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A Landlord's Responsibility for an Insect Infestation

Contact local tenant associations or housing organizations to get information on your landlord's responsibility for bug infestations. Landlords are usually responsible for maintaining pest-free properties, but state laws vary. In any case, you should avoid bringing second-hand furniture and other items into your home that may harbor insects. Such actions could cause your landlord to blame you for an infestation and require you to pay for an exterminator.

  1. Type of Infestation

    • The type of insect involved may affect your landlord’s responsibility for an infestation. For example, a law that took effect in Maine in July 2010 placed responsibilities on landlords and tenants for bedbug infestations. The law requires landlords to hire a pest-control company that carries liability insurance to exterminate bedbugs as soon as they're discovered. The law requires tenants to comply with any instructions issued by the exterminator and landlord to eliminate bedbugs. Tenants who fail to comply with those instructions may have to pay for additional pest-control treatments.

    Habitable Homes Requirements

    • Other state laws require landlords to provide habitable living environments for their tenants, which generally makes them responsible for maintaining pest-extermination services. The Massachusetts sanitary code, for example, protects the health and well-being of tenants, according to the state Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. Provisions of the code require landlords to maintain apartments that are free from cockroaches and insect infestations if there are at least two apartments in a building. LSNJ Law notes on its website that New Jersey courts have upheld the implied “warranty of habitability” for rental properties, which requires landlords to provide livable apartments that aren't infested with bugs, unless landlords can prove a tenant caused the infestation.

    Tenant Expenses

    • You may have to go to court to get a landlord to pay costs resulting from insect infestations that aren't strictly associated with paying for extermination services. For instance, the New York Metropolitan Council on Housing notes that landlords generally won't pay relocation costs for tenants who move out temporarily during the extermination process. There is no guarantee that you will prevail even if you're willing to sue a landlord to recover such costs because state laws generally don't require landlords to reimburse this type of expense.

    Withholding Rent

    • Tenants can withhold rent if a landlord fails to comply with state laws for dealing with insect infestations. However, withholding rent can backfire on you, especially if you can't prove you gave the landlord prompt notice about an infestation and that you followed requests to prepare your apartment for extermination. In such cases, you may have to pay late fees for withholding rent. Furthermore, renters could have trouble renting apartments in the future if they end up in court for withholding rent. Court records are sold to tenant-screening services, and other landlords may be leery of renting to you if they discover you withheld rent in the past.

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