If a tenant complains about bed bugs in their rental property, the landlord must hire a pest control professional to investigate, eliminate any infestation, and perform follow-up inspections for 12 months.
If a landlord doesn’t respond to their notice or have the infestation eliminated, tenants can file a complaint with the Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I).
When
Tenants must notify their landlord in writing within five business days of finding or suspecting bed bugs. If you haven’t notified your landlord yet, you can still submit a complaint but notifying your landlord first will get the fastest results.
The landlord must hire pest control professionals within 10 business days of the notice to investigate and eliminate any infestation.
How
You can submit your complaint online or mail a paper form to:
Department of Licenses and Inspections
C/O Attention AIU – Bed Bugs
2401 Walnut Street, Suite 502
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Attachments
If you have already notified your landlord in writing and they have not responded, you may choose to attach the following to your application:
- A copy of the notification with proof that it was sent. This can be a copy of an email with a return receipt or a copy of a notification sent by mail with a mail receipt.
- A copy of documentation showing that a landlord / tenant relationship exists (i.e. an executed lease agreement; proof of rent payment).
If the landlord had the property investigated but did not have pest control professionals perform recommended remediation service, please attach the following to your application:
- A copy of the investigation report. If the landlord didn’t give you a copy of the report, include a detailed description of the services not provided.