What are renters’ rights when dealing with bed bugs?

DENVER (KDVR) — The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention and the Environmental Protection Agency reported that bed bug infestations affect communities across the nation. The Problem Solvers looked into the rights renters have when encountering infestations.

FOX31 spoke to one resident, who did not want to share her identity but who has been trying to free her apartment home of bed bugs for more than a year.

“I have at least 30 pictures of bites on me alone,” she said.

The tenant said her landlord has attempted to treat infested units in her building, but nothing is working in her home. The bugs have affected her quality of life preventing her from sleeping and causing her severe embarrassment.

“I feel alone, I feel depressed,” she said.

Real estate and renters rights attorney Eric Nesbitt told the Problem Solvers that Colorado’s statute does not require landlords to provide tenants dealing with infestations with another place to live or replace belongings because there are other ways to treat the problem. Landlords are required to provide residents with a safe, healthy environment in which to live.

“You do have an option to pursue a claim under the Warranty of Habitability for actual damages or have your rent reduced, but that would require notice to the landlord,” Nesbitt said.

Nesbitt emphasized that complaints about any issue should be communicated to the landlord or property management company in writing.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment does not investigate bedbug infestations because they are considered a nuisance and not a public health problem.

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