Bed Bugs and Apartment Buildings

As with any infestation, the key to dealing with a bed bug problem in your apartment building is to successfully identify the infestation.

If you are waking up to patterned, itchy bites, find red pin-prick like spotting on your bed sheets, or see small, dark insects darting across your furniture or floors, it is likely you have bed bugs.

If you suspect you have bed bugs in your apartment bring the information to your building manager, landlord and/or building superintendent immediately, including which room you suspect is infested. Bed bugs often hide in dark places, like the underside of mattresses, along mattress piping, behind head boards and in cracks in walls.

Be careful when transporting any items out of your apartment if you suspect or have confirmed a bed bug infestation. Wrap any furniture in plastic inside your apartment before removing it, and if you are throwing it out, ensure that it is clearly marked as having been infested.

With high rises in major cities like Toronto, Hamilton and Mississauga it’s more likely for bed bugs to spread rapidly from unit to unit. Be sure to contact a Toronto bed bug exterminator as soon as one unit shows signs of bed bugs.

As a tenant you are responsible for cooperating with your landlord, and as a landlord you are responsible for having the unit is up to habitation and health standards.

Landlords are responsible for the costs of treatment.

In Ontario, landlords are required to give tenants 24 hours written notice before addressing the infestation, giving the tenant enough time to prepare the unit.

Proper preparation is important. It is on the landlord to tell the tenant what needs to be done, and on the tenant to follow instructions.

If a landlord refuses to help a tenant after being notified of a bed bug problem, tenants may seek legal recourse, including filing an application about maintenance with Ontario’s Landlord and Tenant Board.

If a tenant refuses to comply, landlords may also seek legal recourse.

>>If you become a victim of a bed bug infestation then contact our team for the fastest, safest, and most effective solution. We offer heat treatment bed bug extermination for homes in Hamilton, Burlington, Oakville, Mississauga, and Toronto.