The more effective a treatment is the more it usually costs. Filling a house with hot air does the best job of killing the vermin — and costs thousands of dollars.
If the bugs were there when you moved in, or if other units in your building are infested, your landlord may be legally required to pay for treatment. Some landlords just decide it’s better business to pay for eradication than acquire a bad reputation.
That’s how it worked for a man whose Northwest D.C. group house developed a problem last month.
“Our landlord had someone come and check, and they confirmed it,” he says. After the subsequent heat treatment, the bugs seem to be gone. “The landlord paid for everything, and it was definitely more than $3,000.”
That renter, who also chose to remain anonymous, is remarkably philosophical about the bugs. “I’m not so freaked out,” he says. “I just sort of assume this is the price you pay for living in an urban area.”