The short answer
- Report pests to the landlord or manager promptly, in writing; prompt written reporting of suspected bed bugs is part of California's required bed bug notice.[1]
- Let the pest professional in, and prepare the unit: clear items off the refrigerator and out of cupboards, closets and the areas around appliances so they can be inspected and treated.[2]
- Report maintenance problems that let pests in: broken door sweeps, holes in walls or ceilings, leaks and torn screens.[2]
- Read your lease and look up your state's tenant guide; in California, for example, a landlord may not have to fix an unlivable condition if the tenant hasn't met the tenant's own responsibilities.[1]
- Who pays for treatment, how fast the landlord has to act, and whether you have to leave during treatment are set by state and local law and the lease, and they differ a lot. Florida, Maine, Arizona and Colorado, for example, each write these rules differently.[6][7][8][9]
- Before you spray or set off a fogger yourself, talk to the landlord. NPIC says pesticides can make bed bugs scatter to neighboring apartments, and UC IPM says foggers and aerosol sprays can push cockroaches into other areas without killing them.[14][4]
Check your state: how the rules differ
There's no single national landlord-tenant rule for pests. HUD's own multifamily guidance says it does not override lease provisions that comply with state or local landlord-tenant law, and EPA tells landlords to find out what laws or regulations apply to their location, since there could be reporting or response requirements.[10][11]
The examples below show how far apart state laws can be. They are summaries of the statute text, not legal advice; look up your own state's statute or tenant guide, check for city or county ordinances, and read your lease. Our guide for landlords and property managers covers more state and city bed bug laws.[6][7][8][9]
- Florida: unless the parties agree otherwise in writing, the landlord of a unit other than a single-family home or duplex must make reasonable provisions for exterminating rats, mice, roaches, ants, wood-destroying organisms and bedbugs. If you have to leave for the treatment, the landlord must give 7 days' written notice, must abate the rent, and can't require you to be out for more than 4 days.[6]
- Maine: you must promptly tell the landlord when you know of or suspect bedbugs, and the landlord must inspect within 5 days of written or oral notice. You have to give access after reasonable notice and follow reasonable control measures; unreasonably failing to comply makes you financially responsible for the treatments that result. The landlord must offer reasonable help to a tenant who can't carry out the requested measures and disclose what compliance may cost.[7]
- Arizona: you may not knowingly move bedbug-infested items into a unit, and you must notify the landlord in writing or electronically when you know bedbugs are present. The landlord must give tenants bedbug educational materials and may not lease a unit known to have a current infestation. Single-family residences are excluded.[8]
- Colorado: under the 2019 bed bug law as the General Assembly summarizes it, you notify the landlord in writing or electronically, and if you send it electronically you keep proof that it was delivered. The landlord must inspect within 96 hours of notice and, with certain exceptions, pays for inspection and treatment, while the tenant pays the cost of preparing the unit. A prospective tenant can ask whether the unit had bed bugs in the previous 8 months.[9]
- California's rules are laid out in the next section as a longer example.[1]
Example: California's rules
California's official tenant guide is a useful example of how these rules are written. Check your own state's guide, as requirements vary.[1]
- A unit may be considered uninhabitable if it substantially lacks clean and sanitary buildings and grounds free from rodents and vermin when the tenancy starts, and in areas under the landlord's control during the tenancy.[1]
- Tenants must keep the premises as clean and sanitary as their condition permits and dispose of trash in a clean and sanitary way, unless the landlord agrees in writing to do it.[1]
- Before a new tenancy, landlords must give a written bed bug notice. If they suspect bed bugs, they must inspect, and they cannot show, rent or lease a unit with bed bugs until they're eradicated.[1]
- When a pest control company starts an ongoing service contract, it must give written notice about the pesticides to be used, and the landlord must give a copy to each new tenant in a serviced unit.[1]
- At move-in, check for signs of insects, vermin or rodents and record what you find.[1]
If you live in HUD-assisted or HUD-insured housing
HUD Notice H 2012-5 covers multifamily properties with Section 8 project-based rental assistance, certain Section 202 and 811 funding, and FHA-insured mortgages. It says HUD housing must be decent, safe, sanitary and in good repair, and that under the project agreements and contracts the housing must have no evidence of infestation. It covers bed bugs, insects and all manner of vermin.[10]
