Who Pays for the Bed Bugs

Bed bug liability in rental housing

Bed bug laws in Colorado
Who pays for treatment?

Bed bug statute

Colorado has a full seven-section bed bug part, adopted in 2019 and lifted almost verbatim from Connecticut's 2013 statute — including the definition of a certified bed-bug-sniffing dog team. The landlord carries inspection and treatment, must inspect every contiguous unit once bugs are confirmed, and works to two-business-day and five-business-day clocks. The part tenants get caught by: you pay the cost of preparing your own unit, and if you knowingly and unreasonably obstruct, you can be billed for treating the neighbouring units too.

Who pays for treatment
Landlord treats; tenant pays preparation costs
Landlord response deadline
2 business days to report result, 5 to commence treatment
Disclosure before lease
Renting a known-infested unit prohibited

What the law actually says

Colo. Rev. Stat. tit. 38, art. 12, pt. 10 (bed bugs in residential premises), §§ 38-12-1001 to 38-12-1007, enacted by HB 19-1328. Structure: 1001 definitions; 1002 notification and landlord duties; 1003 inspections, treatments, costs; 1004 access to the unit and belongings; 1005 renting a unit with bed bugs prohibited; 1006 remedies and liability; 1007 relationship to the warranty of habitability. § 38-12-1002(3) — on confirmation, the landlord must have all contiguous units inspected as promptly as reasonably practical. § 38-12-1003(1) — written notice of the inspection result to the tenant within 2 business days; reasonable treatment measures commenced not later than 5 business days after the inspection. § 38-12-1004 — 48 hours' written or electronic notice before entry (a rental agreement may set a different minimum, and the tenant may waive it); the tenant shall not unreasonably deny access; initial visual and manual inspection of bedding and upholstered furniture; wider access to belongings where bugs are found in the unit or a contiguous one; THE TENANT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL COSTS OF PREPARING THE UNIT, and a tenant who knowingly and unreasonably fails to comply is liable for the cost of treating both their unit and contiguous units where that failure caused the need. Definitions at § 38-12-1001 mirror Connecticut's, including the scent detection canine team certified to National Pest Management Association minimum standards, plus 'contiguous dwelling unit' (same landlord) and 'electronic notice'. Background habitability: § 38-12-503 (premises warranted fit for human habitation, codified by HB 08-1356 effective 1 Sept 2008) and § 38-12-505(g) (appropriate extermination in response to infestation of rodents or vermin).

Hiring someone in Colorado? Check they are actually licensed for structural pest control before you pay a deposit. Verify a Colorado exterminator →

What to do, in order

  1. Photograph everything before you touch it

    Live insects, shed skins, dark staining along the mattress seam. Timestamps are the evidence.

  2. Notify the landlord in writing

    Email or certified letter, never a phone call alone. Written notice is what starts the clock in every state that has one.

  3. Do not throw out furniture yet

    Discarded items can't be inspected, and moving them spreads the infestation down the hallway.

  4. Let the deadline above run

    Escalating before it expires generally forfeits the remedy.

  5. Escalate to the housing agency, then to court

    An independent inspection report is worth more than your own photographs. Rent withholding rules vary sharply — check the section above before you try it.

Read it yourself

Everything above was written by reading the sections named in the citation, not by summarizing another summary. You should not take our word for it — open the statute and check. Look up the section numbers quoted above.

Colorado General Assembly — Revised Statutes →

The state's own legislature or code site. Search it for the section numbers quoted above — they are the whole basis for this page.

Last checked against the Colorado code: . Statutes change every legislative session — if you are reading this long after that date, open the cited sections yourself before relying on them.

Not legal advice. This is a plain-language reference to publicly available statutes, verified against the Colorado code. Liability turns on your lease, your local ordinance and your specific facts. Talk to a tenant attorney or legal aid before withholding rent or filing anything.

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