In this installment, we learn that bed bugs are taking a significant toll on Brown’s self-identity and social life:

Despite my anger, even our bug-laden living situation is finally normalizing. This process started first as a change in identity: I now think of myself as ‘the guy with bedbugs.’ It’s how I introduce myself. Maybe it’s not the first thing I say, but it will come up in the first five minutes of a conversation. I am taking an acting class and in the first session I said “hey, I am Nick and I have bedbugs,” as if I was in some particularly gross AA session. When I hear someone mention bedbugs in a conversation at a table next to me, I feel obliged to chime in.

They’re also making home very disorganized and uncomfortable, no small problem for someone whose office is at home. Things are not where they used to be; instead, they’re in bags all over the place:

While I am tempted to reassemble my room and my office (which are the same place), I realize there is every chance that the bugs will be back again so I have stopped trying to create a livable space and now just settle for someplace with interior heating.

We also learn that Brown still has bed bugs, well past the 30-day window landlords are given to eliminate bed bugs, under local housing laws. It is not unusual for landlords to need more time, though. Turns out, there are other reasons to be angry at the landlord:

Day 39

Our landlord, we discovered today, knew this apartment had bugs. The previous tenants moved out because of the bedbugs. The whole building - minus our apartment - was sprayed for bedbugs in the months after we moved in. No one mentioned this to us.

Isn’t this illegal? As I commented on the paragraph above, on Nicholas Brown’s blog, this should be illegal. Landlords should not be able to rent out an apartment that is known to be infested with bed bugs, to an unsuspecting tenant. I have a suspicion, however, that it already violates the housing laws. If any NYC rental housing experts are reading this, perhaps they could clarify.

Moreover, if the entire building except one apartment was being treated, any experienced PCO and even the landlord should realize that this might drive even more bed bugs into this unit.

What strikes me most about Brown’s saga, through these six installments, is how very typical it is. We at bedbugger.com have heard it all many times. While I am horrified to hear Brown’s tale, I thank him for sharing it in such a public medium.

By doing so, he may just convey the mess that bed bugs create in one’s life, as well as how easy it is to get them, and how very difficult it is to get rid of them, to those not yet in the know. And that recognition, my friends, is the first step in getting everyone else to help us fight the problem.

• Brown student wants to provide free bed bug treatment to those who can’t pay
• landlords talking about bed bugs
• Brooklyn tenant not warned of bed bugs before moving in
• New York City: Who’s responsible for paying for bed bug treatment? Complicated, in some cases.

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• bed bugs in Toronto; Vancouver; Billings, MT,
• bed bug news for 2007-11-09
• Bed bugs in homeless shelters, casinos, hotels, apartments: Waynesboro, Atlantic City, Greenpoint, Toronto
• bed bug news for 2007-11-16

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Bushwick, Brooklyn is home to two large dueling loft buildings: 248 and 255 McKibben Street. Yes, that’s right: they’re buildings so hip, fun, and now, they have their own myspace pages. (Don’t laugh, but we have one too.)

Gawker did an article today about the buildings’ problems with bed bugs, though judging from the comments there and on myspace, only the residents of 248 are claiming to have a problem with bed bugs.

The Bed Bug Registry has complaints from thirteen different tenants about the building. (For its neighbor 255 McKibben, there are none.)

248 McKibben also has a whole blog running on myspace about the building’s alleged bed bug epidemic. It makes for interesting reading. The residents are correct that the entire building must be treated, if the infestation is as extensive as they claim it is. There’s a reluctancy on the part of some residents to call HPD (311) and file a housing complaint, for fear they won’t get references from their landlord in future.

Such concerns abound on our forums too. I have not heard from anyone who has filed an HPD report on a landlord and who has not been able to rent after that. I do know multiple people who have “pissed landlords off” by expecting to have pest problems, leaks, etc. fixed, and whose landlords were so happy to see such “troublemakers” move on that they gave the next landlord glowing reviews!

So I think the idea is kind of an urban myth. If it happens, though, surely the tenants could clip articles about how infested their building was, and show it to future real estate brokers as evidence that they had good reason to file an HPD report. Frankly, shouldn’t the real estate brokers recognize that if HPD agrees with the tenant that their building is infested (and files said report), then the tenant should not be blacklisted in this way?

Or are we all going to end up living with bed bugs because we’re afraid our landlords will not give us a good reference when we want to move to another building with different amenities and more bed bugs? Because if everyone is afraid to demand their landlords treat the problem, we’ll all have bed bugs soon.