The notice tells owners and agents to respond with urgency to tenant reports, but it also warns residents that inspection and treatment can take time to schedule, especially for bed bugs, and that some infestations need several treatments over several weeks.[10]
- Report a suspected infestation right away, in the unit or anywhere else on the property. HUD calls tenants the first line of defense.[10]
- Cooperation, as HUD describes it, means letting management in to inspect and treat, following the treatment protocol, and removing infested furniture or other items from common areas such as hallways. HUD also asks tenants to cut back unreasonable clutter that hides pests and gets in the way of treatment.[10]
- Moving out during treatment generally isn't necessary, according to HUD. When a temporary move is needed, a resident with a disability must be placed in housing with at least the same accessibility features, and the owner must ensure the right to return.[10]
- In assisted properties, an owner's request that tenants pay for treatment has to follow the tenant-damages and noncompliance terms of HUD's Family Model Lease.[10]
Reporting a problem and working with the landlord
Get the pest identified first. NPIC notes that carpet beetles, fleas and bat bugs are often confused with bed bugs. If an extension agent or other expert confirms bed bugs and you live in an apartment, EPA says to notify your landlord, that the units near yours should be inspected, and that landlords may have a responsibility to take part in treatment.[14][12]
- Put it in writing. California's required bed bug notice stresses prompt written reporting, Arizona and Colorado call for written or electronic notice, and Colorado's law has the tenant keep proof that an electronic notice was delivered.[1][8][9]
- Talk to the landlord or the pest professional before using any pesticide on your own, NPIC advises, and consider working with neighbors and the landlord on a coordinated treatment, since bed bugs move between units.[14]
- Skip bug bombs. UC IPM says foggers, bombs and aerosol sprays can be hazardous and may scatter cockroaches without killing them. EPA says foggers shouldn't be the only bed bug treatment because the pesticide has to reach the cracks where the bugs hide, and using more foggers than the space needs could cause an explosion.[4][13]
- Get ready for the visit. StopPests lists what gets in a pest professional's way: items stored on top of the refrigerator, rooms too full to move things around, and cupboards, closets and areas around appliances too full to inspect. Bed bug treatments need more preparation; see our treatment prep guide.[2]
Keeping pests out of an apartment
Pest control comes down to preventing access, detecting pests quickly, and making sure food, water and shelter aren't available.[2]
- Isolate your unit: door sweeps on doors to hallways, and caulk around baseboards, light sockets and other cracks that connect to wall voids.[3]
- Reduce clutter, which gives bed bugs and cockroaches places to hide, and vacuum often.[3][2]
- At shared laundry rooms, carry laundry in plastic bags and fold it at home.[3]
- Inspect secondhand furniture, appliances and boxes before bringing them in.[3][4]
- For cockroaches, use sticky traps to find where they're concentrated and ask for baits in cracks and crevices rather than sprays.[4][5]
For landlords and property managers
EPA's advice to landlords is the other half of the picture for tenants. The full program for owners, with more state and city laws, is in our landlords and property managers guide.[11]
- Put pest-control responsibilities in a written policy that tenants sign, in the lease or a separate bed bug policy, so they know their role from move-in.[2]
- Inspect property-wide, document what you find, and focus staff and contractor time on the units that need it.[2]
- Have a staff member accompany the contracted pest professional to help get access and coordinate preparation.[2]
- Talk about the pest, not the person: ask where cockroaches might find grease and what could keep them from it, rather than telling someone their stove is dirty. Some residents can't, rather than won't, prepare, and may need help.[2]
- Don't blame the tenant. EPA says there's often no fault involved with bed bugs, and a culture of blame can make residents put off reporting, which leads to bigger infestations that cost far more to control.[11]
- Inspect promptly when bed bugs are reported and check adjacent units. EPA notes some researchers recommend treating all adjacent units, on both sides, above and below.[11]
- Hire professionals with documented bed bug experience who use a full strategy rather than pesticide spraying alone, and keep monitoring treated units until every bug is gone, EPA advises.[11]
Common questions
- Can my landlord charge me for pest treatment?
