Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Ohio

If a tenant brings bed bugs into their apartment, Are they responsible for the exterminator bill or is the Landlord?


Asked on 7/09/13, 8:33 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

John Sauter Cloppert, Latanick, Sauter & Washburn

If this is addressed in the lease agreement, the terms of the lease agreement will dictate the answer to this question.

If your local municipality has a law requiring landlords to pay for insect spraying, or insect spraying is including in your local housing/safety code, the terms of the law may dictate the answer to this question.

Otherwise, Ohio law requires a landlord to "do whatever is reasonably necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition." This doesn't mean that a landlord needs to cover the cost of spraying, especially if the bedbugs were brought in by a fellow tenant. A landlord could run into a problem, however, if the infestation spread to other units.

Most landlords will ask the tenant to pay for 50% of the cost of spraying as a way to keep the house/apartments safe and clean and to ensure the tenant bears some of the cost/responsibility.

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Answered on 7/16/13, 6:28 am


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