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Thanks!

They may not know much about bed bugs (especially if they’ve been in the US a while) because bed bugs are coming back everywhere. But they may also lack information on bed bugs, since they may not be getting the news reports English-speakers see. You should print out some of the Spanish FAQs which may help. And maybe a volunteer will come forward to do some French translations too.

The other issue you should be aware of is this: we have heard that if some landlords will use bed bugs as a reason to call the immigration department. Depending on your fellow tenants’ status, this may be a fear. There may be good reasons they don’t feel they can report things to the landlord. And the landlord may be enforcing a culture of fear in such cases. It’s worth being aware of that.

If the apartments share a common entryway and a common hallway, or even a common pipe system, then you can certainly share bed bugs regardless of the concrete wall.

I was thinking the same thing today, that maybe I should go door to door and see how many tenants I can get to back me up on treating more than the infested apartments. I hate to even remotely sound like a bigot, but most of the tenants are french speaking africans, and hispanics, I dont know how I will make them understand the bugs are not ok to live with. Maybe I should ask for help from the semi-english speakers first, then I will have help translating!

I would not assume you have a minor infestation based on how many bed bugs you’ve seen.

Do you know for a fact that other tenants are experiencing bites or seeing bed bugs? We have a FAQ on tenant organizing that might help you work with others who live there to educate everyone on the signs of bed bugs (remember, many are not allergic and do not feel or see bites on themselves, even if bitten). You should try to educate neighbors and work together. Maybe you can pressure the landlord along with fellow tenants.

As far as the city’s laws, I have not heard of any city forcing a landlord to treat an entire building–though if enough units are infested, a sensible landlord would probably do so.

I would not be at all surprised if Kurt’s green notice were left but taken by his landlord before he could see it. I am not saying HPD came, but come on, this is a ridiculous system! Lots of landlords would remove it, especially if they know your general work schedule (many supers notice this sort of pattern of coming and going), and if they also knew how HPD worked (ie they notify landlord, they post notice on door, they come during work hours.)

Thanks to all for these responses. I hope others will see this and let us know their experiences too. I also hope some of you will follow up by complaining. This system is bad for so many reasons, and it needs to be changed. As crappy as it is, there’s a separate system for lodging complaints about the way reports are handled. I hope many will call 311 again and find out how to lodge one.

my landlord also decided to not renew my lease. and if any of you are worried about bad references…they don’t exactly want you in the building. so they’ll gloat about you to put you off on another landlord.