Bed bug liability in rental housing
Bed bug laws in Delaware
Who pays for treatment?
Bed bug statute
Delaware is unusual in requiring a visual inspection before every letting, and in spelling out what counts as evidence — live bugs, shed carapaces, eggs, or blood spotting on linens. Clocks are tight: acknowledge within 120 hours, inspect within 120 hours, treat within 14 days. But there's a trap that decides who pays. Report within 60 days of moving in, or within 30 days of an infestation being found next door, and the landlord covers everything. Miss both windows and you share the cost of treating your own unit — unless you're in public housing, which is carved out.
- Who pays for treatment
- Landlord if reported in the 60/30-day windows, otherwise shared
- Landlord response deadline
- 120 hrs to acknowledge and inspect, 14 days to treat
- Disclosure before lease
- Yes, adjacent units
What the law actually says
Hiring someone in Delaware? Check they are actually licensed for structural pest control before you pay a deposit. Verify a Delaware exterminator →
What to do, in order
Photograph everything before you touch it
Live insects, shed skins, dark staining along the mattress seam. Timestamps are the evidence.
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.
Do not throw out furniture yet
Discarded items can't be inspected, and moving them spreads the infestation down the hallway.
Let the deadline above run
Escalating before it expires generally forfeits the remedy.
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.
Delaware General Assembly — Delaware Code →
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 Delaware 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 Delaware 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.