Said It Here

Found bed bugs in a new apartment before moving in

Finding a suspected bed bug and nightly bites immediately after moving into a new apartment leaves residents completely overwhelmed, especially when there was no prior history of an infestation. This panic stops people from knowing how to handle the situation or feeling like they can safely live in their new home.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    Searching online or asking AI for identification
  2. 2
    Notifying the landlord
  3. 3
    Inspecting around the bed
  4. 4
    Having management contact pest control to inspect and treat the unit as a precaution
  5. 5
    Inspecting other vacant units and checking behind refrigerators for signs of pests

In their words

Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.

r/Pestcontrol2 people · September 2026

“I was doing the last walk through & noticed a live (seems to be German roach) in my tub. Immediately I freaked out.”source ↗

“I paid everything in full but haven’t moved in yet.”source ↗

Ok_Fig_9495 · r/Pestcontrol · 2 upvotes

“I just moved into a new apartment in nyc, it’s an older building but decently clean, there have never been any reports of bed bugs or at least that’s what I found from my hours of searching.”source ↗

“I was laying in bed tonight when I felt a tickle on my legs. I looked down and there was a bed bug ( at least I think, and chat gpt thinks) on my leg.”source ↗

“Not only that, but I have been getting a couple bites every night on my legs.”source ↗

“I’ve never had bed bugs in my entire life and I’m a full time student and work part time so I just don’t know what to do about this.”source ↗

“I’m genuinely freaking out and I feel like I can’t live here.”source ↗

BagLocal1913 · r/Pestcontrol

Where this came up

People with this problem also raised