Bed Bug Management Strategies
Research studies on bed bug management strategies show prevention of bed bug infestations is less costly than costs associated with treatment of existing infestations. This is particularly true in multi-unit housing that can be more vulnerable to pest infestations. Prevention and early detection of bed bug infestations can help stop bed bug populations from spreading to multiple units. A bed bug infestation once established in a rental unit requires aggressive actions to control and eliminate the infestation.
While prevention of bed bug infestations is the best pest management strategy, it is generally held that at some point of time during the property management, evidenced bed bug infestation will be reported by a tenant or discovered during a landlord property inspection. The effectiveness of a bed bug remediation program will depend upon prompt tenant reporting of the problem and quick landlord response for inspection and treatment by a qualified pest management company experienced in bed bug control. Self-help methods such as the application of insecticides are rarely effective in the control and elimination of an infestation.
For landlords and property managers of multi-unit housing with recurring tenant turn-over, tenant education on bed bugs is an ongoing task to help prevent infestations and to control treatment of existing infestations. Not every bug is a bed bug and not every bug bite has been caused by a bed bug. Tenants should know how to identify signs of a bed bug infestation and how to promptly report problems. To provide the necessary information to tenants, landlords and property managers must be themselves knowledgeable in bed bug prevention methods, pest identification, detection, treatments, and have proactive measures in place to mitigate risk to tenant health and property damage.
Educating tenants before there is a problem helps to prepare a tenant if a problem does arise. Having tenant cooperation is important for coordination of treatment of infestation in the rental unit and subsequent monitoring of treatment effectiveness.
Bed bug information is readily available from a number of printed and media sources that can be used in education and training of tenants and property management staff. In some states, landlords may be required to provide educational material to tenants and applicants. Dismissing or ignoring tenant complaints about bed bugs can create liability issues for matters of habitability, health, safety, and negligence which could result in future litigation.
Additionally, landlords and property managers should have a thorough understanding of applicable bed bug laws and regulations that govern the location of the property, including state landlord-tenant statutes on bed bug identification, treatment, and disclosure requirements to tenants or prospective tenants.
Being prepared with a proactive plan that addresses the issues of bed bug prevention and treatment can allow faster response by the landlord or property manager to tenant complaints, help coordinate response and treatment with professional pest control management services, and specify the responsibilities of tenant, landlord, and pest control company in the management and treatment of a bed bug infestation.
Bed bug Laws
Comprehensive bed bug legislation has been passed by many states and some cities to prevent, manage, and control bed bug infestations. In states with bed bug laws, landlords must incorporate specific additional policies for disclosure and mitigation of bed bug infestations.
Whether states have or have not enacted specific bed bug 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, sanitary, and 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 there are also state and local habitability requirements, which can be more stringent than federal standards.
As an example, California’s recent passage of bed bug legislation obligates landlords and tenants in the control and management of bed bug infestation. A landlord is prohibited from:
- showing, renting, or leasing a unit that the landlord knows has bed bugs, and
- retaliating against a tenant who reports a suspected bed bug infestation.
A landlord is considered to have knowledge of bed bugs in the unit if a bed bug infestation is apparent.
Landlords are required to give tenants notice of entry as required by state statute to inspect a tenant’s dwelling unit. A tenant shall:
- cooperate with the inspection to facilitate the detection and treatment of bed bugs, and
- provide requested information that is necessary to facilitate the detection and treatment of bed bugs to the pest control operator.
For those units inspected by the pest control operator, the landlord is required to notify the tenant in writing within two business days of the receipt of pest control operator’s findings. All tenants must be provided notice of a pest control operator’s findings for confirmed infestations in common areas.
The California Civil Code requires:
“On and after July 1, 2017, prior to creating a new tenancy for a dwelling unit, a landlord shall provide a written notice to the prospective tenant as provided in this section. This notice shall be provided to all other tenants by January 1, 2018. The notice shall be in at least 10-point type and shall include, but is not limited to, the following:
(a) General information about bed bug identification, behavior and biology, the importance of cooperation for prevention and treatment, and the importance of and for prompt written reporting of suspected infestations to the landlord. The information shall be in substantially the following form:
Information about Bed Bugs
- Bed bug Appearance: Bed bugs have six legs. Adult bed bugs have flat bodies about 1/4 of an inch in length. Their color can vary from red and brown to copper colored. Young bed bugs are very small. Their bodies are about 1/16 of an inch in length. They have almost no color. When a bed bug feeds, its body swells, may lengthen, and becomes bright red, sometimes making it appear to be a different insect. Bed bugs do not fly. They can either crawl or be carried from place to place on objects, people, or animals. Bed bugs can be hard to find and identify because they are tiny and try to stay hidden.
- Life Cycle and Reproduction: An average bed bug lives for about 10 months. Female bed bugs lay one to five eggs per day. Bed bugs grow to full adulthood in about 21 days.
- Bed bugs can survive for months without feeding.
- Bed bug Bites: Because bed bugs usually feed at night, most people are bitten in their sleep and do not realize they were bitten. A person’s reaction to insect bites is an immune response and so varies from person to person. Sometimes the red welts caused by the bites will not be noticed until many days after a person was bitten, if at all.
- Common signs and symptoms of a possible bed bug infestation:
- Small red to reddish brown fecal spots on mattresses, box springs, bed frames, mattresses, linens, upholstery, or walls.
- Molted bed bug skins, white, sticky eggs, or empty eggshells.
- Very heavily infested areas may have a characteristically sweet odor.
- Red, itchy bite marks, especially on the legs, arms, and other body parts exposed while sleeping. However, some people do not show bed bug lesions on their bodies even though bed bugs may have fed on them.
For more information, see the Internet Web sites of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the National Pest Management Association.”
Landlord Best Practices
The resurgence of bed bugs continues to be a significant concern to landlords, tenants, and pest management operators. Control and elimination of bed bugs requires an integrated pest management approach utilizing multiple products, methods, and technologies to provide effective controls for treatment. Bed bug remediation can be costly and invasive of tenant rights and dwelling space prevention and treatment are made all the more difficult by factors such as bed bug resistance to certain pesticides, treatment of adjacent units, and re-infestation problems.
An integrated pest management approach to bed bug treatment will provide compliance with applicable laws while providing required standard of care to protect tenants and property.