• Shameful landlord AIMCO: biggest landlord in USA refuses to deal with bed bugs
• Lexington, KY vs. New York, NY: a tale of two bedbugged cities
• 25 Grant Street in Denver, Colorado: bed bugs for two years
• Bed bugs in homeless shelters, casinos, hotels, apartments: Waynesboro, Atlantic City, Greenpoint, Toronto

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Yesterday, Joe Wessels of the Cincinnati Post reported that city officials were forming a commission to fight the problem:

The Bedbug Remediation Commission, a five-member panel of local health, social service and elected leaders, is in the process of forming and will try to find ways to better educate the public about how to combat and prevent bedbug infestations.

“It’s just crazy that we have that in our city in the 21st century,” said City Council Member Chris Monzel, who is working with West End state Rep. Dale Mallory to establish the panel. “We need to do whatever we (the city) can to eliminate this.”

That’s exactly what we think too–something must be done. Surely something can be done? And yet local, state, and federal governments have been so slow to take action.

What made Cincy’s politicians take note? According to Wessels,

Workers for the Council of Aging have refused to make home visits to some seniors’ residences because they are infested. The workers complained they were being bitten and unwittingly carrying the parasites back to their own homes.

Residents of a Race Street building plagued with bedbugs have taken to sleeping on the sidewalk in front of the structure to keep from being bitten while they rest. The pests are so thick in the building that Tuesday they were seen during the day, extremely rare for the nocturnal creatures.

“Bedbugs do not typically live outside,” said Erich Hardebeck, vice president of Covington-based Permakil Pest Control, who was called in by rehabbers of a neighboring building to see if the bugs had spread to it.

Cincinnati’s bed bug problem sounds bad, but the things that are happening there are happening everywhere that bed bugs are taking over.

What exactly are the city’s statistics on bed bugs?

Cincinnati Health Department officials said they had received 179 bedbug calls through July 20, including 28 from West Price Hill, 21 from East Price Hill, 21 from Westwood and 10 from South Fairmount. Calls have picked up recently from Over-the-Rhine and the West End.

There is plenty of evidence that NYC’s problem is every bit as bad, per capita, and possibly much, much worse. NYC says only around 1190 actual cases were identified by the housing department based on complaints to 311 in the period from Summer 2005-Summer 2006. It’s striking that no one has cited any statistics for the period from Summer 2006-2007; one can only imagine they are much worse. At the same time, as I’ve written many times before, Mara Altman, in her odious Village Voice story last December, cited the head of one local PCO who claimed to get 85 actual bed bug calls per day (at the end of 2006). Clearly, 311’s statistics are just the tip of the iceberg, as Cincinnati’s probably are too.

Cincinnati’s government officials are smart: they see things are bad, they see them getting progressively worse, and they’re going to get some folks together and work on it.

New York City’s City Council also has a “Bed Bug Task Force.” However, except for a hearing about the issue of reselling used mattresses, we have not seen any public discussion on this issue yet. Except for a fact sheet on the health department’s website, which tells people to clean and that they may need a PCO, NYC has not admitted that bed bugs are a problem, let alone a serious one. They certainly won’t admit it’s a public health problem.

Let’s compare with their counterparts in the Cincinnati-Hamilton County area:

“We believe strongly that the insect should not be allowed to crawl over children while they are sleeping,” said Chris Eddy, Hamilton County’s environmental health director. “We took the position two years ago that (bedbugs) are a public health crisis. We believe that we need to be able to use the nuisance complaint code to get rid of these.”

Bed bugs are a public health crisis? Darn right they are. But sadly, few other public health departments are making a statement like this. And they should be–talking about bed bugs, and taking action on bed bugs.

How did this happen in Cincinnati? Last month, there was a Town Hall Meeting. The Enquirer reports in another article that, in a very effective move, one woman apparently turned up carrying a bag of dead bed bugs from her apartment:

City Councilman Chris Monzel and State Rep. Dale Mallory, D-West End, are working on the issue after hearing at council’s Health Committee on Tuesday what Monzel called “heartbreaking” stories.

One woman, he said, brought a plastic bag of dead bugs to a town hall meeting last month about the problem.

After talking to an exterminator, representatives from area apartment associations and the Council on Aging of Southwest Ohio, Monzel said he decided to try to improve enforcement of city regulations or beef up ordinances to stress that the bugs have become a public health problem.

I am absolutely in love with Cincinnati City Council right now. They actually heard heartbreaking stories three weeks ago and they are doing something? Break out the vikane and the UHauls, kids, and let’s move over there: Cincinnati is a good town.

