Bedbug Awareness for Landlords and Tenants

Bedbug Awareness

Bedbug Awareness Week is an annual public outreach campaign by the pest management industry to help educate consumers about bedbugs, bedbug protection measures, and treatment protocols. This year’s awareness week was June 5-11.

For reasons of consumer health, safety, and peace of mind, bedbug infestations are a serious concern that should not be ignored by the consumer or a provider of consumer goods or services.

There has been a significant resurgence in the past few years of bedbug infestations. Bedbugs have been found in hotels, motels, resorts, public housing, private housing, business offices, public health agencies, law enforcement agencies, government agencies, hospitals, nursing homes, daycare centers, schools, retail stores, worship centers, public libraries, public transportation, fitness centers, campgrounds, laundromats, and movie theaters. Bedbugs can be found anywhere that provides a food source and a suitable environment to call home.

An infestation of bedbugs is not a reflection of an owner’s, manager’s, worker’s, occupant’s, or guest’s housekeeping standards. Bedbugs are no one’s fault. Anyone can have bedbugs.

However, the perceived social stigma of bedbugs and the reluctance to divulge such a fact contributes to the difficulty of prompt assessment and treatment of the infestation. Housing and lodging providers in particular must keep vigilant in their inspection and mitigation procedures to provide required health and safety standards for tenants and guests.

Bedbug infestations have been reported in every state. Many states and a few cities have taken the initiative to enact comprehensive bedbug legislation to prevent, manage, and control bedbug infestations. In states with bedbug laws landlords must incorporate specific additional policies for disclosure and mitigation of bedbug infestations. Such statutes make it clear that “a landlord may not offer for rent a dwelling unit that the landlord knows or suspects is infested with bedbugs”. Correspondingly, “tenants may not knowingly bring materials that have been infested with bedbugs into a rental unit.”

Consumer education is important to identify, report, and treat bedbug infestation. An Arizona landlord for example has the obligation to “provide educational material to existing and new tenants. Educational material may include (1) a description of the measures that may be taken to prevent and control bedbug infestations, (2) general information about bedbugs including a description of appearance, (3) description of behaviors that are risk factors for attracting bedbugs (such as purchasing or using discarded mattresses, furniture, clothing, or traveling without taking proper precautions against transport of existing infestations, and (4) information as provided by federal, state, or local health agencies or housing agencies.”

Whether states have or have not enacted specific bedbug legislation, states still regulate health and safety standards under landlord-tenant statutes. The statutes of most states require that the landlord of a residential unit must maintain the unit in a safe and sanitary (habitable) condition. In general, the rental unit must comply with state and local building and health codes that materially affect tenants’ health and safety. There are federal standards of habitability as required by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and additionally state and local habitability requirements, which can be more stringent than federal standards.

Even in states having no specific habitability statute, courts have held that all residential leases contain an “implied warranty of habitability.” In general, bedbugs are considered a habitability issue. Housing regulations in many jurisdictions explicitly require the landlord to keep the premises free from insects, bedbugs, rodents and vermin.

Tenants have a right to know whether rental properties have a history of bedbugs. Is a landlord obligated to disclose that history? Some states and local jurisdictions have laws requiring landlords to disclose a property’s bedbug history. If the landlord fails to disclose the property’s bedbug history, tenants may employ legal remedies such as breaking the lease, withholding rent, repair and deduct expense as allowed by statute, and/or filing a lawsuit against the landlord for damages and distress.

Who pays the costs of mitigation of a bedbug infestation? In general, the landlord has the duty and responsibility under habitability statutes to mitigate the problem. In Florida, landlords are required to take reasonable steps to exterminate bed bugs within the rental property while New Hampshire law provides the landlord shall bear the reasonable costs of mitigation of an infestation of bed bugs, but may recover those costs if the tenant is responsible for the infestation. However while tenants can be liable for mitigation costs, it may be difficult to determine the true source of the infestation and assess responsibility. Multi-unit apartment buildings in particular require thorough inspection and applicable treatment of each unit. Bedbugs will travel from one unit to another unit if all units are not inspected and treated.

