Maine has a specific law about bedbugs in rental housing.[i]
A landlord may not offer to rent housing that the landlord knows or suspects is infested and must notify a prospective tenant if a unit adjacent to the housing being offered for rent is infested with or is being treated for bedbugs. You must promptly notify a landlord of a known or suspected infestation. A landlord that receives notice must have an inspection performed within 5 days. See the template notice created by Pine Tree Legal Assistance.
If there is an infestation, the landlord must contact a pest control agent within 10 days and must then take reasonable treatment measures as determined by the pest control agent. You must cooperate with the treatment, which may include moving furniture and washing clothing and linens. A landlord must offer reasonable assistance and disclose the costs of that assistance. If you do not cooperate, the landlord can charge you for all costs of the treatment arising from your failure to comply.
Both you and your landlord can file a lawsuit to enforce these obligations and seek remedies for noncompliance. A landlord’s failure to comply with the bedbug law is a violation of the Implied Warranty and Covenant of Habitability.
[i] 14 M.R.S.A. section 6021-A.
Landlord Access