Hey, I love New York too, but it’s been a year since Caitlin Heller, Bugsinthehood, and several others spoke at a NYC City Council Hearing related to the bed bug issue (which was, sadly, officially only about the resale of mattresses issue). You bet your patootie they had some heartbreaking stories. Where’s my Bed Bug Remediation Commission? Where’s my admission that our city has a serious problem?

Could it be that NYC fears that to admit their problem publicly would mean a loss in tourism revenue? Is this really the only reason we aren’t seeing any action around here?

What is being done in Cincinnati? The Post makes it clear that public education is part of the plan. The Enquirer says the plans also include a hotline residents can call so that infested furniture is picked up quickly. The Bed Bug Remediation Commission also plans to “plan to work with second-hand stores to make sure they’re not reselling infested mattresses and furniture.” Above all else, improving enforcement of existing regulations, and “beefing up” ordinances where necessary, is exactly what is needed to help curb this problem. Bravo, Cincinnati!

Bed bugs are not going to go away overnight, but for goodness’ sake, do something.

• Urgent: if you’re in Cincinnati…
• New York vs. Bed Bugs: NYC is the underdog!
• Cincinnati: awareness spreading, funds needed to fight bed bugs
• Last week’s Town Hall Meeting in Cincinnati

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According to the CBC.ca Marketplace website:

In Nova Scotia, Halifax doesn’t have clear-cut legislation for dealing with bedbugs. Responsibility for extermination falls upon the tenant if a landlord can prove a tenant brought the bugs in. The Halifax agency has found that landlords often foot the bill as it’s difficult to prove there were no bugs before a tenant moves in. Tenants are advised to write a letter to a landlord asking to deal with the problem within a reasonable timeframe. If the landlord refuses, a hearing can be conducted in front of the officer of residential tenancies.

While, as the CBC information states, it is difficult for landlords to prove a tenant brought bed bugs in, many people who discover bed bugs will assume they brought them in if they bought something in a secondhand store, were in a hotel, or accepted a used mattress.

Believe it or not, it is still possible to do these things and not get bed bugs every single time. So having done one of them recently does not in itself prove blame for bed bugs being brought in.

And it is also possible to get bed bugs from neighbors in multi-unit housing without doing anything at all. My concern is that landlords and tenants will often rush to assign blame, and as we have said many times here, it is much harder than you think to identify the party “to blame” for your infestation.

The article in the Chronicle Herald by Deborah Mensah-Bonsu demonstrates the problem with tenant laws which allow the “tenant who caused the problem” to be blamed and forced to pay for treatment, if that tenant can be identified.

First, Mensah-Bonsu describes the scope of the bed bug epidemic in Halifax:

A representative of Residential Tenancies for Nova Scotia said the government agency has been receiving calls about the bugs lately.

“It has been coming up,” said Joey, who could not give his last name.

First warning sign: the Halifax government representative who spoke to the press about bed bugs would not give his last name?

Then Joey describes the local housing laws in reference to bed bugs:

He said if the problem was caused by a tenant the landlord could hold him or her responsible for pest control but if it’s an issue with the building and the source is unknown, the landlord would be responsible for fumigation.

If the problem is not resolved, the tenant can apply to the Residential Tenancies Board for termination of the lease, he said.

So basically, if the landlord (thinks s/he) can identify the source, then the tenant must pay. But if the problem gets out of hand, and multiple units are infested, then the original source tenant is off the hook. In other words, Halifax’s law, like those in some other areas of Canada, is designed to encourage people to not report bed bugs, and allow them to spread.

As much as finding the source of the epidemic might seem like the “fair way to do things,” it’s really hard to do, and really easy to be wrong. The reason is that it is really hard to track the source of infestations. Bed bugs move around, many tenants are not allergic to them and have no idea, other tenants are terribly allergic and are likely to notice them first. You can also be bitten for a time without reacting, even if you are allergic. So knowing when and where the problem started is extremely tricky.

Some people think moving is a solution, but Mr. (Brian) Betts (of Ace Pest Control, in Dartmouth) said that is most likely the source of the problem.

“Somebody will have (the bugs) in an apartment and they’ll be frustrated, and when they’re moving they’re taking the bedbugs to a new location. You got people moving from one unit to another in metro and just dispersing the bugs more and more all the time.”

While this is true, it is also true that bed bugs will often stay put and feast happily on one tenant for a while. S/he may not even know, if they are among the great mass of people who are not allergic, and so do not react to bed bug bites. But when this tenant moves (for whatever reason), they will rush to the neighboring units, to avoid going hungry. This is another prime reason why the first tenant to notice s/he has bed bugs should not be blamed for the infestation.

