What to Do if You Find Bed Bugs in Your Apartment

By Lilly Milman

Apr 24, 2023

Updated on Oct 17, 2023

• How to identify a bed bug infestation
• What to do if you find bed bugs
• What your tenant rights are if you have bed bugs
• How to prevent future infestations
• Common myths about bed bugs

How to Identify a Bed Bug Infestation

Bed Bug Bites

Evidence in Your Home

• Reddish-brown stains on your mattress or bedding, which could be a sign of crushed bed bugs
• Small, dark spots on your mattress or bedding, which may be bed bug droppings
• Tiny, white eggshells
• Live bed bugs, which look like an apple seed as adults but are smaller and more translucent when young

What to Do if You Find Bed Bugs

Dos

1. Tell your landlord or property manager. While each state has different laws on tenants’ and landlords’ responsibilities when it comes to removing bed bugs (which we will cover later in our guide), the first step to controlling your pest problem is always telling your landlord, preferably in writing, to begin establishing a timeline. They also may have dealt with bed bugs before or already have a method for controlling infestations, so getting them involved is a necessary step.
2. Call a professional. There are many steps you can take in your home to prevent the spread of bed bugs and try to avoid bringing them back in the future, but bed bugs are notoriously difficult to get rid of. To completely remove an infestation, it often requires multiple sessions from an exterminator. Ask your landlord if they have a pest control service that they work with already for bed bugs. If not, find a licensed pest management professional who will help you determine the extent of the infestation and draft an appropriate action plan. They may need you to double bag any personal items, and empty your closets, drawers, and other spaces to aid in their exterminating process.
3. Inform your neighbors. It may not be pleasant to tell others about a bed bug infestation, but if you have one, chances are that neighboring units in your apartment building are also having an issue. Check with your landlord to see if they already have a process for informing all tenants about bed bugs. If not, let them know so that they can check their own apartments and potentially prevent any further spread.
4. Get a bed bug proof mattress cover. You may be tempted to buy a new mattress, but this actually isn’t necessary to stop an infestation. A plastic mattress cover with special zippers designed to stop bed bugs from passing through will do the trick when it comes to controlling the spread. The plastic cover will kill all of the bugs that are on your mattress, and prevent any more from getting in. There are similar covers for box springs you can buy. Keep receipts for anything you buy in case you are able to get a reimbursement from your landlord.
5. Clean your bedding, as well as any clothing that may have been infested. Take any linens that have been exposed, then wash and dry them on high heat settings to kill any eggs. To ensure that bed bugs don’t get back into your bedding or clothing, store them in sealed plastic bags or bins.
6. Vacuum thoroughly. Bed bugs can be hidden just about anywhere. Vacuuming all of the floors in your apartment, including tough-to-reach corners, under any furniture, and any of your couches and chairs is an important step in getting rid of bed bugs.
7. Declutter. While bed bugs don’t discriminate, and a clean apartment can’t prevent them, clutter gives them more places to hide in. By decluttering your apartment, you can remove some of their options for hiding places. Plus, this will make it easier for your exterminator to completely rid your space of bed bugs.

Don’ts

1. Moving your furniture to another apartment. If you know that bed bugs are in a certain room in your apartment, you may be thinking that perhaps you can save some of your furniture in other rooms from a similar fate. That’s not the case, unfortunately. Removing furniture from your place and temporarily storing it elsewhere can actually just facilitate the spread of bed bugs, since it will be hard to tell if the piece that you’re moving is completely bug-free.
2. Sleeping on a piece of furniture that’s not your bed. Sleeping in a bed you know was infested with bed bugs may gross you out, but similar to the above point, sleeping elsewhere can spread the bugs to more rooms of your house. If you’ve cleaned your sheets already and covered your mattress with a bed bug proof plastic encasement, then your bed should be your safest bet. If you choose to sleep in a hotel, just make sure that you are not spreading any bugs to the hotel.
3. Rely on DIY solutions. Adult bed bugs can live up to a year without eating in certain climates, and many specialists agree that they are incredibly difficult to get rid of. They spread easily and are able to hide in cracks and crevices. While doing some DIY tactics, like what we listed above, can be helpful, you must work with a professional exterminator to ensure that an infestation is fully stopped.

What Your Tenant Rights Are if You Have Bed Bugs

How to Prevent Future Infestations

• On luggage, overnight bags, or folded clothes that you took to a hotel or hostel
• From a nearby or neighboring infested unit in your apartment complex
• Through used furniture picked up from the street or a secondhand store

• Be wary of secondhand furniture unless you are certain it is free of bed bugs
• Vacuum frequently, especially in hard-to-reach corners
• Transport items that you washed in a shared laundry facility in sealed plastic bags, and folding your clothing at home
• Wash clothing items and bedding in hot water
• Install door sweeps on your doors and seal any cracks or crevices that you can in your apartment, like where your baseboards meet the wall
• Purchase a portable heating chamber to treat any bed bug–infested items
• Place bed bug interceptor traps under legs of furniture to catch bed bugs

Common Myths About Bed Bugs

• You can’t see a bed bug with your naked eye.
• Bed bugs only live in dirty places.
• Bed bugs can transmit diseases.
• Keeping the light on will deter bed bugs from coming out of their hiding places and biting you.
• Bed bugs can fly.
• Bed bugs only bite at night.
• Bed bugs can spread by latching on to your body.
• Bed bugs only live in mattresses.

The Bottom Line