Been renting in MA for over a decade. I've never heard of this and as you found out it's flat out illegal in Massachusetts. I'm not even sure how they could legally determine your unit is the "source" of an insect infestation. That's like figuring out who gave you a cold. It's impossible.

Have you asked the leasing office about this? It may just be the case they're using a boilerplate lease across all their properties and didn't update that section to reflect Massachusetts specific law. If that's the case, they should remove it when you ask. If they refuse to remove it, RUN. It might be illegal, but they'll still take your deposit, and you'll have to claw it back in court.

Personally, I would run like the wind away from this place.

While it may seem "reasonable" in some regards, this leaves you liable for $10's of thousands potentially owing. If you have home/renters insurance contact them to discuss this liability and if it is covered and for how much. Then I would see if you can find out if there is any past issues with this complex and the management company.

No apartment is worth being financially devastated or worse. Just make sure you protect yourself just as much as these people are trying to protect themselves.

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Looks like this came up in 2018 in MA:

https://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/is-a-bed-bug-addendum-saying-that-i-must-pay-for-b-4006853.html

While not uncommon it seems, unless you admit to it, it would be very hard to prove and hold you liable especially if you live in a large complex.

“You can't really dust for vomit.”

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Does the lease explain what the landlord's responsibility is to inspect the apartment for all insects before you move in?

Have you asked the leasing office if there had been an infestation of bedbugs in the building in the past and if so what type and schedule of remediation they do to make certain it doesn't happen again? Like do they have a monthly contract with a pest control company?

They either care (and are proactive) or they don't.

I'd be more concerned about their responses to those questions than the addendum to the lease.

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I had a bed bug infestation in a previous apartment that was from the previous tenants who had moved out 4 months prior. The landlord had some work to do so it sat vacant. We eventually traced the source to an electric outlet on the second floor.

They are a tricky animal, however what I learned was that they don't travel long distances so chances are if you have bed bugs you brought them in.

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Yeah, I guess those two thoughts do kind of go against each other. What I mean is that they don't really go to your neighbors spaces until it gets to a level 10 infestation. If they can't detect heat or Co2 from a relatively small radius around them they just go dormant instead of hunting for food like ants would. So, well, I didn't bring them into that apartment, it did originate from my room. If we didn't open up that wall to look for that source and see what was obvious signs of an old infestation than it could have been pinned on me.

That incident happened in RI, so I can only speak to their laws which stated that in a single family house its the responsibility of the person renting to take care of it, but when its a multi-family unit the onus is on the landlord to fix it. I lived in a single family, so it was on us to fix it, but I had a baller landlord who helped me out by purchasing all the supplies I needed.