TransGlobe Property Management Services, owner of the Ocean Towers apartment buildings at Brunswick and Gerrish streets, has been receiving a lot of heat from tenants over bedbugs. So much so that it released a statement saying it has been addressing the issue since buying the property in 2005.

“There is an issue with bedbugs in the entire city and nationwide,” said Paul Dillon, director of marketing and public relations for the Toronto company, which owns more than 2,000 rental units in Nova Scotia. “It’s just unfortunate that this particular property is being targeted, but it was present before we purchased the building.”

If tenants were not punished for being the first person to report bed bugs in the building, by being blamed and forced to pay (in many cases), then perhaps bed bugs would not have such a thorough hold on buildings.

Landlords and tenants are both victims of this epidemic. But the blame game– and by this I mean the attempt to single out one tenant as the definite source of bed bugs in a larger building, or workplace infestation– does not work with bed bugs. The source, really often, is not what you think. The best situation for both landlord and tenant is for bed bugs to be treated as soon as possible, thus preventing their spread.

Click here to read the article in the Chronicle Herald. Click here to see a rundown of Canada’s laws regarding bed bugs and who pays for treatment.

• Halifax tenants angry about bed bugs? Time for action.
• Bed bugs in Halifax, Nova Scotia
• New Haven housing officials confused: why can’t they get rid of these bed bugs?
• Toronto tenants camping outside to avoid bed bugs: update

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Here is my rant on NYC statistics, for those who have not read it before. (Everyone else, skip down past this block quoted section!)

The city says approx. 4600 called to complain about bed bugs and approx. 1190 had bed bug violations in the period from Summer 2005 to Summer 2006. These statistics are often cited in the media as evidence the bed bug problem is not that big.

As I’ve said many times before, we know the number of infestations must be much larger, since just after the time frame in which those 311 stats were added up, local PCO Pest Away claimed to be getting 100 calls a day, of which 85% were legit bed bug cases, in a Village Voice article last year.

As I speculated then, 85 cases, x 5 days a week x 52 weeks a year, and that’s one local PCO identifying 20,100 cases in a year. Though this is a particularly large PCO, there are hundreds and hundreds of other PCOs treating for bed bugs in this city. Clearly those 311 numbers are far from the size of the epidemic, and that’s even after we account for homeowners and those in public housing, neither of which would call 311 to report bed bugs.

There endeth today’s rant.

The most obvious evidence, for me, that the vast majority of people with bed bugs in NYC do not follow this route is based on our readers who email me or who comment here and in the forums. My generous estimate is that the percentage of tenants with bed bugs in NYC who call 311 and report it is under 5%. If I were a betting gal, I’d put money on that.

We hear from several new Bedbugged New Yorkers every day. Since October, when the site was born, only a handful of people have told us they called 311. (Several of those have said they called 311 and had been given the runaround, or had not been sent an inspector. One person reported the inspector came but would not enter the home. The other day someone said the 311 receptionist simply told him/her to wash their clothing and sheets carefully. Um, thanks Mayor Bloomberg.) We have a FAQ on what is supposed to happen when you call 311, based on research I did, but it would be great to hear from more people who did it.

A reader going by the moniker “realitybites” is a New Yorker who did call 311 recently. S/he only did so because his/her landlord was refusing to treat properly. I asked his/her permission to repost this from our forums, since it is such an interesting story. Six days ago, realitybites wrote:

I recently found bedbugs (caught one off the bottom of my mattress with a piece of scotch tape.) Called in a PCO immediately, very professional, friendly. I found out while waiting for him that my neighbors all have them, and that my super (!) has complained numerous times to the landlord who refuses to do anything. I called 311 to report building is infested. Got into a big argument with landlord about hiring a PCO for the whole building. He said absolutely not, never. I told him I called 311. That got him about as far as telling the other tenants to throw out their mattresses and get some bug spray. (He told them he would reimburse them for the bug spray, how generous!)

Yesterday (five days later), realitybites gave an update:

An update on this story. After the landlord received the official acknowledgment of complaint from the city, he went through several reactions. He was angry, tried to make me feel guilty for reporting the infestation, tried to tell me it wasn’t his problem because it wasn’t his fault. He told me I had “no right” to report on him.

