Wht can I do if my apartment is infested with bed bugs and cockroaches but thelandlord refuses to pay for extermination and is now trying to evict us?
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Wht can I do if my apartment is infested with bed bugs and cockroaches but thelandlord refuses to pay for extermination and is now trying to evict us?
We have lived in this apartment for a little over a year, and in that year we have discovered 2 months ago discovered we have bedbugs. For months, my children and myself were being eaten alive and we couldn’t figure out what it was. Until I finally saw one crawling on my couch. Never seeing or even knowing what they were, and after doing research, I immediately contacted the landlord. She refuses to pay, and claims we “planted” them there. 2 weeks ago I wrote her a letter and certified mailed it to her, demanding repairs of the property and extermination of bugs. Now she’s trying to evict us.
Asked on July 6, 2012 under Real Estate Law, Georgia
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
You can sue the landlord for retaliatory eviction. Retaliatory eviction is when the landlord evicts a tenant to retaliate against the tenant for something that is not a breach of the lease.
A separate claim you can assert against the landlord is breach of the implied warranty of habitability. In every lease, there is an implied warranty of habitability which requires the landlord to maintain the premises in a habitable condition by complying with local and state housing codes. When there is a breach of the implied warranty of habitability, the tenant notifies the landlord as you have done, and the landlord is required to respond within a reasonable time by making the necessary repairs. The pest infestation is a health and safety issue which constitutes a breach of the implied warranty of habitability. When the landlord fails to respond within a reasonable time by making the necessary repairs, the tenant has the following remedies: The tenant can make the repairs (call an exterminator) and deduct the cost from the rent or the tenant can move out and terminate the obligation to pay rent for the balance of the term of the lease or if the tenant stays on the premises, the tenant can withhold rent and defend against eviction. Another alternative is to sue the landlord for breach of the implied warranty of habitability. You can also contact the local housing code inspector, who can bring an enforcement action against the landlord for housing code violations.
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