I started getting what I thought were mosquito bites that were inflamed due to my allergies in early May, I found out in June, that they were bed bugs when I saw them on the floor and now on my couch (which I had to get rid of). I called the complex and now they're trying to charge me $1098 for pest control. They didn't even have pest control inspect neighboring units to see if they came from there. They insist it was us, but we've only lived in their complex. I've lived in the same complex since 2007 and have never had a problem until I switched units in late Nov/Early Dec of last year. I've got the same old furniture and simply moved my things in my car across from one side of the parking lot to the other. My car has been registered there and has never had bugs either. I haven't traveled and neither have my roommates.

And get this, they’re trying to tack the bill onto our rent to make us pay it! They're already treating our unit, and now, if the bed bugs move, definitely cannot prove it came to us since they didn't check other units prior to treatment. Can they really tack the bill onto our rent if they shouldn't even legally be charging us since they cannot prove we brought them in?

The real question here is how you moved into a new place without checking it out first. How do you miss bed bugs? Maybe you should clean up your act before bossing on your landlord.

Check your lease and see what it says about the landlords responsibilities. Landlords are generally responsible for all pest control.

Who is the actual landlord? If it's a major management company, it might be that your local property manager is trying to put something over. Call the headquarters office and see what their policies -- and the justifications for them -- are. You might also call the Fairfax County consumer office, which publishes a lengthy tenant-landlord handbook.

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/consumer/tenant/
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/consumer/tenant/tl-handbook.pdf

Yet another dumb troll copied from here:

http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/is-the-landlord-or-tenant-responsible-for-a-bed-bu-1742108.html

You people are such chumps.

The tenant landlord handbook states that the landlord must "Keep the premises fit and livable and free of rodents, vermin, insects, and other infestations that constitute a health hazard;" It's pretty clear that the landlord is responsible for extermination. However, it's not clear if the landlord is responsible for the cost of extermination or if he can pass the cost onto the tenant, especially if the tenant is at fault. Hopefully, your lease spells this out. Presumably, the landlord thinks you are responsible for the bed bugs or he probably wouldn't charge you.

If it were me, and the lease doesn't clarify the issue, and I couldnt get a definitive answer from the county, then I would probably pay the rent only and advise the management company that they can take me to court for the extermination fee. Of course, the landlord could then say he'll just take the cost out of your security deposit, in which case you would have to take them to small claims court at the end of your tenancy to attempt to recover.

A couple of things to consider...if you did a pre-occupancy inspection and no bugs were discovered, that might weaken your case (although I have no idea how hard it is to see bed bugs). You could see if the apartment complex has a policy of fumigating a unit prior to occupancy. If they do, that would also weaken your case. Also, the standard lease we use (single family home) requires the tenant to exterminate the premises at the conclusion of their tenancy IF they had pets. If the place was fumigated right before you moved in, and the bed bugs showed up directly following your moving in, I would think it would be hard to prove that you didn't bring them with you.

Bedbugs come/travel with people like fleas travel with dogs. They are blood suckers. An empty house will not have bedbugs, no blood. So figure out who brought them, they should be responsible, don't omit yourself.

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Them or You

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Suckas Wrote:
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> Yet another dumb troll copied from here:
>
> http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/is-the-landlord-
> or-tenant-responsible-for-a-bed-bu-1742108.html
>
> You people are such chumps.

It's not even the same article troll!