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      Leah Waldron    
      Leah Waldron is a travel, research and LGBT news writer based      in Boston. Writing in both print and online media, Waldron      has contributed to "Curve Magazine," "USA Today," "Sun      Sentinel," "The Houston Chronicle" and more. Waldron has a      bachelor's and master's degree in creative writing from      Florida State University and is currently working on her      first novel.    
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    According to a November, 2010, article in Arizona State    University's State Press news magazine, more than one million    residents in the state have fallen victim to the bedbug    epidemic, which has penetrated 12 to 15 percent of the state.    When it comes to rental property bedbug extermination,    responsibility is in the hands of both the tenant the landlord.  
                  Under current Arizona law, the tenant is                  responsible for bedbug extermination, but new                  legislation is in the works to change this. The                  pressure to change extermination responsibility                  laws comes in the wake of new legislative                  measures across the nation such as New York's                  Bedbug Disclosure Act, which requires landlords                  to release any infestation records from the                  previous year to new and existing tenants.                
                  In February of 2011, a new bill was sent to the                  Arizona state Senate that identifies shared                  responsibility for bedbug extermination between                  tenants and landlords. Arizona lawmakers have                  approved the new bill, but the state must pass                  the bill in 2011 for the new legislation to pass.                  Under the new law, all financial responsibility                  will fall on the landlord, but only if the tenant                  complies with certain pre-set obligations such as                  keeping his unit free of bedbug-infested                  materials.                
                  Under the proposed February, 2011 legislation,                  landlords will be responsible for keeping a                  bedbug-free property, providing bedbug prevention                  and education literature to all tenants and                  picking up the bill for a licensed pest control                  company to examine the unit within seven days of                  a reported bedbug discovery. If bedbugs are                  found, the landlord must pay for extermination.                  Before the treatment starts, landlords must                  provide written notification within three                  business days of the first pest control                  application.                
                  While the new bedbug legislation would place                  termination on the shoulders of the landlord,                  tenants also play a role in the extermination                  process, particularly when it comes to pre- and                  post-mitigation compliance. For example, under                  the new law, tenants must report an infestation                  immediately, provide open access to their                  apartments or rental units for extermination or                  examination purposes and comply with any pest                  control company procedures. Tenants are also                  responsible for keeping any bedbug-infested                  materials out of the apartment to help prevent                  future outbreaks.                
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Landlord Responsibility for Bedbugs in Arizona | eHow