Who Pays for the Bed Bugs

Bed bug liability in rental housing

Bed bug laws in Mississippi
Who pays for treatment?

Habitability law only

No bed bug statute and pests are not named. Repair-and-deduct exists, but three limits make it a poor fit for this particular problem: you must wait 30 days after written notice, you pay the exterminator yourself and claim reimbursement afterwards on receipted bills, and you may only use the remedy ONCE IN ANY SIX MONTHS. Bed bugs routinely need two or three treatments, so a single use can be exhausted before the infestation is cleared. The alternative is a 14-day notice and termination. One modern touch: notice may be given by email or text, but only if the other party has agreed in writing to be notified that way.

Who pays for treatment
Landlord, unless the tenant caused it
Landlord response deadline
30 days for repair-and-deduct, 14 to terminate
Disclosure before lease
No

What the law actually says

No bed bug provision. Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, Miss. Code § 89-8-1 to 89-8-45, applying to rental agreements entered into after 1 July 1991 (§ 89-8-3(1)). § 89-8-23 (duties of landlord), Laws 1991 ch. 478 § 12 — comply with applicable building and housing codes materially affecting health and safety, and maintain electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air conditioning and kitchen facilities in safe working condition. Pests are not enumerated. § 89-8-23(4) — no duty arises in connection with a defect caused by the tenant's affirmative act or failure to comply with the tenant's own obligations under § 89-8-25; note this is narrower than several neighbouring states, which extend the exclusion to family members and guests. § 89-8-13(2) — on material non-compliance by the landlord with the rental agreement or the § 89-8-23 obligations, the tenant may terminate as set out in subsection (3) or resort to any other remedy at law or in equity not prohibited by the chapter. § 89-8-13(3) — the notice may be in writing, or by email or text message if the breaching party has agreed IN WRITING to be notified that way, specifying the acts and omissions constituting the breach and stating that the agreement terminates on a date not less than 14 days after receipt if the breach is not remedied within a reasonable time not exceeding 14 days. REPAIR AND DEDUCT, § 89-8-15: if within 30 days after written notice of a specific and material defect breaching the rental agreement or the § 89-8-23 duty the landlord fails to repair it, the tenant is entitled to reimbursement of the repair expenses within 45 days after submitting receipted bills, provided that (i) the tenant has fulfilled the affirmative obligations under § 89-8-25; (ii) the expenses do not exceed one month's rent; and (iii) the tenant has not exercised this remedy in the six months immediately preceding. Reimbursement is capped at the usual and customary charge for such repairs. Note the practical shape of this: the tenant funds the treatment up front and recovers afterwards, which assumes a tenant who can find the money. § 89-8-9 — every duty under the chapter, and every act that is a condition precedent to exercising a right or remedy, carries an obligation of good faith in its performance or enforcement. § 89-8-25 tenant obligations; § 89-8-39 tenant's personal property including manufactured homes. No rent withholding provision appears in the chapter — the statutory remedies are termination and repair-and-deduct.

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

Mississippi Legislature — Mississippi 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 Mississippi 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 Mississippi 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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