Apartment pest control question

[mrsbornkuntry]

This question is for my sister, she is really upset right now. She lives in an apartment complex in Ohio and recently found out she had bedbugs. She talked to the manager there who told her that they did not offer pest control. She said okay and started treating them herself with stuff from Home Depot. About a week later she came home and they left a note on her door saying that they had entered her apartment to fix something water related and found bedbugs . First they had entered her apt. without giving her any notice and second why were they in her bedroom, the only room with bedbugs?? So she talked to them about it and they said they saw the bedbugs OUTSIDE her apt (which is outdoors).

So now the management hired an exterminator to come look at her apt. Yessterday they sent the exterminator to come treat her apt. Today they taped a BILL for $186 on her door for the exterminator! Without even telling her it would be her responsibility.

Her question is what should she do about this? She doesn't intend to pay it since she didn't even hire the exterminator and if she had she would've at least been able to shop around. Does she have any recourse?

 

[JoiseyMom]

What does her lease say?? I would think she shouldn't have to pay it since they took it upon themselves..but if there is a lease then you need to go by that. If the lease doesn't say anything then the landlord maybe out the money. But they could also decide not to renew her lease. So it can get dicey.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

She said her lease doesn't say anything. At this point she's not concerned with renewing her lease, this is the straw that broke the camel's back. She's been having problems with them not fixing her heat and other things since she moved in October.

 

[HGD24]

She should check with the city's housing dept. My SIL had bedbugs get into her apt from the one next door after it had been exterminated. Her landlord was trying to make her pay too, but the city backed my SIL and said that the landlord had to pay for the exterminator, laundry bills (all bed linens and clothes near the bed had to be washed in the huge washers at the laundromat that have very hot cycles) and any hotel bills if SIL had to stay at a hotel while the exterminator was working. I'm sure every city is different so have your sister call her city's housing dept.

 

[momsully]

Bedbugs are difficult to treat and often require more than one visit from the exterminator. Most likely they are hidden in other things in her apartment and can be transported to other locations by her purse, gym bag etc. Also, in order to properly treat the bedbugs they also need to treat the adjacent units.

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/bedbugs/