Bed bugs are nasty pests that can appear in almost every place you find people—including rental properties. Many states and cities have laws designed to prevent the spread of bed bugs, and some of these laws require landlords—and tenants—to take specific actions. Even in areas without bed bug laws, landlords and tenants might need to take some of the actions described below.

Bed-bug laws vary, but many laws require landlords to:

• Provide tenants with information about bed bugs. Landlords often must provide tenants written information about bed bugs, including a description of signs of a possible infestation and steps to take to prevent infestations. As a matter of practice (if not law) landlords should provide this information at the beginning of the landlord-tenant relationship, preferably with a copy of the lease or rental agreement. Landlords should consider noting in the lease or rental agreement—through either a clause in the document or an addendum to it—that they have provided the information to the tenant.
• Require tenants to report possible infestations. Getting rid of bed bugs requires a professional exterminator, so landlords should discourage tenants from attempting to eradicate bed bugs on their own. Landlords should require tenants to report the apparent and actual presence of bed bugs, and provide tenants with specific instructions on how and when to report the issue.
• Investigate potential infestations as soon as possible. When a tenant notifies a landlord about a possible bed bug problem, the landlord should investigate as soon as possible. Some states’ laws require landlords to investigate within a certain timeframe, such as 24 hours after receiving a report. Landlords should also investigate if they suspect an infestation, even if they haven’t received a complaint. (When it becomes necessary to enter a tenant’s unit to inspect or exterminate, landlords need to give proper notice to the tenant before entering.)
• Hire competent and insured exterminators. Fully eliminating bed bugs is a difficult task; landlords shouldn’t attempt to deal with an infestation on their own. Many states require landlords to hire licensed and insured exterminators.
• Notify tenants of the result of any investigations. Landlords should provide tenants with the results of a professional’s inspection for bed bugs as soon as possible. It’s best for landlords to notify the tenant in writing of the results—even if it’s just a summary. Both landlords and tenants should keep a copy of the results for their files, just in case a dispute arises in the future.
• Keep a vacant unit off the rental market if there’s an active infestation. Every state that has laws regarding bed bugs requires landlords to keep infested units off the rental market, and many prohibit landlords from advertising an infested unit. Even if you’re a landlord in a state without bed bug laws, keeping an infested unit off the market until the bed bugs are removed is a good practice—a tenant who rents an infested unit might still have a claim against you for not providing a habitable property. Aside from potential suits, renting an infested property is bound to lead to bad online reviews of your property and a poor reputation as a landlord in the community.
• Disclose past infestations if a potential tenant asks. Honesty is always the best policy, even if the law doesn’t require it. When a potential tenant asks if a unit has a history of bed bugs, a landlord should answer truthfully. If, after moving in, the tenant suffers harm from bed bugs and discovers the landlord lied about the property’s history, the tenant could sue the landlord for damages—and would likely win. Tenants who find out their landlord lied about bed bugs (or anything else), are also likely to leave bad reviews online, permanently damaging the landlord’s reputation.

Even in an area that doesn’t have bed bug laws, landlords should educate themselves about these pests and consider taking at least some of the measures above to prevent and control infestations. If handing out bed bug information sheets to tenants seems like overkill (especially understandable if there’s no history of bed bugs in the rental), landlords should require tenants to report bed bugs, investigate complaints (and hire an exterminator if necessary) as soon as possible, and be honest if asked about the property’s bed bug history. Landlords who take these minimal steps will help prevent the spread of bed bugs, keep tenants happy, and boost their overall reputation in the community.

Who Pays for Bed Bug Extermination?

Bed bug laws aside, nearly every state requires landlords to provide tenants with habitable premises, and most judges would not consider a bed bug-infested rental to be habitable. Because of this habitability requirement, most of the time landlords must pay for exterminating pests—including bed bugs. Many landlords don’t want tenants to take pest control into their own hands, anyway—a tenant who has to hire an exterminator will look for the least-expensive option available—not the most competent. Your best course of action is to always hire pest control experts yourself. Sometimes, if you can prove that a tenant knowingly or recklessly caused the infestation, or didn’t report an infestation in a timely manner, you can charge the tenant for your bed bug-related expenses. A local landlord-tenant attorney can let you know if the law allows you to charge a tenant for bed bug extermination, and evaluate your situation to determine if charging your tenant is the best course of action.

Other Landlord Considerations

Understandably, some landlords get upset when tenants report infestations: Even if a pest control expert concludes there’s no infestation, the landlord will have to spend money and time looking into the issue, and there’s always the risk that someone spreads word about the potential bed bug problem, possibly causing harm to the landlord’s reputation. But, when a tenant reports a bed bug infestation to you, the local health department, or both, it’s important to remember that it’s never okay to retaliate against the tenant.

If you’re a landlord who is in a dispute with tenants about bed bugs, consider consulting a local landlord-tenant attorney. Bed bugs are a uniquely difficult problem for landlords to handle—a landlord could take all the right steps to eradicate the pests, yet still be faced with tenants’ claims for damages. An additional difficulty might arise if a tenant reports the infestation to the local health department. An attorney can help you navigate tenants’ complaints as well as any investigations by the health department, and can make sure you’re complying with local pest or bed bug laws.

When it comes to bed bugs and rental properties, it’s far better to take steps to prevent a problem rather than to have to continually manage it.