A tenant may be able to terminate their lease early due to pests (such as roaches) depending on the severity of the infestation. If the infestation is so severe so as to make the premises uninhabitable, the tenant will be able to terminate the lease.
What Are the Landlord’s Responsibility for Roaches and Other Pests?
| State | Pest Control Laws |
| Alabama | Landlords must “comply with the requirements of applicable building and housing codes materially affecting health and safety; make all repairs and do whatever is necessary to put and keep the premises in a habitable condition.” Therefore, pest control issues fall on the landlord. |
| Alaska | The Alaska Landlord-Tenant Act requires a landlord to exterminate roaches, rats, mice or other pests in the building. |
| Arizona | The Arizona Landlord-Tenant Act requires a landlord to rid of bed bugs. Landlord must also educate their tenants on signs of bed bug infestations. It is silent on other types of infestations. |
| Arkansas | Arkansas is the one state that does not follow the implied warranty of habitability. Therefore, a tenant would be unable to break the lease early because of a pest infestation, because the landlord has no duty to create a habitable living condition. |
| California | In California, landlords are responsible for maintaining a warranty of habitability, which covers both seasonal pest treatments and handling of infestations. |
| Colorado | Under Colorado law, a dwelling can be declared uninhabitable if it is lacking “appropriate extermination in response to the infestation of rodents or vermin throughout a residential premise.” This means pest control falls on the landlord unless the infestation is caused by the tenant. |
| Connecticut | Landlords are explicitly required to provide “extermination service if the apartment is infested with pests or rodents.” |
| Delaware | Under the Delaware Residential Landlord Tenant Code, there is no specific mention of pests, but rather a general implied warranty of habitability – keeping the environment in a clean and sanitary condition. |
| Florida | A landlord’s responsibility in Florida includes the extermination of rats, mice, roaches, ants, wood-destroying organisms, and bedbugs. |
| Georgia | Georgia law mentions an implied warranty of habitability, but does not explicitly mention pest control. |
| Hawaii | In Hawaii, while landlords are required to maintain habitable conditions, including cases of emergency repair, there is no specific mention of pest control or extermination. |
| Idaho | Idaho law indicates “insect infestations” on the list of issues a landlord must address under the warranty of habitability. |
| Illinois | Illinois has an explicit policy on pest control. That policy is that pest control is the landlord’s responsibility, but “if you are identified as the cause of the infestation, the landlord might refuse to exterminate or may charge you for extermination.” |
| Indiana | Indiana follows the implied warranty of habitability and that landlords are responsible for keeping common areas clean and making repairs. There is no explicit rules for pest control. |
| Iowa | Although Iowa has an explicit warranty of habitability, it does not specifically mention insects or vermin, so they may not always be the landlord’s responsibility. |
| Kansas | Although Iowa has an explicit warranty of habitability, it does not specifically mention insects or vermin, so they may not always be the landlord’s responsibility. |
| Kentucky | Kentucky has the implied warranty of habitability that states that a landlord must comply with the requirements of applicable building and housing codes materially affecting health and safety; make all repairs and do whatever is necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition. |
| Louisiana | Louisiana laws are unclear as far as pest control responsibility. The closest the state comes to mentioning it is in their guide to preventing and treating for bed bugs for tenants and landlords. |
| Maine | Maine has explicit laws for bed bugs. Landlords cannot rent properties containing bed bugs and must remove the pests if they appear. Meanwhile, tenants are obligated to report any bed bug infestation in a timely fashion. |
| Maryland | Maryland law requires residential apartments to be free of all insect infestations, including bed bugs, at the time the lease begins. |
| Massachusetts | In Massachusetts, landlords are responsible for eradicating insects in accordance with local health codes. |
| Michigan | In Michigan, there is an implied warranty of habitability and landlords are responsibly for keeping the building free from vermin. |
| Minnesota | Although there is an implied warranty of habitability, there is no specific mention of certain pests being covered. |
| Mississippi | Although there is an implied warranty of habitability, there is no specific mention of certain pests being covered. |
| Missouri | Although there is an implied warranty of habitability, there is no specific mention of certain pests being covered. |
| Montana | In Montana, landlords do not have an obligation to inform tenants of a history of bed bugs in the apartment. However, they are required to exterminate them if you find them. |
| Nebraska | While Nebraska housing is covered by the implied warranty of habitability, there is no explicit mention of pests in the law. |
| Nevada | In Nevada, the warranty of habitability includes rodents, insects and vermin. |
| New Hampshire | In New Hampshire, bed bug infestations are explicitly the landlord’s responsibility. However, the landlord can collect the cost of the remediation if the bed bug infestation is the fault of the tenant. |
| New Jersey | In New Jersey, owners of a multiple dwelling, with the cooperation of tenants, is in the best position to coordinate the extermination of bedbug populations in that multiple dwelling. This puts responsibility in the hands of the landlord. |
| New Mexico | New Mexico has an implied warranty of habitability, requiring landlords to maintain properties in a habitable condition (and thus free from pests). However, the laws don’t mention insects explicitly.
