Q: Can my apartment actually make me pay for bed bug treatment and go through the provider of their choosing?
Am I actually responsible for paying to have bed bugs treated? And can I really not shop around for providers?
I recently discovered I have bed bugs, and notified the apartment immediately. An inspection was performed this week and the presence of bed bugs was confirmed. The apartment insists that I am responsible for paying for the treatment, and they are only allowing me to go through one particular vendor (of their choosing) that will cost $650 to spray and offers no guarantee!
I reviewed my lease and I did agree to the above, but I am wondering if this is even legal for them to have in the lease in the first place? Do I have any rights that would overrule what I agreed to in the lease?
It seems to me that anybody in the apartment could have tracked them in and for all I know my neighbors could have them right now...and perhaps they just didn't want to tell the apartment. Then it seems like I am being penalized for being forthcoming.
A: Unfortunately it is a tough question to answer. It is often impossible to know where the bed bugs came from, or when, or who brought them there. Before I fork out $650 I would want a statement from the landlord that no one else in the complex has bed bugs. The landlord might simply be trying cure a bed bug problem in the building by charging everyone who has, or has had, a bed bug problem there. If anyone else has had such a problem, I would move out of the apartment. You will probably lose the deposit, but bed bugs are a nightmare, and they always seem to come back. I would also question your landlord on how he knows that you, and not someone else, brought the bed bugs to the apartment. Good Luck.
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