The template
[Date]
[Landlord or property manager]
[Address]
Re: Bed bugs at [unit address]
On [date] I found [live bed bugs / shed skins / spotting on the mattress seam / eggs] in [rooms]. [Attached: photographs / inspection report from [company], [date].]
Under Ohio Revised Code 5321.04(A)(2) (fit and habitable condition) and (A)(3) (common areas safe and sanitary), please arrange treatment of my unit and inspection of the adjoining units and common areas by a licensed pest management professional within [ten days / a reasonable time]. I will provide access on reasonable notice under ORC 5321.05(B) and will complete the professional's preparation instructions.
Please confirm the inspection date in writing.
[Name] [Phone] [Email]
Why each line is there
- (A)(2) and (A)(3) are the landlord’s duties the statute actually states. It does not mention bed bugs; you do not need it to.
- 5321.05(B) is your duty not to “unreasonably withhold consent for the landlord to enter.” Offering access in the letter closes the usual counter-argument before it starts.
- Evidence: a professional report with findings by room is the attachment a landlord cannot wave away, and it documents cause, which is what any later dispute over cost turns on (5321.05(C)(1)).
- “Adjoining units” matters in a Dayton apartment building; treating yours alone is treating a quarter of the problem.
Do not fog before sending it
Foggers scatter bugs into the neighbors’ units and into the walls, and they move the problem from the landlord’s column toward yours.
If there is no answer
Legal Aid of Western Ohio, 888-534-1432, the number Public Health itself links. Housing-code complaints inside the city: Dayton Housing Inspection, 937-333-3977.
Plain-English guidance, not legal advice. Ohio Revised Code quotations (5321.04,
5321.05, 3731.13) were read on 2026-10-08 from archived captures of the Legislative Service Commission’s
official section pages at codes.ohio.gov (captures dated February–April 2026); confirm current text on
the live site. Dayton’s Revised Code of General Ordinances was not read for this page; nothing here
describes it. For advice about your tenancy, contact Legal Aid of Western Ohio (888-534-1432) or a lawyer.