This isn’t going to sound like a true story after this, but it is. After several angry confrontations, he came to my apartment the other day. He said he wanted to see “evidence.” I showed him the bugs I had caught and taped to a piece of paper. Then he told me he would pay for the exterminator I called, and also retain him to treat the entire building. Then he started asking me questions like, “so what does it feel like when you get bitten?” and “how did you find them?” and so on.

Then he confessed he was afraid HE MIGHT HAVE THEM TOO. (He lives in a different borough.) I am glad he came around, not sure if it was because of the city’s pressure or his own worries (did he carry the infestation to his home because he didn’t treat our building?–something for landlords to think about.)

While few landlords are likely to “see the light” to this degree, and this swiftly, it is important to remember that landlords, too, are caught off guard by bed bugs. They, too, are victims of this epidemic, and in many cases, they stand to lose a lot financially because of them, just as tenants do.

The first response of many people to the idea of spending lots of money to treat a problem you never heard of before, or which many people assume is not a big deal, is to be evasive. Another is to panic. (We know many tenants panic, and so why not landlords who have to treat entire buildings?)

Once landlords understand what a big deal this is, they may well come around. As awful as it can be to go through treatment, a smart businessperson will realize they have to be aggressive in treating bed bugs. Treating all infested units, and inspecting, and preferably treating all units adjoining infested units (top, bottom, sides), is the best way to get this problem out of your building. And yes, they can come back.

Therefore, smart landlords will want to provide educational materials to tenants about the signs of bed bugs. It is a great idea for landlords to get a local community organization (maybe a local city council member, or community agency) to host a meeting where a PCO who knows bed bugs can speak to tenants about behavior which may lead to repeat infestations: shopping in secondhand stores and flea markets, picking up furniture or other items from the curb, and traveling without taking certain precautions, all make this easier.

Most of all, tenants need to know the signs. Those who never saw a bed bug, a bed bug bite, a fecal speck or fecal stain, egg, or cast off shell, need to learn the signs, as well as the basic facts about bed bugs (the main one being that you may have bed bugs even if you never see or feel any bites).

Until the City of New York wises up about the real size of this problem, and starts providing more public education of its own, it is up to the rest of us–tenants and landlords too–to (in the words of Bugalina) “Spread the word, not the bug.”

• Bedbugs called “a new kind of roach”; building managment lies
• New York City: Who’s responsible for paying for bed bug treatment? Complicated, in some cases.
• Escaping tenants leaving crumbs, marking the bed bug trail
• Lexington, KY vs. New York, NY: a tale of two bedbugged cities

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But why don’t people call 311?

Although technically anyone who is a renter and has bed bugs can do it, most people don’t. Why? Well, most of us are used to calling our building managers, superintendants, etc. when a problem of any kind arises. It even seems like the courteous thing to do–to tell the landlord, rather than simply ratting them out. And so most of us would only report bed bugs in our homes if the landlord has been notified by us and is either doing nothing, or slow to take action, or taking action which is not solving the problem.

We have not had a lot of reports from readers who called 311–in fact I can remember a couple in hundreds and hundreds of readers who described their NYC bed bug sagas on the site, the yahoo group, or the forums. This is merely one reason why I insist that NYC has far, far more bed bug cases than the “official” tally the city produces. The city is basing its sense of the scope of the city’s bed bug problem only on renters who call 311, which is why they report fewer than 4600 complaints and over 1100 actual cases in fiscal year 2005-2006. These figures leave out renters who complain to landlords directly (which I would venture is the vast majority), all tenants of NYCHA (public housing) buildings, who are supposed to call their building staff (not 311), all co-op and condo and other homeowners, and residents of hospitals, college dorms, in addition to hotels and hostels.

Leaving aside for a moment the need for tenants’ cooperation with treatment (which is vital), many tenants have landlords that do not do anything, take half-arsed steps (for example, inspecting and treating only the “complainer’s” unit), or hire PCOs who do not solve the problem (either because they don’t know what to do, or in many case because the landlord won’t authorize and pay them to do everything they need to, like come multiple times, or treat multiple units). And even when this is the case, and treatment does not occur or fails, it seems like most people still won’t follow up with 311. We hear that for many it’s due to fear of getting a bad reference when they next move (and let me tell you, at this point, they usually really want to move.)

I wish the city had some way of collecting data on infestations that could record every infestation. It need not be terribly complicated (for example, as Toronto did in 2003, they could require PCOs to disclose locations of all treated homes to the city). If this were implemented, we’d know how big the problem really is, and maybe the city would have to do more to help fight bed bugs. Ah, maybe that’s why the City of New York doesn’t want to know how many people really have bed bugs!

Anyway, what happens when you call 311 to report bed bugs?

