Bed Bug
Treatment Falls Within the Maintenance Duties of Landlords
Page last modified: March 24 2022
Is a landlord obligated to handle a situation involving bed bugs?
In Ontario, landlords are legally obligated to address a bed bug infestation. Failure to do so may result in an order from the Landlord Tenant Board, compelling the landlord to compensate the tenant. Cooperation from the tenant is also required in addressing the issue.
Comprehending the Landlord’s Responsibility for Bed Bug Extermination, Including Possible Liability for Damage or Injuries.
Regrettably, bed bug infestations have seen a significant rise in recent years, and managing such an infestation can be a challenging endeavor.
a highly disruptive and expensive procedure. Understandably, landlords often express concerns about the numerous treatments needed to eliminate bed bugs and may inquire about the possibility of passing the costs on to the tenants, particularly when…
the landlord may suspect that the tenants are the cause of the infestation. However, since bed bugs are associated with a maintenance issue, such matters are regulated by section 20 of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, Chapter 17, which explicitly states:
Hence, it is the duty of the landlord to address a bed bug infestation. If the landlord neglects this responsibility, the tenant may have the right to apply to the Landlord Tenant Board, seeking an order deeming that the landlord failed to meet the statutory maintenance obligations. The tenant can initiate this process by filing a document known as a Tenant Application About Maintenance (Form T6) with the Landlord Tenant Board.
If successful in demonstrating that the landlord failed to adequately address a bed bug problem, the tenant may be entitled to a rent abatement and/or compensation for belongings that may have been discarded due to the landlord’s shortcomings. It’s important to note that the mere presence of bed bugs doesn’t automatically make the landlord liable for the tenant’s losses or distress. The law requires the landlord to act reasonably, rather than perfectly, in maintaining the rental unit or complex. Therefore, a contextual review of the landlord’s maintenance efforts is necessary.
In essence, the law doesn’t mandate that the landlord must insure against the presence of bed bugs. This principle is emphasized in the case of L.O. v. B.P., TET-10802-20 (Re), 2020 CanLII 61323.
19. The question is whether the Landlord took reasonable and timely steps to exterminate the bed bugs after the Landlord was informed of the presence of the bedbugs in the Tenant’s rental unit.
While the landlord is legally obligated to promptly and appropriately address a bed bug situation, tenants also have a duty to cooperate and actively participate in the process to facilitate the landlord’s efforts effectively and, hopefully, successfully. Pest control companies typically provide detailed instructions on how to prepare the rental unit for treatment, which may involve tasks such as removing excess items from shelves, laundering all bedding and clothing, and moving furniture away from the walls.
If a tenant fails to adequately prepare the unit for treatment, the landlord may incur additional costs due to unproductive or extra visits by the pest control company. In instances where the tenant does not cooperate and participate in the process, thereby failing to adequately assist the landlord in the eradication process, the landlord may apply to the Landlord Tenant Board to recover the additional costs caused by the tenant.
When seeking to recover additional costs, it is the landlord’s responsibility to prove that the tenant failed to cooperate, and that this lack of cooperation led to or contributed to the increased costs incurred by the landlord.
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