Is it my landlords responsibility?

Bed bugs are often carried into a home on objects such as furniture and clothing. If you think you have a bed bug problem, check for live bed bugs or shells in the following areas:

•Seams, creases, tufts and folds of mattresses and box springs

•Cracks in the bed frame and head board

•Under chairs, couches, beds, dust covers

•Between the cushions of couches and chairs

•Under area rugs and the edges of carpets

•Between the folds of curtains

•In drawers

•Behind baseboards, and around window and door casings

•Behind electrical plates and under loose wallpaper, paintings and posters

•In cracks in plaster

•In telephones, radios, and clocks

Bed bugs can also travel from apartment to apartment along pipes, electrical wiring and other openings. If the infestation is heavy, a sweet smell may be noticed in the room.

The good news is that it is your landlord’s responsibility to deal with the problem of bedbugs and other vermin- not yours. * IN CERTAIN SITUATIONS

The bad news is that you have to go to very great lengths in cooperation with management to rid these vermin. Professional fumigating is generally not enough. You will not be held responsible simply because it cannot be proven how they ended up in the building or in your suite.

It is entirely possible that the source is coming from outside. Here is a case in point:

Our daughter is renting her own one bedroom apartment in a building of several apartments. Since she discovered the problem management has taken care of the problem but it has required persistence on our daughter’s part. They have had to fumigate the entire building and every suite because they were discovered in other suites as well. The fumigation company admitted that this may or may not solve the problem. We have gone to great lengths to make sure there is no recurrence including laundering every item of clothing she owns and anything else that can be laundered. The fumigation company had to even fumigate the halls and all the common areas.

The unfortunate thing is that all tenants need to work in harmony. If only our daughter is doing this and other tenants are not then it can become an exercise in futility.

Later I will give you a site where you can go to get tips on what to do to help you solve your problem.

When it comes to dealing with your landlord this issue should be given top priority. If they move slowly on this then I would stay in a hotel until such time that the place has been effectively treated. Continue paying your monthly rent. DO NOT WITH HOLD RENT. I would then bill the landlord on the grounds that the matter was either not dealt with in a reasonable and timely manner (they should be on it within a day or 2 at most) or that your premises continued to be uninhabitable and unsafe to live in after intervention. I’m certain this would be held up in court if it went that far.

If everything is being done that is humanly possibly and the problem persists then submit your notice and move out. . Be sure everything is sanitized as best as possible before you transport it to the new place or you risk taking the bedbugs along for a free all expenses paid trip to a new location.

I would not worry about handing in your notice late if you decide to move. There is no point in asking for a reduction in rent. Either the place is habitable or it isn’t. If you ask for rent reduction and choose to remain then all you're really saying is that the problem is tolerable. I don’t think any judge would expect you to stay in a place that is rendered uninhabitable.

Get all correspondences with your landlord in writing so you have a paper trail.

Try this website for additional help about bedbugs:

http://www.toronto.ca/health/bedbugs.htm

Addendum: I forgot to mention that our daughter's problem was eventually solved

* I did a little more investigating and discovered that your situation is different from where I live. You may find the following of interest:

"Who is responsible for getting rid of a

bed bug infestation?

The Rhode Island Housing Maintenance and

Occupancy Code [RIGL 45-24.3] states that if

the infestation is limited to a single dwelling

unit, extermination is the responsibility of the

occupant. However, if the infestation exists in

two or more units, or in shared or public areas

of a building with two or more units, then

extermination is the responsibility of the

building owner.

Contact the Minimum Housing Program of

your city or town if your landlord or

building owner has not addressed a bed bug

infestation that involves a common area or

two or more units."

Read your lease first and see if it addresses this issue. Then consult the Landlord Tenant Act for RI to see if that Act gives you an orientation.

Talk to your neighbors and see if they are experiencing the same infestation. If you can pinpoint the source even before you talk to the landlord it will be very helpful. You might also want to call a local university and talk to someone who knows a lot about insects and bedbugs in particular. Knowledge can be very powerful when you try to resolve the problem. If there is nobody in the academic world then call a pest control company. Some owners have had extensive course work and experience in all issues of pests and can give you good advice.

You then should have enough information to talk to your landlord and try to work things out. If this is an apartment complex and I assume that it is, it is in the best interests of the landlord to deal with this problem before the entire complex is infested.

1. Have you travelled anywhere lately?

2 Yes they can move from apartment to apartment.

3. These nasty critters can cause skin infections from there bite and sucking your blood.

4. They will even bite pets if nothing else is around.

5. It takes more then 2 treatments to get ride of them as well as washing all your clothing in hot water and sealing them in plastic so the bed bugs cant get back in to the clothing to hibernate till dark.

6. All beds and walls and baseboards throughout the apartment need to be treated minimum of 3 x and inspection of the whole building needs to be done to determine where they originated from.

7. The landlord should be paying for all of this and billing the resident that caused the problem.

8. Did someone in your building just move in?

9.They make a can of bed bug spray in the camping section of walmart I suggest you get to spray on your clothing as you put them on and take them off. After you remove your clothing you should place them in a plastic bag and seal.

10. Every time you leave your home you run the risk of taking the bugs with you and then they will drop off somewhere else so be careful where you go.

11. They are very hard to get ride of and if you do not have everything treated properly and repeatedly they will not go away.

12. I was just reading some of the other answers: Do not talk to your neighbors they will then become aware of the problem and if they are the ones that caused it they could try to blame you. In addition do not with hold your rent if you need to go further go to your local court house and file a case in landlord tenant court place your rent in escrow. To many people do not pay the rent end up with a judgement for non payment because the Judge tells them its not there decision not to abide by there legal contract.

Good Luck

Im not familiar with R.I. tenant/landlord laws, but usually its the landlords job to handle the pests. it falls under the health and safety of your living conditions. If you were in a rented hotel room and had the same problem, would you pay for it? Basically if its not habitable, then you shouldn't have to pay rent. However, if it can be proved that you were responsible for the infestation, then you can be liable for the cost to fix it.

Put your request for the pest control IN WRITING, and submit it asap.

good luck, I hope you get some relief soon.

he is responsible for it, but maybe you can make a deal and pay for it and he can knock it off your rent..

but if you do that make sure you get it in writing that he is willing to do so. landlords can be sneaky protect your self first..

if he does not fix the problem it is a health safety issue and then you call the city and ask what you can do..they can have a health inspector come to the building to see if he is in violation..

thats what they did for me when i had mold in my apartment they didn't want to do anything so i called city hall..

hope it helps good luck

You should get together with all the tenants and insist the entire building be treated simultaneously.