I have obtained some reliable information on this.

When you call 311, the HPD will let the owner of the building know of the complaint and assign it a number.

An HPD inspector will come to your home.

S/he’ll check key areas where bed bugs may be hiding, but s/he won’t touch or remove any of your stuff. S/he may ask you to move things, lift cushions, blankets, etc.
If the home has evidence of a bed bug infestation, the inspector will issue a violation, but s/he won’t do this based on bites, on the basis that you may have been bitten elsewhere. They also cannot diagnose based on the smell (which is probably a good thing, since so few people claim to have smelled “the bed bug smell”).

The bed bug violation is based on Administrative Code section 27-2017 (which related to owner’s responsibility for keeping homes free of certain insects including bed bugs). The owner will have 30 days to correct the problem, and they have to certify that it’s been corrected two weeks after the 30 days are up. They may ask for 30 days more. (This is reasonable, since bed bugs usually take three or more treatments).

Here’s where it gets interesting: if there are several infested apartments in the building, HPD sends the violation to the Department of Mental Health and Hygiene (DOHMH), and DOHMH issues an “Order to Abate.” This orders the landlord to deal with the problem throughout the building.

I am really not sure what this means in practice, but it suggests that if you have bed bugs in NYC, and your landlord is not treating them swiftly, or thoroughly, then it might be in your interest to not only call 311, but ensure other infested tenants do too. It might be well worth your while to talk to others at length about bed bugs and the signs of them (besides bites, which many people with bed bugs apparently do not suffer from). Because if you are going the 311 route, and the inspectors find bed bugs in several units, the problem may well be addressed more thoroughly and more swiftly. I’d love to hear from people who networked with fellow tenants in this way.

I also have some concerns about the actual inspections. We have heard many stories of well-experienced PCOs who’d treated many bed bug cases, and still often find it challenging to locate bed bugs. Parakeets recently attended a bed bug conference where the story was shared that multiple experienced bed bug PCOs could not find the bed bugs they knew for a fact were in a particular room. Knowing that a careful inspection can take a lot of time (and might require the inspector to actually touch things himself or herself), I am concerned about how thoroughly HPD’s bed bug inspections are carried out.

I hope that the HPD is making sure its inspectors are being trained on subtle signs of bed bugs (like the “poppy seed” fecal specks, and tiny or larger blood spots on sheets–which can be a pinprick where you bled, or a bed bug sized one where a bug was squashed). This is important, since many people do not see bed bugs or do not see them often, no matter how many times they overturn their mattresses, part their sofa cushions, or fling back the sheets. It stands to reason that housing inspectors are probably trained to recognize the most obvious signs (as PCOs without bed bug experience doubtless are)–the classic fecal stains on a mattress, fecal stains on a headboard, actual bed bugs clinging to a mattress–the signs we see on websites in photos.

Click to see the host of University of Kentucky entomologist Michael Potter’s photo: the Purdue University page on bed bugs

Ask around on Bedbugger and you’ll find out that in so many cases, our mattresses did not look “like that.” Our sofas did not look “like that.” We don’t find insects hanging around in daylight and we don’t know why they’re called “wall lice” since we don’t see them scurrying or hanging around. Many do, but it is not the majority in my experience. We go to dermatologists because we don’t know we have bed bugs for a very long time. Those who are allergic are in many cases going to file a complaint long before signs are obvious or visible without a whole lot of searching.

I’d welcome your thoughts on the HPD process as described above. If you filed a complaint with 311, please tell us what happened. If you didn’t, tell us why not. Let’s make a statement here about what’s wrong with this system. Of course, if you feel like it worked for you, I’d love to know that too!

• FAQ: My landlord hired a PCO who comes twice a month, and we still have bed bugs
• New Yorkers: a real-life “I called 311 to report bed bugs” story
• Nashua, NH Health Officers on prowl for bed bugs
• Bed bugs & tenant organizing: don’t take this lying down

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VANCOUVER - City councillors aren’t jumping at a chance to swap their homes with a group of women living in poverty in the squalid Downtown Eastside.

Eight of 10 city councillors who reflected on an eight-week housing challenge put forth by the Power of Women Group in a July 2 letter declined to participate.

From what I gather, the other two were unreachable.

What was the exact nature of the challenge?

In the detailed letter, the group challenged Mayor Sam Sullivan and each councillor to live on $610, sleep in a single-room occupancy residence and give up driving their cars.

“We believe that politicians far too frequently make declarations and decisions about ‘resolving’ poverty, particularly in the Downtown Eastside, without having any idea about the painful reality of those who live in the DTES,” they wrote.

