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Cockroaches · California Tenant Rights

Do I have to prepare my apartment for cockroach pest control?

Your role in preparing for treatment

Usually, yes. Tenants are generally expected to cooperate with treatment by doing reasonable prep — like clearing certain cabinets or covering food — while the landlord arranges and pays for the pest-control service itself.

Exterminators often ask tenants to empty specific cabinets, move furniture away from walls, cover or store food, and stay out of the unit during treatment. Doing this reasonable prep is part of a tenant's responsibility to cooperate so the treatment can work. What a tenant should not have to do is take on the cost of the infestation or perform the professional treatment themselves.

There is a limit, though. If a landlord uses "you didn't prep correctly" as a repeated excuse to avoid effective treatment, that can be a sign the real problem is not being handled. If you have cooperated and the infestation still is not being properly addressed, a free review can help you understand your options.

This is general information about California tenant rights, not legal advice. Every situation is different.

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