# California Rental Bedbugs: Who Pays? | Who Pays the Repair?

> California bars leasing units with known bed bug infestations and requires written pest-control notice within 2 business days, under Civil Code §§1954.602, 1954.605.

**Who pays:** landlord

California bars leasing a unit with a known bed bug infestation and requires written notice of pest-control findings within 2 business days, under Civil Code §§1954.602, 1954.605.

**Boundary:** California bars a landlord from showing, renting, or leasing a vacant unit it knows has a current bed bug infestation, and requires a standardized bed-bug educational notice to all tenants; once notice/visibility of an infestation exists, the landlord must act, including reporting pest-control findings to tenants in writing within 2 business days.

**Exceptions:** The law creates no duty on the landlord to inspect for bed bugs absent notice of a suspected or actual infestation.

## Sources
- [California Civil Code §1954.602: Bed Bug Infestations](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&sectionNum=1954.602.) — "A landlord shall not show, rent, or lease to a prospective tenant any vacant dwelling unit that the landlord knows has a current bed bug infestation... This section does not impose a duty on a landlord to inspect... if the landlord has no notice of a suspected or actual bed bug infestation." (accessed 2026-09-27)
- [California Civil Code §1954.605: Bed Bug Infestations, notice of findings](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&sectionNum=1954.605.) — "The landlord shall notify the tenants of those units inspected by the pest control operator... of the pest control operator's findings. The notification shall be in writing and made within two business days of receipt of the pest control operator's findings." (accessed 2026-09-27)

_Last verified 2026-09-27. Source: Who Pays the Repair? — https://whopaystherepair.com/rules/california-rental-bedbugs-who-pays/ — every claim checked against a primary source before publication (see /methodology/)._