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I'm from San Jose, CA. Like the title says, the first night waking up after moving into a new place I was itching and found two grown adult bed bugs on the wall. I never had bed bugs before, but knew of them so I freaked out and called the landlord. He told me that the bug spray he had scheduled (the same day I moved) needed 15 days to act. I started vacuuming like crazy, moving furniture and bagging whatever belongings had touched the walls/floor. I haven't found other visible adult bugs, but since the second day, I've had an itchy head and body which are driving me crazy. It's been just 4 days since I moved, but I have a slight bug phobia and I can't stop thinking about it and itching. This is an expensice place and i cannot afford the money or time on buying bags, sprays, and vacuum all the time. Is it possible to break my lease with minimum problem? It's been only a few days but I don't wanna "wait" I wanna treat my stuff and burn what can't be treated and get out.
You need to get your mattress and boxed springs into those special bags asap to try and keep them from being infested if they haven't been already. They sell them at Wal-mart.
I know bed bugs are hard to get rid of. I had them unknowingly for years and kept moving them from place to place. I didn't find out that's what they were until about a year after they were gone.
You have lots of rights in this situation especially if the LL did not reveal there was a problem with bed bugs before you moved in and also that the LL rented without remediating the situation 100% prior to you moving in.
If your landlord fails to deal with the infestation professionally and within a reasonable time,carefully consider your legal options. As stated above, the presence of an infestation renders a unit uninhabitable under California law. If the landlord does not fix uninhabitable conditions within a reasonable time after the tenant has notified him of the conditions, the law offers several options. These options must be used very carefully to ensure that they are proper under the circumstances. It is extremely important to document the conditions by taking pictures, notifying agencies such as the Health and/or Housing Department, and keeping receipts and other documentation of damages caused by the conditions. Additionally, you may want to consult with an attorney about the specifics of your case.
Repair the conditions and deduct the cost from the rent: If the tenant has told the landlord about the problems in the unit and the landlord has not attempted to repair them within a reasonable time, the tenant may try to repair the conditions himself where the cost of the repairs does not require the tenant to spend more than one month’s rent. The tenant may then deduct the cost of the repairs from the rent when it comes due. In the case of an infestation, the tenant may purchase poisons and/or hire pest control professionals as long as the cost of the repair does not exceed one month’s rent.
The tenant should provide an itemized accounting of the costs and any receipts to the landlord. Tenant should wait 30 days before repairing and deducting unless the condition is so severe that a shorter time period is reasonable. The tenant may repair and deduct after a shorter notice period if the circumstances require it, but he or she must still wait a reasonable amount of time and produce evidence that the shorter wait period was reasonable.
Move out of the unit (Constructive eviction): A tenant may be able to move out of the unit without legal consequences if the conditions of the apartment make it impossible to live in it safely. The tenant must inform the landlord about the problems and give him a reasonable time to repair them. However, if the landlord does not succeed in repairing the unit and the unlivable conditions persist, the tenant may vacate the premises, and the tenant will not have to pay rent or perform other conditions after he vacates the premises. A tenant can’t use this remedy more than twice in any 12-month period.
Remember, you have the right to safe, habitable housing, and have many rights and remedies under California law. Under certain circumstances, a landlord may not collect or demand rent if the building’s conditions violate legal standards of habitability, and you may be entitled to compensation for damages suffered as a result of the uninhabitable conditions.
Thank you Corn, the thing is he did a spraying the day I moved, basically part of the routine for in between tenants. I just looked at my contract and it says there's a "bed bug addendum" and to my understanding it relieves them from any further treatments?? (I know, I should've paid attention but honestly I never had bed bugs, I allways rented rooms in houses from nice families), would them having one spray be considered remediating the situation?
Also, it's only been a few days since I moved in, besides those two bed bugs in the morning, so far I haven't found any visible to the naked eye. Everything is "new" and of course my things aren't damaged (yet). I don't wanna wait for my things to get ruined or the whole month to "wait" for the bugs to come out just so I can have something to photograph but like I said since I moved in Ive had an itchy head and body, which I never had before, but I can't see any visible bugs, is driving me crazy! Would that be a good reason?
This is really disappoint because I was looking for a place to call my own at least for a year or two, but literally the first night I get bitten... I'm seriously ready to burn my stuff, get a new (once again) mattress and go back to renting a room. I've been doing laundry and leaving everything in the dryer for at least 2hs. I just can't do this preventative stuff all the time, I work almost 14hs a day, every day.
Last edited by gwenmcguff; 07-04-2015 at 02:37 AM..
Now I don't know because we don't know if you brought them in or they were already in the apt. Check here first to see if your address might be in this database. I know it asks for hotel in the search but just skip that and put the address.
According to the California Department of Health Services (CDHS), bed bugs are small wingless insects, approximately one-fourth of an inch long that feed on blood, normally during the night. Bed bugs are found mostly in small holes or cracks near the sleeping areas of humans and pets. Bed bugs live in furniture, including couches, easy chairs, dressers, night tables, and beds. They can also infest electronics, including alarm clocks, radios and televisions.[1]
Evidence of a bed bug infestation may include blood spots/stains on bedding, walls, or upholstered furniture, and unexplained bites upon waking up. Additionally, bed bugs or bed bug skeletons may be found in small crevices near sleeping areas. Bites from bed bugs are often linear, appearing in a row of three or more bites on the body.
According to the CDHS, bed bugs do not transmit disease to humans. They do, however, cause red, itchy bites and rashes. Scratching bed bug bites can lead to secondary skin infections. Tenants who live with bed bugs often report emotional distress and sleep deprivation as a result of the bed bugs.
If the address for your apt building does not show up on bedbugregistry.ccom and you have determined, based on the info I listed in previous post, that you do have bed bugs, how many units/apts are in our apt? If multiple units, have you asked other tenants if they have them or if they know if the building has had problems with them in the past?
Also read this link in its entirety. It is a tenant asking about bed bugs and that there is a clause in their lease similar to what you stated is in your lease addendum. It appears that a clause like that is not enforceable in CA and a LL can not waive their 'duty of inhabitability' whether it is in a lease/addendum or not.
We have bed bug clauses here in AZ and they state that the unit is free of pests and any pest infestation is immediate cause for termination of the lease and the pest control required to address the situation would be charged to the tenant. The clause does not absolve the landlord of responsibility but it ensures they don't get someone bringing a major problem into the unit and leave the landlord cleaning the mess. In my multi unit complex one bed bug infestation could travel to all my units and I would be out a small fortune in clean up and lost rent.
If there was a bed bug infestation before you moved in then chances are really high the landlords home is also infested considering the amount of time it takes to turn a unit. I am in my units for days fixing things and assessing the situation, though I'm probably a bit more hands on than some landlords coming from a construction background.
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