No. I think I know the discussion you’re thinking of– I am the person who said landlords in NYC (and many other places) are responsible for eliminating bed bugs in a building. This was in the context of a discussion about a landlord who sent a PCO a few times, to no avail. My point was the law does not say a landlord has to get a PCO to come in and treat, but rather, that s/he has to get rid of the bed bugs.

See:
http://bedbugger.com/2006/10/22/faq-tenants-landlords-owners-and-bedbugs/

Yes, I suppose you could say that “keeping an apartment free of vermin”, in the case of bed bugs, entails much more than getting an effective PCO in for a course of treatment. However, mattress encasements, garbage bags or ziploc bags, and the like, while (IMHO) really important to what we do, are not mentioned in the laws, which were probably written before such goods existed.

However, I would say in some cases, tenants might be taking landlords to small claims court or civic courts, in which case laundry bills and other receipts might be submitted as part of a claim for reimbursement. I am not a lawyer, I can’t speak to their success. But you might read more here:

http://bedbugger.com/2007/03/17/faq-where-can-i-read-about-bed-bug-lawsuits-can-you-help-me-find-a-lawyer/

Finally, I do want to mention (in case any landlords are paying attention)+ that I have heard of landlords of low-income buildings, SROs, and the like giving tenants mattress encasements at the time of treatment. This could be a great investment a landlord, treating a property. Making sturdy lawn and garden bags or XL ziplocs (more expensive) available with an education program (without which, the efforts may fail) is another idea. Yes, I know. It costs money. So does not getting rid of bed bugs!

The landlord has to pay for the PCO. The other stuff… if you want the landlord to pay for the rest of your eradication costs, and your negotiation for said costs fails, you might have to sue, and for that you need to consult a lawyer. Someone was exploring a small claims court filing (which you can do on your own without a lawyer) but we have not heard of the result. That said, please note that we have not heard of any landlords paying for your laundry and ziploc bills. I just don’t think it’s going to happen. Just make sure the landlord pays for a very good PCO who has expert bedbug knowledge as that is the absolute KEY to getting rid of them.

it was stated that the landlord must pay for their total elimination in a building and wondered what that included.