When it comes to sharing an apartment with a roommate, many people tend to go 50/50 with costs.
Even if this isn’t always fair, with one bedroom possibly bigger than another, or one roommate using more electricity, people agree to this nonetheless, feeling it avoids drama.
Some people, however, firmly feel that they shouldn’t need to pay as much as their roommates for that very reason.
Even if figuring out an appropriate ratio in those scenarios might prove challenging.
Redditor Capable_Giraffe3476 and her roommate were recently faced with a nightmare everyone dreads happening in their home.
The original poster (OP)’s roommate felt an equal division of cost for treating this problem was appropriate.
The OP, however, had no intention of putting any money forth on this issue, as she felt that her roommate was the one responsible for getting them in this situation.
Wondering if she was being unreasonable, the OP took to the subReddit “Am I The A**Hole” (AITA), where she asked fellow Redditors:
“AITA for refusing to split the cost of a $1000 bed bug treatment with my roommate when she’s the one who brought them in?”
The OP explained why she was not willing to split the costs with her roommate to treat a recent infestation:
“My roommate (25 F[emale]) works with people experiencing homelessness, and while I completely respect the work she does, there’s a history of bringing stuff home.”
“Last year we dealt with LICE (literal nightmare for girls in their twenties) and now it’s bed bugs.”
“She recently found a bed bug in her car, which then led her to get an inspection done.”
“The pest control company confirmed they were in her car and her bedroom but nowhere else in the house (not the couch, no other beds/rooms).”
“For whatever reason the company recommended/insisted treating the WHOLE house just to be safe, but again they didn’t find them anywhere else.”
“Roommate wants to go ahead with treating the entire house and since it’s now the whole house being treated not just her room she wants to split the $1000 treatment cost.”
“I really don’t think that’s fair.”
“She’s clearly the one who brought them in from her work, she’s also very messy so I’m not surprised this happened.”
“I told her that if the bed bugs are only in her space she should have to pay it all herself, additionally since the inspector said it was only in her room she should look into a treatment plan that only involves her room and car.”
“She insists that the whole place needs to be done and it’s unfair for her to carry the cost alone.”
“I have refused to help pay, I’m perfectly fine if she doesn’t treat my room and only does her room.”
“I lowkey think she’s being scammed by the company telling her she needs to do the whole house.”
“I’ve told her even if she goes through with treating the whole house or even if there were bed bugs in my space, I would expect her to pay for the extermination since she’s the one her brought them home.”
“Now she’s annoyed with me making me feel like I’m being selfish and unreasonable for not wanting to help with the cost.”
“But I honestly don’t see why I should pay for a problem I didn’t cause, especially when it’s only impacting her room.”
“AITA?”
Fellow Redditors weighed in on where they believed the OP fell in this particular situation, by declaring:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
The Reddit community generally agreed that the OP was not the a**hole for refusing to help pay for treating their apartment for bedbugs.
However, many people acknowledged that the OP’s entire apartment probably did need to be treated for bedbugs, and even if she wasn’t responsible, she might want to consider contributing to the pay, if only for her own health and safety.
“NTA.”
“But just FYI, the company is not scamming you.”
“Bedbugs can travel far and fast, and if even one egg-laying female escapes the treatment, you’ll have a whole infestation to treat again.”
“A single room is never enough.”
“This is a whole-building operation.”
“But yeah, your roommate should be solely responsible for the cost.”
“She’s in a career/volunteer position (not sure which) that comes with risks.”
“It’s up to her to mitigate those risks.”
“That may mean having separate clothes for work and keeping them in a plastic bag and changing there, or regularly treating her car preventatively, or other measures, but it’s still on her to handle this.”- Trilobyte141
“YOU NEED YOUR WHOLE HOUSE TREATED, IT IS REQUIRED TO GET RID OF THIS PLAGUE.”
“NTA.”
“But if you don’t treat the whole house, you’ll have to pay for everything over again in a month when everything is covered in creepy crawlers and you have to quarantine.”
“Those things spread like wildfire and you can’t see the babies.”
“It’s a deeply f*cked situation.”- ChickenCasagrande
“NTA.”
“She is responsible for bringing them, so she is responsible for getting rid of them.”
“And the company is right.”
“The whole house does need to be done.”
“Bed bugs are an absolute nightmare to get rid of.”
“As a semi-profession traveller, they are one of the things that I am acutely aware of.”
“I am actually amazed that any professional company is willing to do this for only $1,000.”
“It can easily cost several times that.”
“How deeply are they actually treating the place?”- Wise_Session_5370
“NTA.”
“OP but they are not scamming your roommate.”
“Not only the whole house should be treated, you need afaik two treatment sessions spaced weeks apart.”
“They are tenacious and move around quickly.”
“And the second treatment is to get rid of the new hatchlings that might have survived the first.”
“They are incestuous, and a single pregnant female can start a new infestation.”
“Make sure your roommate does not try to DIY.”
“All that does is scatter them to other places.”
“And lastly, she should 100% pay for full treatment, but I would NOT die on this hill.”
“You don’t want the risk of these creepy crawlers moving to your room.”- 24111
“I would fork out $500 in a heartbeat to avoid getting bedbugs.”
“They probably have to treat the entire house anyway because the most effective treatment is heat treating the house.”
“NTA for not wanting to, but I’d rather pay it and not have bedbugs.”
“Which, fwiw, don’t care if you are clean or messy.”- sweettea75
“From experience.”
“Bedbugs are supreme hitchhikers.”
“They also don’t care one bit about cleanliness, so that’s a moot point.”
“They will travel to find a food source, can fit into spaces as narrow as a credit card, and can go for extended periods without feeding.”
“So if even one female gets missed, the entire cycle can start over again.”
“It’s usually recommended to treat the entire property due to this, at least in areas where people rest (beds, sofas, etc).”
“You’re NTA, but the $1000 cost is not unreasonable nor unexpected.”
“She also needs to practice better prevention to avoid transporting them home from her work, and put what she can in the dryer on high heat after known exposure.”- thechaoticstorm
“NTA.”
“But do the whole house.”
“If they have spread, and they do, it will be worse if not every room is treated.”
“She pays for the treatment because she brought them home.”
“Meanwhile wash all your bedding and run through a hot dryer.”
“Do this often.”- layneeofwales
“NTA.”
“If I were you, I would nope right out of that living arrangement, bedbugs are a nightmare, and might not go away just because they are treated.”- Music_withRocks_In
“NTA.”
“But the whole place does need to be done, no matter what.”
“I live in an apartment and our units consist of clusters of 8. 2 buildings, each with 4 apartments, 2 on top, 2 below, the buildings facing each other.”
“One of our neighbors moved out of our cluster and turned out they had bed bugs.”
“Leasing office treated all 8 apartments, even though the two buildings are only connected by metal walkways.”
“Infestations are that serious.”
“This is not something to mess around with.”
“A single bed bug can lay up to 300 eggs.”
“And they can live for up to a year without food.”
“They can travel up to 12 feet overnight.”
“They’re useless little menaces, bit they’re resilient.”
“Have the whole place treated.”- 4FeetofConfusion
“NTA.”
“But bed bugs spread FAST.”
“If they’re in her room, they’ll be in the common areas and then your room, so it’s better to get the whole place treated.”- apieceofeight
The OP has every right to be frustrated, as it seems pretty certain that were it not for her roommate, they would not be in this predicament.
Nor is her belief that she shouldn’t need to pay for this treatment completely illogical.
That being said, as this incident affects her living conditions, and not just her roommates, she might want to consider paying up, hopefully, just this once.
And then perhaps have a talk with her roommate about finding ways to ensure something like this never happens again…