By Sara Gebhardt
Saturday, March 3, 2007

Q: With all the recent talk in your column and Web chats about bedbugs and cockroaches, I wonder what the regulations are regarding insecticide use in apartments. I live in an older building with a bug problem. People frequently come in to spray my apartment when I am at work. I am told to cover all food and empty all cabinets.

Over the two years I have lived here, I have come down with increasingly severe colds fairly often. I have been to several doctors and an allergist who come up with nothing unusual. I am beginning to think it could have something to do with the frequent insecticide use. I do not know what is used or how liberally they spray. Can I say no to the landlord concerning this? -- Washington

A: To find out whether the insecticides your landlord is using are legal, contact the District's Department of the Environment, which oversees the issue.

D.C. law says your landlord has a right and responsibility to keep the property free from pests and vermin. If your landlord is within the bounds of legal insecticide use, he can continue to spray.

However, the law also requires that landlords maintain a healthy and safe environment for their tenants. So, in a situation such as this, you have a right to ask your landlord to treat the apartment in a way that is safe for you. Explain that you are concerned about your health -- noting the many doctor appointments -- and your landlord will have to consider changing the way he treats your unit.

I am an international student who is not familiar with local housing laws. I have a serious bedbug infestation in my apartment. Three months ago, when I realized the problem, I spoke to my landlord. He told me that management did not cover bedbugs and that I had to take care of it on my own. I paid a pest-control service to fumigate my apartment. The company has fumigated more than four times, but the bedbugs are still in my apartment.

Now the 90-day guarantee the pest-control firm gave me has expired. I don't know what to do, and I am desperate. Does my landlord have the duty to fumigate my apartment and stop the infestation? Or any obligation to help me to get rid of the bedbugs? -- Washington

Your landlord has an obligation to manage the infestation if your unit is not the only one infested. Talk to your neighbors and find out if they have bedbugs, too. Chances are they do, as those critters generally launch large-scale attacks on apartment buildings.

According to Section 805 of the District's housing code, landlords have to do their part to keep out vermin and rodents. Part 805.3 of the law states, "If an infestation of a single habitation is caused by failure of the owner or licensee to maintain a residential building in a rodent-proof or reasonably insect-proof condition, the exterminating shall be done by the owner or licensee." (By "owner or licensee" the law means what most people would call a landlord.)

Additionally, Section 805.5 holds, "The extermination of vermin and rodents shall be done by the owner or licensee whenever infestation exists in two (2) or more of the habitations in two-family or multiple dwellings."

Your landlord's suggestion that you exterminate might have been an attempt to exploit your lack of familiarity with the local housing laws. He also might have misconceptions about the cause of your bedbugs. Nobody is really an expert on why bedbug outbreaks have resurfaced in recent years. As one of many unconfirmed theories on the topic, people frequently blame international travel.

Any evidence you can dig up that your neighbors also have bedbugs will help persuade your landlord to deal with the extermination. At the very least, if he does not respond, it will serve as a substantial basis for filing a complaint with the local housing office.

I have three roommates, and each of us pays rent separately. Yesterday, the manager of the apartments called all of us and told us that we need to start packing because she has to move us either to a different apartment or to a different building. It is extremely inconvenient now. We are all in school and have jobs. One of my roommates is also on the golf team and it is the middle of his season; another is in theater and is in two different plays right now. Can they really make us move to a different place right now? If they can, are we entitled to some kind of compensation? -- Morristown, Tenn.

First, you might as well learn what few people seem to pick up until they have rented for many years. Read your lease. All of it. The small print, the big words. All of it.

Your lease will answer the question better than I can. Generally speaking, though, your landlord cannot just move you to another apartment or building without a good reason, such as an emergency because of a newly discovered health violation or a serious structural problem.

Your landlord cannot just make you leave because it is convenient. For instance, it is possible that your landlord simply wants to ensure seamless occupancy, and this is a way to reduce future scheduling problems with tenants.

It is fair to say that some landlords try to get away with certain violations when they deal with students, who generally do not have a lot of experience living on their own. Just because you are students does not mean you do not have the same rights as other tenants.

If your lease is not expiring now, and there is no major problem with your unit or the building, call your local housing office or a local tenant association to seek legal advice.

To begin to contest your landlord's request that you move, write a letter citing when the lease actually requires you to leave the unit. If you demonstrate to your landlord that you understand your lease and your position as rent-payers, then your landlord may back down right away. Especially if you mention that you plan to consult the local housing office, your landlord may leave you alone.

However, your landlord may respond by continuing to demand that you and your roommates move. Your options include filing a formal complaint with your local housing office jurisdiction and refusing to move. You could also attempt to negotiate if you are willing to move.

If your landlord is violating the lease by asking you to leave, make sure you get something for the trouble you are being caused mid-semester. You might ask for financial compensation or for some other perk, such as an upgraded apartment at the same cost, gym membership or extra parking spots.

Do you have questions, comments or ideas about apartment life? Contact Sara Gebhardt via e-mail at aptlife@gmail.comor by mail, c/o Real Estate Editor, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071.