Refusal or excuses weren’t acceptable, they said, saying this would be a confirmation “that there is absolutely no political will to eliminate poverty.”

The 40-member group is still waiting for a response from council, said spokeswoman Harsha Walia of the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre. “Nobody’s called us,” Walia said. “We’ve left messages but they’re not returning our calls.”

The idea of politicians living in low-income housing is not new. Mayor Jane Byrne did it in Chicago in 1981, when she briefly moved into the Cabrini Green housing project. Since a politician is hardly likely to have the same experience as people forced to live in such conditions indefinitely, it’s surprising that the politicians were unwilling to swap houses, and in many cases said even a night would be too long.

And why might that be, you’re wondering? Bed bugs. The Downtown Eastside has probably been mentioned more than any other single neighborhood in any city, in this blog.

Bedbugs — common in low-cost SROs — are a big deterrent, said COPE councillor David Cadman. “It’s a huge challenge to go down there and get bedbugs,” Cadman said. “It’s not something I’m going to do, nor am I going to bring that home.”

NPA councillor Kim Capri said the wording of the letter was hurtful. “The ultimatum at the end, quite frankly, hurt me,” she said. The fact that she doesn’t intend to take up the group’s challenge doesn’t mean she doesn’t care, Capri said: “I think this council deeply cares and moreover, I think this council gets it.”

Vision Vancouver councillor Raymond Louie said he would consider the challenge if he didn’t have three children to consider. “I’m not going to be taking the kids to the streets of our city for eight weeks . . . .” Louie said.

And NPA councillor Peter Ladner said he doesn’t see the point of spending one night — let alone eight weeks — living in the conditions outlined by the challenge.

“I’m not sure what it would prove,” Ladner said. “I’m going to take this as an invitation to go down and see what’s going on.”

NPA councillors B.C. Lee and Suzanne Anton declined the challenge too. Anton said she was “interested in doing a night, but I don’t think I’d be interested in spending a long time.”

Vision councillors Heather Deal and George Chow both declined as well. “I sympathize with the women, their frustration of having to live in the Third World condition that is some of the SROs . . . . They are crying out for help,” said Chow.

Sullivan declined because, he said, he’s already familiar with housing issues. “Before becoming mayor — and after my accident — I collected welfare and spent several years in a social housing co-op and a paraplegic lodge in Vancouver’s east end. This experience has stayed with me.”

To be fair to the councillors, I would not want to move into the Downtown Eastside either. Or any other place I thought might have bed bugs.

Some of these politicians quoted above appear to understand and take the plight of local residents seriously, and so perhaps they will continue to work towards alleviating those conditions. We have to remember that Vancouver appears to be doing more about its bed bugs than any other city. It is not yet enough, by any means, but in many ways, it’s still admirable.

Still, I think extending this invitation was a good way for the group to get the politicians to seriously consider the conditions their neighbors and constituents had to live under. Perhaps it will spur on further change.

• Vancouver official blames hanky-panky for bed bugs in nice areas
• Itchy the Bed Bug: an Olympic Mascot for Vancouver
• Toronto Councillor Paula Fletcher has some progressive ideas about bed bugs
• And another ray of hope from Vancouver’s VANDU

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Adam Bosch reported in the Times Herald-Record that

Tenants complained to the building’s owner and manager about bugs and items of disrepair, but they said reports of their problems fell on deaf ears. The building is owned by North Plank Development Co., a subsidiary of Orange County realtor John Lease III, and by Autumn Sky Development Co., whose CEO is Steven Michalski of New Paltz.

Unlike Halcyon House, of course, this building was much smaller (only 16 apartments). Nine residents, five of them veterans from WWII, Vietnam, and Desert Storm, signed a petition, which they presented to the village of Monticello, the DSS, and the VA, on June 20th. Note to Bedbugged readers: organizing tenants can really make things happen.

Monticello’s action was prompted by a June 20 petition from tenants. They sent the petition to village officials and other organizations, such as the Department of Social Services and Veterans Administration.

“We the undersigned make this formal complaint about the infestation of bedbugs,” the letter read. “We have repeatedly complained to the management about this problem and as yet have not gotten any results.”

The city has shut down the building, and the red cross has moved the tenants to area hotels. (Note to building management, village officials and Red Cross: you probably need a bed bug protocol for future situations; it’s easy for tenants to spread bed bugs to hotels, and bring them back again. Treatment should thus continue after tenants return, and in future some protocol needs to be developed to help people not take bed bugs to their “safe” alternate housing.)

