Who Pays for the Bed Bugs

Bed bug liability in rental housing

Bed bug laws in Washington
Who pays for treatment?

Habitability law only

No bed bug statute and — despite what several sites claim — NO bed bug disclosure duty. The landlord must provide a reasonable pest control program at the start of every tenancy, and must control infestations during the tenancy in everything except single-family homes. The whole fight in Washington is over who caused it: if the landlord shows you brought the bugs in, you pay, and legal aid warns that carrying in a second-hand piece of furniture is the classic way that happens. The statute also strips the tenant of every defense and remedy where the condition was caused by the tenant, their family or their guests.

Who pays for treatment
Landlord, unless it shows the tenant caused it
Landlord response deadline
Reasonable time after written notice
Disclosure before lease
No — see the correction below

What the law actually says

RCW 59.18.060(4) — the landlord shall provide a reasonable program for the control of infestation by insects, rodents and other pests at the initiation of the tenancy and, except in the case of a single-family residence, control infestation during tenancy except where such infestation is caused by the tenant. Closing paragraph of § 59.18.060 — no duty devolves on the landlord and NO defense or remedy is available to the tenant where the defective condition was caused by the conduct of the tenant, their family, invitee or other person under their control. Where the duty in subsection (1) (compliance with applicable codes) is incompatible with and greater than any other duty in the section, subsection (1) governs. Current through 2026 c 234 s 1. Tenant duties: § 59.18.130 — keep the unit clean and sanitary as conditions permit and dispose of garbage so as to prevent pest infestation. Notice procedure: § 59.18.070. CORRECTION — WIDELY REPEATED FALSEHOOD: at least one renter-guide site states that Washington landlords must disclose in writing any bed bug infestation in the unit or building within the past 12 months, and must hand over Department of Health bed bug materials at move-in. Neither duty exists. The RCW 59.18 section index contains no bed bug disclosure provision, and House Bill 1440 (2019), sometimes cited for it, was an act relating to providing longer notice of rent increases, amending § 59.18.140 — nothing to do with bed bugs. The written-health-hazard-information duty in § 59.18.060 is the MOLD disclosure added by 2005 c 465, which appears to be what was misread. Best consumer source: Washington Law Help (Northwest Justice Project), which is explicit that the causation dispute is the crux and that bringing in contaminated furniture can shift the cost to the tenant.

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

Washington State Legislature — RCW →

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 Washington 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 Washington 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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