Bed bugs in building. Stay or move?

I’m in bed bug capital, USA (Chicago). Always figured I might run into these guys eventually and my time has finally come.

Just moved into a new unit. It’s very nice and ironically an upgrade from my last place. They appear to have an active bed bug infestation.

The place was super clean and I brought all new stuff. Spotted a big female (unfed) crawling on the wall about a week in. It appeared lethargic and kept falling and trying to crawl back up. I killed it, disposed of it properly, and immediately let landlord know. This was on Thanksgiving so I likely won’t hear back directly until tomorrow. 

I thought there was a small chance I had dragged it in since there are zero other signs in the apartment. However, I was taking trash out to the dumpster earlier today and saw someone left a mattress and bedframe right next  to it. A closer look and it clearly had a minor infestation with dead nymphs.

I have to presume management knows or knew there was an infestation in the building, but I will have to wait until tomorrow to see what they have been doing to treat it. My hope is they are already on top of it. But given that mattress is freshly dumped, I cannot be sure. Really disappointing since I am in love with the space otherwise. 

How cooked am I? Should I get out before it fully spreads into my space? Or give them a chance to treat my unit and just be vigilant?

Posted Dec 1, 2025, 4:13 AM UTC

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