- It depends on where you live and on the lease. Colorado's bed bug law generally puts inspection and treatment costs on the landlord and preparation costs on the tenant. Maine makes a tenant who unreasonably fails to follow the control measures responsible for the treatments that result. In HUD-assisted housing, charges must follow the Family Model Lease. Check your state's statute and your lease.[9][7][10]
- Do I have to leave my apartment during treatment?
- Usually not. HUD says relocation generally isn't necessary for effective treatment. Where a state allows it, there may be limits: in Florida, a landlord who needs you out for extermination must give 7 days' written notice, abate the rent, and can't require more than 4 days away.[10][6]
- Can a landlord rent me a unit that has bed bugs?
- Several states say no. California bars showing, renting or leasing a unit with bed bugs until they're eradicated; Maine bars offering a unit the landlord knows or suspects is infested; Arizona bars leasing a unit known to be currently infested; Colorado bars offering a unit the landlord knows or reasonably suspects has bed bugs. Rules elsewhere vary.[1][7][8][9]
- Should I set off a bug bomb in my apartment?
- It's a poor choice in shared buildings. UC IPM says foggers can scatter cockroaches without killing them, NPIC says pesticides can push bed bugs into neighboring apartments, and EPA says foggers shouldn't be the only bed bug treatment. Tell the landlord first.[4][14][13]
Sources
- California Department of Real Estate, “California Tenants: A Guide to Residential Tenants' and Landlords' Rights and Responsibilities (2026 Edition).” www.dre.ca.gov/publications/ResourceGuidebook/2026_Landlord_Tenant_Guide.pdf (accessed 2026-11-10)
- Northeastern IPM Center, “Working with Residents (StopPests in Housing, funded by HUD's Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes).” stoppests.org/working-with-residents/ (accessed 2026-11-10)
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Protecting Your Home from Bed Bugs (updated July 6, 2026).” www.epa.gov/bedbugs/protecting-your-home-bed-bugs (accessed 2026-11-10)
- University of California Statewide IPM Program, “Cockroaches (Pest Notes, Home and Landscape).” ipm.ucanr.edu/home-and-landscape/cockroaches/ (accessed 2026-11-10)
- University of California Statewide IPM Program, “Pest Notes: Cockroaches, Publication 7467 (revised December 2019).” ipm.ucanr.edu/legacy_assets/PDF/PESTNOTES/pncockroaches.pdf (accessed 2026-11-10)
- Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine), “Florida Statutes 83.51: Landlord's obligation to maintain premises.” www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0083/Sections/0083.51.html (accessed 2026-11-10)
- Maine Legislature, “Maine Revised Statutes Title 14, 6021-A: Treatment of bedbug infestation.” legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6021-A.html (accessed 2026-11-10)
- Arizona State Legislature, “A.R.S. 33-1319: Bedbug control; landlord and tenant obligations.” www.azleg.gov/ars/33/01319.htm (accessed 2026-11-10)
- Colorado General Assembly, “HB19-1328 Landlord and Tenant Duties Regarding Bed Bugs (bill summary).” leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb19-1328 (accessed 2026-11-10)
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, “Notice H 2012-5: Guidelines on Addressing Infestations in HUD-insured and Assisted Multifamily Housing.” www.hud.gov/sites/documents/12-05hsgn.pdf (accessed 2026-11-10)
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “What Landlords Need to Know about Bed Bugs.” www.epa.gov/bedbugs/what-landlords-need-know-about-bed-bugs (accessed 2026-11-10)
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Do-it-yourself Bed Bug Control.” www.epa.gov/bedbugs/do-it-yourself-bed-bug-control (accessed 2026-11-10)
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Should I Use a Fogger?.” www.epa.gov/bedbugs/should-i-use-fogger (accessed 2026-11-10)
- National Pesticide Information Center, “Bed Bugs.” npic.orst.edu/pest/bedbug.html (accessed 2026-11-10)