Information for Tenants

Know Your Rights and Successfully Prepare for Treatment

In June of 2019, Colorado lawmakers approved House Bill 19-1328: "Concerning Bed Bugs in Residential Premises, and, In Conjunction Therewith, Establishing Duties for Landlords and Tenants in Addressing the Presence of Bed Bugs."

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This bill seeks to address notification, inspection, and treatment timeframes, as well as one of the vague aspects of bed bug eradication—namely, who is responsible for the cost of inspection and treatment services. As a result of being signed, House Bill 19-1328 invoked a number of changes to Colorado Statute Title 38, Article 12, which governs tenant and landlord responsibilities.

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Feel free to reference a more in-depth discussion regarding this topic in our Warranty of Habitability section. In the absence of further review, a brief synopsis of tenant rights is as follows:

• You have the right to notify your landlord or other agency, such as the health department, of a suspected or known bed bug infestation.

• Upon notification, your landlord is required to respond within 96 hours.

• Prior to inspection, your landlord is required to provide two business days’ notice.

• You, the tenant, are responsible for any preparation costs necessary for the inspection or treatment process.

• The landlord, however, is responsible for the cost of inspection services.

• Upon receipt of an inspection report, the landlord is required to treat the bed bug infestation within five business days.

• The landlord is responsible for the cost of treatment services.

• The only exception to this is if the tenant knowingly and unreasonably fails to comply with inspection and treatment requirements. In such cases, the tenant is liable for the cost of any bed bug treatments for their dwelling unit, as well as any contiguous (neighboring) dwelling units if the need for treatment results from the tenant’s non-compliance.

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If you are a tenant or landlord who would like additional information, please don’t hesitate to reach out.