Got bed bugs? Bedbugger.com » bed bug disclosure

landlord’s duty to tell prospective tenants about bed bugs?

nobugsonme — Mon, 07 May 2007 11:17:42 +0000

A reader asks:

I’m wondering if there’s a legal duty for landlords to report an
infestation to potential tenants?

Dear Reader,

Local laws almost always specify the types of homes landlords are expected to provide (in good repair, free of pests, etc.) and so landlords are almost always required to provide a home without bed bugs, and to remove them when they appear. (We’ve outlined some of the local North American laws here.)

I am not a lawyer, but I’d consult one in this instance. For the record, I am also not enthusiastic about lawsuits for their own sake, but I do think something needs to be done as far as setting a precedent where not telling tenants about bed bugs gets a landlord in big trouble.

If you think that your landlord knew the residence was infested before it was rented, especially if they never treated it for bed bugs, you might have a case.

Another suit at Presidential Towers: this one focuses on landlord’s non-disclosure of neighbor’s bed bugs

nobugsonme — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 04:49:52 +0000

A fourth person is suing Presidential Towers in Chicago: this time, on the grounds that Presidential Towers knew the neighbors had bugs, did not tell the tenant, who then got them.

This issue is relevant to all tenants with bed bugs. If landlords had to tell neighbors when one tenant had bed bugs, it might mean more people get treatment more quickly (which would be a good thing for landlords, in the end, because the problem could be treated before their entire buildings get infested). It would help tenants, because they could be warned (and as we know, some people don’t suffer from bites, and so may have no other warning.) In the end, it would lessen the spread of the bugs in a building and, by extension, in the larger community.

And though no one will want to admit their building has bed bugs, in the end, it might mean more people talk about this and the stigma is lessened. You can’t run or hide from bed bugs, so you might as well talk about them.

Previous Presidential Towers posts are here and here. And there are hundreds more on the internets.

Bedbugs called “a new kind of roach”; building managment lies

parakeets — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 22:17:33 +0000

A friend of mine recently said she was told that her building was being treated for “a new kind of roach.” Then she described the treatment–all the tenants would have to put all their things in plastic bags in the center of the room, the treatment was going to be done 3 times over a 3-month period, they had to empty out all their drawers and closets, etc., and they had to leave the building for 4 hours.

Sound familiar? I just KNEW her building was being treated for bedbugs, not for roaches. She said the management blamed immigrants for bringing the “new roaches” into the building (she lives in a senior complex that has over 100 apartments).

Why do they lie to tenants? Tenants in my building weren’t told we had bedbugs either when they treated us. I had to find out from seeing bedbugs and looking them up on the internet. When I went to the bedbug conference they said disclosure to tenants was **not** necessary except in San Francisco, and that building managers could have “chaos ensuing” in a building if they told tenants the spraying was for bedbugs. So they often don’t tell people.

Buildings are being treated for bedbugs and tenants are not being told? This is dangerous. It happened to me. It happened to my friend. We have to change the laws about disclosure. I believe San Francisco has new laws about full disclosure. Landlords and governments elsewhere are getting away with lies and bedbugs are spreading.

If a building is being treated for bedbugs, they should not be allowed to say the treatment is for a “new kind of roach.” Is Gail Brewer’s pending legislation changing this in
New York City? Regulating mattresses are one thing, but tenants should also be told if their building is being treated for bedbugs.