can owner of apt building charge tenants for treatment of bed bugs?

By Bonnie Shaw

There are 33 rental apartments in my building. Recently bed bugs were found in 4 apartments, one is next door to mine. Exterminator company had to spray apartments 4 times, apartments without bed bugs were not treated. Now my neighbor next door has them again, now I am petrified I’ll get them from her apartment. The residents whoes apartments were treated had to pay for treatment, not the owner of the building. I have a severly retarded daughter who needs someone with her 24/7, so I am unable to work. This is a senior citizen and disabled persons building. We are living on SSI, $710 a month. I cannot afford to pay exterminator if I get bed bugs. I was under the impression that the owner of the building would have to pay for anything wrong with apartments. Am I wrong or right? There are 3 people in my unit, so it would be a big job for me to clean and dry all of the clothes, I am in poor health and this would surely make matters worse for me. There are also other problems with my apartment, mold,  a crumbling bedroom wall, needs painted. I could go on and on, but I am mostly worried about this bed bug issue. We live in Madison Indiana, and I am not sure what my rights are. Someone please help, I am losing sleep and on edge and constantly checking for bugs. I can’t handle much more stress. and it’s not fair to my beautiful, loving daughter because I am so stressed out. HELP!

Edited on: Wednesday, January 8th, 2014 12:50 pm

2 Responses to “can owner of apt building charge tenants for treatment of bed bugs?”

My response: (We welcome stories, examples, explanations, answers and a touch of your personality)
 

greg

July 1st, 2013 11:44 pm

When it comes to bed bug treatment the one responsible to pay for it is the landlord unless proven otherwise that the tenant brought the bed bugs in. If determined by a professional that you brought the bed bugs in the unit then you must pay for the treatment however in your case since the bed bug came from your neighbor then your landlord or your neighbor should be the one responsible to pay for the treatment. If both parties refused to pay then you can file a complaint against your landlord.


bshaw88

July 2nd, 2013 11:30 pm

thank you for your response Greg. I live in a building with 33 units, 5 of which had bed bugs, including my neighbor next door. It’s a senior living/disabled building. I’m a single mother with a disabled daughter, who needs supervision 24/7, so I am unable to work. we are barely surviving on her disability check. They had to spray infested apts 4 times, since then 2 more apts hve been treated. the tenants had to pay for treatment and since the person who brought bed bugs in building moved out before anyone knew they had the bugs, the owner of the building is making the tenants pay for treatment. Since everyone who lives here is on a limited budget, it’s been very stressful, and totally unfair that the tenants have to pay. Since owner is bigwig in our small town, nobody (local lawyers) will give us a straight answer. I certainly can’t afford to pay if I get bugs in my unit. It’s so great to know I don’t have to pay . I am showing your e-mail to manager tomorrow. thank you very much, now I can sleep better at night, when I’m not looking for bugs with my magnifying glass and flashlight!! sincerely , bshaw


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