The heroes? The village, of course, willing to stand up to landlords. (Are you listening, city of Denver?)

The building was formerly the Victoria Hotel, a boarding house in which people lived on top floors above a basement pub. Now an apartment building, it was closed last week as part of Monticello’s continuing crusade against substandard housing. The village has shut down more than 20 blighted or noncompliant houses since February.

I am glad that Monticello’s inspectors find it unacceptable for tenants to live with bed bugs.

The bedbugs were so numerous that their feces left large stains on tiled floors, village building inspector Sue Flora said. The bugs also ate holes into the skin of residents, leaving them with trails of scabs.

And the lone tenant who got the ball rolling, convincing other tenants to sign a petition, even when many were willing to tolerate bed bugs for years.

The charge for help at 384 E. Broadway was lead by tenant Rich Masser, 61. Masser said many of the people living in the apartments had grown used to the bedbugs. Some had lived there for more than 15 years. They were scared of what might happen if they made a fuss about it. Some feared this very fate, that they might be forced to leave.

Fear of the consequences of pressing landlords to solve a bed bug problem is widespread. But without treatment, problems will only get worse.

“For years they were getting bit and wouldn’t say a word about it,” Masser said of his fellow tenants. “Nobody deserves to live like this – nobody.”

Bravo, Rich Masser. Thanks for reminding us that one person can make a difference.

You’re Bedbugger’s first official Hero of the Week!

Maybe someone out there can whip up a nice “Hero of the Week” icon for us, but for now, words will have to do.

I don’t know if Mr. Masser was one of the veterans named in the article, but he is certainly a Hero. Happy Independence Day to the tenants of this building. I hope they are living back at home and under suitable conditions soon.

• Adult home shut down in Monticello, NY with multiple housing violations; 40 beds contained “bed bugs and bed bug eggs”
• Bed bug notice: East Village, NYC, January 2008
• Bridgeport, Connecticut tenants have had bed bugs more than a year
• More bad news about Denver’s bed bug-infested Halcyon House

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While the FAQ has always been clear that there are cases in which tenants may be responsible for paying for treatment in NYC, we’ve all kind of gotten forgotten that, and gotten into the habit of saying “the landlord pays for treatment” (myself included). I want to stress that no one has yet reported that they are renting and were forced to pay, but I do think we need to be more careful about sending people to the FAQ for guidance on where to look for advice, rather than saying “landlords are responsible,” which isn’t strictly always the case. I do hope that no one was confused o inconvenienced by this. I hope everyone will have a look at the FAQ as it is now.

I have now prefaced the entire Tenants and Landlords FAQ with this disclaimer:

If you are a tenant, find out the laws in your area about the responsibility of landlords vs. renters to eliminate a bedbug problem. A local tenants’ rights organization probably exists in your city, and they’re probably the best free source of information regarding landlords’ responsibility to pay for treatment. Remember that you also have responsibilities, like reporting infestations promptly (doing so in writing protects you legally), and complying with treatment. Responsibility is not always a clear-cut matter, so please use this FAQ as a starting point, and realize that you may need to figure out how the local laws define your dwelling, your status, and who is required to pay.

I think it’s important for us all to be a bit more circumspect when telling others about local laws. I myself have said many times “the landlord is responsible for paying in New York City.” Well, yes, in most cases. You’d be forgiven for thinking it was all cases, as this Real Estate article from the New York Times (last October) implies. I want to stress that the FAQ has always stated clearly that there are exceptions (such as buildings with 3 or fewer units) where tenants may be responsible. To be honest, we’re not sure about where those exceptions occur, but it seems to hinge on whether you’re defined in some cases as an “occupant in charge of the dwelling” (which tenants in larger buildings apparently are not).

It appears to be true, according to the information below, that landlords must arrange and pay for elimination of bed bugs if you are a renting tenant, AND:
1. Your apartment building has 3 or more rental units, OR
2. You live in NYC-owned housing.

Anyone else may be responsible for treatment, and everyone should therefore consult their lease (if any), and seek advice from Met Council on Housing, or a lawyer.

Please click here to review the revised FAQ (besides New York and Chicago, little has changed.)

If anyone has further additions or corrections, please leave a comment, with links to relevant information.

• More on Canada’s laws re: bed bugs and tenants: province by province
• landlord’s duty to tell prospective tenants about bed bugs?
• Halifax tenants angry about bed bugs? Time for action.
• added to the “Tenants and Landlords FAQ”: Washington, D.C. and Florida

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