The tenant may be held financially responsible for bedbug mitigation of a single family residence. If not addressed by specific statutes, a landlord may incorporate specific lease agreement clauses detailing tenant duties and responsibilities for bedbug mitigation of single family homes.

The best course of action is to address the issue promptly and professionally. Even when the law does not require professional treatment of bedbug infestations, self-help treatments are rarely effective and ill-advised as they come with increased risks to health and safety. Misusing pesticides or trying treatment methods promoted on the Internet can be dangerous and may cause new or additional problems.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website lists some self-help treatment methods for bedbugs that should NOT be used, such as:

  • Mixing pesticides with other pesticides or ingredients.
  • Using diatomaceous earth that is not a registered pesticide product.
  • Using rubbing alcohol – this compound vaporizes quickly, is flammable and has caused numerous house fires when used to try to control bedbugs.
  • Using carbon dioxide, propane, helium or other unregistered gases to fumigate bedbugs, even in an enclosed bag.
  • Using a pesticide in a way that doesn’t follow the label. As examples:
    • Using inside a pesticide labeled for outdoor use.
    • Buying pesticides from unreliable sources.
    • Applying pesticides (including mosquito repellents) to the body. EPA has not registered any pesticides or repellents for use on human skin against bedbugs. Applying a pesticide to the skin could result in poisoning.
    • Using too much pesticide or applying pesticide more often than the label allows.
    • Applying pesticides to a bed, furniture, or clothing if these surfaces are not listed on the label. This might result in accidentally poisoning to the consumer or the consumer’s family.
    • Using too many fogger products at once which could lead to a fire and/or an explosion.
    • Using pest strips in a manner not on the label. There have been incidents where consumers became ill after overexposure to pest strips.
  • Do-it-yourself heating treatments such as space heaters and fireplaces – these have been known to burn down homes.
  • Do-it-yourself freezing treatments such as freezers, fire extinguishers or opening the home to cold air – these methods may not get cold enough to kill bedbugs.
  • Hiring an applicator with no or little experience in controlling bedbugs.
  • Hiring an applicator that does not provide a follow-up inspection and repeat treatments if needed.

Because of the difficulty of eradicating the creatures, professional treatment is highly recommended to confirm a bedbug infestation and develop an aggressive, integrated pest management plan.

No one wants bugs; certainly no one wants bedbugs. Landlords must be prepared to deal with pest issues such as insects, bedbugs, rodents and vermin in managing their properties. Preparing a comprehensive pest management plan that is incorporated into rental policies and procedures is prudent and practical. The plan may contain different procedures for managing different types of pests. A bedbug plan will be based on integrated pest management techniques to mitigate an immediate issue and control possible future issues.

Before developing a bedbug plan landlords must first educate themselves on the subject. Not every bug is a bedbug, not every bug bite has been caused by a bedbug. However, landlords should err on the side of caution. Dismissing signs of pest infestation or ignoring tenant complaints about “bugs” may set the stage for liability claims and future litigation.

Bedbug information is readily available from a number of printed and media sources that can be used to educate property management staff and tenants. State statutes may require landlords to provide educational material to tenants and applicants.

A bedbug management plan must be specific and compliant to the laws and regulations that apply to the property location. Regular inspection of rental premises is key to proactively control and manage pest issues. Prompt response to issues with professional treatments can help protect tenants’ health, safety, and rights of habitability.

To effectively manage a bedbug problem, a “no fault” policy is the best course of action. No matter how bedbugs got there, they must go. Placing blame on a tenant does not resolve the issue. Tenant cooperation is necessary to adequately mitigate and manage the issue. Tenants should be advised of scheduled inspections, treatment methods, and what to expect during inspection, treatment, and follow-up procedures. The tenant has the right to quiet enjoyment of the rental premises and the landlord must respect and comply with tenant privacy and right of entry requirements per landlord-tenant statutes.

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