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Are bedbugs a common problem in your area? Not your complex, but your city in general? Some areas they are, some they are not. I've never known anyone who had bedbugs in my area, so if a tenant got these, it is definitely their expense. In fact, we have a page right in our lease that says so. Roaches too, since we don't have roaches here. But for any bug that is a common problem in the area, it is an owner expense as long as the tenant is not doing something that attracts the bugs (like leaving pet food out). So in my lease, it is pretty clear. Your lease sounds like it is not.
I agree that bedbugs do not only come in on furniture. Unless you can prove that the handyman not only was in your apartment a short time before the problem started, but also that other units he was in that week also got bedbugs, the landlord is probably going to win that fight, since they could have come home in your luggage if you went anywhere, or your guests luggage if you had company, or on your clothes from a coworker, etc.
We have twice had tenants bring us roaches into a property. Absolutely they paid for the treatment, in full, both times. One time, the tenant said something early, and one 3 month cycle worth of treatment was enough, at $90. The other time, the tenant didn't say anything until they were moving out, so the problem was much worse. Total cost, $900.
How long did it take for the problem to be treated? Or is it still ongoing? I've never had to treat for bedbugs, but $1200 sounds really high to me. Orkin charges $90 for 3 months worth of treatments on most bugs in my area. I've heard that bedbugs are even harder to get rid of than roaches, but then I'd also heard the only way to really get rid of them is for the tenant to move out and then treat the house while vacant, and I didn't see you mention that you had moved. So the $1200 plus the short time it sounds like has passed, plus the fact that you still seem to live there, don't seem to be adding up to me.
Are bedbugs a common problem in your area? Not your complex, but your city in general? Some areas they are, some they are not. I've never known anyone who had bedbugs in my area, so if a tenant got these, it is definitely their expense. In fact, we have a page right in our lease that says so. Roaches too, since we don't have roaches here. But for any bug that is a common problem in the area, it is an owner expense as long as the tenant is not doing something that attracts the bugs (like leaving pet food out). So in my lease, it is pretty clear. Your lease sounds like it is not.
I agree that bedbugs do not only come in on furniture. Unless you can prove that the handyman not only was in your apartment a short time before the problem started, but also that other units he was in that week also got bedbugs, the landlord is probably going to win that fight, since they could have come home in your luggage if you went anywhere, or your guests luggage if you had company, or on your clothes from a coworker, etc.
We have twice had tenants bring us roaches into a property. Absolutely they paid for the treatment, in full, both times. One time, the tenant said something early, and one 3 month cycle worth of treatment was enough, at $90. The other time, the tenant didn't say anything until they were moving out, so the problem was much worse. Total cost, $900.
How long did it take for the problem to be treated? Or is it still ongoing? I've never had to treat for bedbugs, but $1200 sounds really high to me. Orkin charges $90 for 3 months worth of treatments on most bugs in my area. I've heard that bedbugs are even harder to get rid of than roaches, but then I'd also heard the only way to really get rid of them is for the tenant to move out and then treat the house while vacant, and I didn't see you mention that you had moved. So the $1200 plus the short time it sounds like has passed, plus the fact that you still seem to live there, don't seem to be adding up to me.
We certainly didn't do anything that attracts the bugs. Also they are extremely common in the area and around the city.
They didn't require us to move to get the treatment done as it was done during the day for a few hours.
We certainly didn't do anything that attracts the bugs. Also they are extremely common in the area and around the city.
They didn't require us to move to get the treatment done as it was done during the day for a few hours.
The first part of what I bolded is your best ally here. If they are a widespread problem in your city, they may be something the city considers to be an owner responsibility. My conversation with my tenants is always that if they have a problem with a local bug, that is an owner responsibility. If they bring us a bug that is not common in the area, it is their responsibility. The problem is that, as others have said, bedbugs do not just wander in from outdoors, like many other bugs. Someone has to bring them in. Since you are in the apartment every day and people sent by the complex are only there on rare occasions, the odds are much higher that you introduced the problem, either through yourself or your guests.
I'd at least get a free consult with a local rental attorney and see what they say. Honestly, my opinion is that a judge could rule either way.
Definitely don't withhold rent, as that will get you evicted for sure. Your problem is that most leases have a clause that says that if any other money is outstanding, payments will get applied there first. So if your rent is $1500/month, they could take your $1500 rent payment, and apply it to the $1200 bug treatment, with only $300 going to rent, and evict you for nonpayment of rent, anyway. At which point, you would have to show up in court and defend yourself.
So either way, your choices are to pay it, negotiate a compromise with the landlord, or wind up in court. Personally, I'd try to negotiate a compromise.
The second part of what I bolded concerns me, though. I went and read up on bedbug treatment on a few different sites, and everything I see indicates that $1200 is not an unreasonable price (number estimates I saw most frequently were $1000-10,000. I would assume for an apartment, caught in the early stages, the low end would be reasonable, where you are), but in most cases, several treatments or followups are necessary. Plus, they should have had a whole list of stuff they had you do as well, which you didn't mention, so I'm assuming they didn't. So my concern is that even if you pay the $1200, the problem might not be fixed and may come back.
Have you called around to see what Treatment costs? BTW you signed the Lease it said Your responsible! & Treatment costs depends on what they did. Heat will kill them with 1 treatment ... others its 3 every 10-14 days apart. ALL are Expensive!
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