One thing the law does mention is rent abatement. The law protects tenants withholding rent if landlords have not made necessary repairs, which makes it much enforcing the warranty of habitability a lot easier for tenants. |
| New York | New York’s Housing Code states that tenants have the right to a bed-bug free living environment. |
| North Carolina | North Carolina law explicitly mentions bed bugs when dealing with the implied warranty of habitability. |
| North Dakota | In North Dakota, there is an implied warranty of habitability, which states that landlords must keep buildings up to health and safety codes and make the necessary repairs to see if they aren’t. Most pest infestations can fall under this warranty. |
| Ohio | Landlords in Ohio have to keep buildings safe and habitable under an implied warranty of habitability, as is the case in many other states. This means most pest control issues should be the landlord’s responsibility. |
| Oklahoma | Oklahoma does not have explicit laws around pest control in the state of Oklahoma. |
| Oregon | Oregon law mentions rodents and vermin in its warranty of habitability. Apartments must be rented pest-free and any pests that are the result of negligence by the landlord will be their responsibility. |
| Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania rented dwellings are protected under an implied warranty of habitability. This means that landlords are often responsible for pest removal since pests like bed bugs make a dwelling unsafe and uninhabitable. |
| Rhode Island | Rhode Island follows the implied warranty of habitability, which covers most pest infestations. |
| South Carolina | South Carolina habitability laws include protections against bed bugs. Although silent on other types of pests, it can be inferred that that other pests would be covered. |
| South Dakota | In South Dakota, there is an implied warranty of habitability. While there is no specific legislation on pest control, it will most likely be covered. |
| Tennessee | Tennessee law puts part of the responsibility for pest control directly on the landlord, but it puts a limit on it. The law states that every multiple dwelling or rooming house shall be kept reasonably free of household vermin provided that the landlord shall not be required to carry out treatment measures more than twice per year. |
| Texas | Texas Property Code requires landlords to make repairs if they affect the health and habitability of the building, which would generally include insect problems. Tenants must notify the landlord in writing of the problem. |
| Utah | Utah operates under a warranty of habitability, so landlords have to keep properties safe and healthy. Utah law states that landlords are responsible for taking care of bug infestations, but nothing more. |
| Vermont | In Vermont, the owner of a dwelling shall be responsible for extermination of any infestation in any dwelling unit when infestation in a dwelling unit is caused by his or her failure to maintain the dwelling or infestation exists in two or more of the dwelling units in any dwelling. |
| Virginia | In Virginia, there is an implied warranty of habitability. Landlords are required to follow building and housing codes to keep the place fit and habitable. |
| Washington | Washington law states that landlords must provide a reasonable program for the control of infestation by insects, rodents, and other pests at the initiation of the tenancy. |
| Washington, D.C. | Reasonable Notice |
| West Virginia | West Virginia has an implied warranty of habitability, but there is no specific law that talks about pest control. |
| Wisconsin | Wisconsin law states that all landlords must make necessary repairs in their properties and ensure their homes are up to health and safety codes. Pest infestations tend to defy these codes, so this puts pest control under that legislation. |
| Wyoming | Wyoming is another state with an implied warranty of habitability, but not much else. This means the only legal obligation landlords have towards pest control is in cases where it influences the health and safety of the building. |
Breaking a Lease Due to Roaches and Other Pests
A tenant can break a lease because of pests or roaches. Every state has specific health and safety codes that provide minimum standards for rental units. If those standards are not met, proper notice is given by the tenant and the repairs/fixes are still not made within the allowable time period, a tenant would be considered “constructively evicted”.
Local building codes outline the standards that rental units must meet. As a general rule of thumb, an implied warranty of habitability means that the landlord has provided:
- Drinkable water
- Hot water
- Heat during cold weather
- Working electricity
- Adequate ventilating system
- Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors
- Working bathroom and toilet
- Sanitary premises, including the removal of insect or rodent infestation
- Protection from criminal harm in the form of locks and window guards
- Up-to-date conformity to building codes
What Qualifies as Pests?
A pest is any organism that spreads disease, causes destruction or is otherwise a nuisance. Pests can include rodents, vermin, and different types of bugs.
How Do Tenants Prove Pests?
A tenant can prove there is an issue with pests by providing photos or other evidence that those pests exist in the leased premise.
How to Terminate a Lease Due to Pests
A tenant can terminate the lease for pests by:
- Having proof of the pests
- Notifying the landlord of the issue
- Allowing the landlord a chance to remedy the issue
Notifying the Landlord
A tenant must first notify the landlord of the defective conditions, in writing. Depending on the state, the landlord will have a certain period of time to address the issues.
Terminating the Lease
The implied warranty of habitability ensures that the premises is kept in a good enough condition that is livable for tenants.
Constructive eviction occurs when the rental premise becomes uninhabitable to the point that the tenant is forced to leave. This means it is impossible for the tenant to stay on the premise, and hence is constructively evicted by the landlord.
For a tenant to have a constructive eviction claim, they must show the following:
- The landlord neglected a duty
- The place has become uninhabitable
- The landlord was given notice
- The tenant left the premises
If the pest issue is so great that the tenant can no longer live in the premises, they must provide notice to the landlord. Once the landlord has given notice, if they fail to remedy the situation, then the tenant will be able to break the lease.
