Bedbugs in a rented home in France: who pays, what to do

Recognising an infestation

According to stop-punaises.gouv.fr, the bedbug is the size of an apple pip, generally brown, visible to the naked eye, and neither jumps nor flies. Signs to look for:

• on the skin: bites similar to mosquito bites, mostly at night, sometimes grouped in threes or fours and in a line, on uncovered parts of the body;
• in the bedroom: small black dots (droppings) on the mattress, the bed slats, the bed frame, the skirting boards or the corners of the walls;
• in hiding places: mattress seams, behind picture frames, under furniture, in cracks in the floorboards, sofas, under rugs.

Bedbugs do not transmit disease, but their bites can cause itching, hives and sleep problems. They are not linked to poor hygiene: according to the report by Anses (the French agency for food, environmental and occupational health and safety) published in July 2023 and cited by the platform, 11% of French households were infested between 2017 and 2022.

The landlord pays for treatment

Article 6 of the 1989 Act requires the landlord to “provide the tenant with a decent home showing no obvious risks liable to harm physical safety or health, free of any infestation by pests and parasites”. Service-public.gouv.fr lists the absence of vermin and parasites, citing in particular rats and cockroaches, among the criteria for a logement décent (decent home).

During the lease, the landlord must also carry out the repairs, other than tenant repairs, needed to keep the home in good condition (art. 6 c). Stop-punaises.gouv.fr concludes that the owner must pay for detection and treatment, and recommends choosing a certified company together, ideally with the landlord’s agreement. Recipients of benefits may, in some cases, obtain help from their CAF (family allowance fund).

What the tenant does straight away

1. Inform the landlord (or the agency) at the first signs, preferably in writing, and ask them to act.
2. Limit the spread in the case of a light infestation: wash bedding and clothes in the machine at over 60°C, put them through the tumble dryer for at least 30 minutes, vacuum up the insects, freeze personal belongings and linen, brush nooks and fabrics.
3. Avoid ordinary insecticides, which the platform considers “totally ineffective” against bedbugs and potentially dangerous to health.
4. Prepare the home following the instructions given by the professional during the preliminary phone call, and apply them rigorously.

If a piece of furniture cannot be rid of all bedbugs, the platform advises replacing it, otherwise the treatment will be ineffective.

The landlord refuses: remedies

The procedure follows the one for a home that is not decent (service-public.gouv.fr):

1. Registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt reporting the lack of decency (a template exists on service-public.gouv.fr), then formal notice (mise en demeure) to carry out the work.
2. Depending on the département, a report on Signal Logement to receive support from the State services.
3. After 2 months without reply or in case of disagreement: application to the juge des contentieux de la protection (judge for consumer and tenancy disputes); free prior conciliation is possible before the departmental conciliation board or a conciliateur de justice (court conciliator). The judge can set the work and its deadline, reduce the rent or suspend its payment until the work is done.

Stop-punaises.gouv.fr also states that the tenant can have the home treated at their own expense by a professional, notifying the owner, and then claim reimbursement from them. For any question, the Info logement indigne (substandard housing information) service answers on 0806 706 806 (price of a local call): an adviser from an ADIL (departmental housing information agency) handles legal questions (ANIL).

Discrepancy between sources. The platform mentions the possibility to “deduct its amount from your rent”. Service-public.gouv.fr points out, on the contrary, that the tenant “must under no circumstances stop paying all or part of their rent” on the grounds that the landlord is not meeting their obligations: only the judge can reduce or suspend the rent. Follow this cautious rule and deduct nothing from the rent without a decision or a written agreement.

And on a sale?

The list of surveys to provide when selling a home (DPE (energy performance certificate), lead, asbestos, electricity, gas, sanitation, termites in the areas defined by prefectoral order, risk statement, airport noise, etc.) contains no bedbug survey (service-public.gouv.fr). The buyer remains protected by the warranty against hidden defects: the seller is liable for “hidden defects in the thing sold which make it unfit for its intended use, or which so diminish that use that the buyer would not have acquired it, or would have paid a lower price for it, had they known of them” (Code civil (Civil Code), art. 1641). The seller is liable even if unaware of them, unless there is a clause exempting them from any warranty (art. 1643).

Which professional to consult

If the property is managed by an agent immobilier (estate agent), that is who the tenant informs first: the agent passes the request on to the landlord, and the written record will be useful at the check-out état des lieux (inventory of fixtures). For a sale, the notaire (notary) drafts the warranty clauses of the deed: a seller aware of a past infestation would do well to mention it and attach proof of the treatment.