other units are infested.  Which wouldn't be good for you.

Costs.

Bedbug treatment can take over 6 hours for a single unit, usually requires at least two treatments, and, yes, can cost over $500.  Sometimes it costs upwards of $1000.  You can call around pest-companies and get quotes, as well as ask about what their guarantees are because there's no use getting treatment and then having to get treatment again a couple months later, if you'd like but that's just a general warning that it's pricey.

Here's what I would do:

1.  Ask the neighbors above and below if they have bed bugs, suspicious bite marks, etc.  This will help determine whether the problem was your mom's "fault" or not.

2a.  If yes, tell the landlord she needs to get the problem taken care of because it's endemic in the apartment building as a whole.  If she threatens to sue you, let her know that that's not how it works, that she'd have to prove that your mom was the cause of the bedbugs (which would be tough), and that if anything, you could sue her for operating a building that violates health code.

2b.  If no, I'd wash all my clothes on high, vacuum the heck out of the place, steam where I could, and buy my own chemicals at a place like http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com and then pray to god it works.

3. If an infection still persists after self-treatment, and it's still just your mom's apartment, then she'll have to hire a professional exterminator, a good one with a good track record and a guarantee.  And yes, it's likely to get expensive at that point.  Keep in mind also, without treatment, there wouldn't be much point in moving out unless she threw away her mattress and sofa and cleaned everything else extremely thoroughly, because you might just bring them along with you to your new place.

Could your landlord be less of a jerk about it?  Sure.  But if no other units are infected, and your mom's been living there for 3 years, it's likely she brought them in herself, so she'd have to get it fixed.  If there are other units infected, then it's the landlord's problem and she needs to get on that, or you'll need to report her to the proper authorities.