New York vs Bed Bugs

Bed bugs and the law in New York City

Renee Corea — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:17:26 +0000

Though we get a lot of inquiries on this subject, we’re not in a position to give legal advice, and so we simply listed all the relevant references in our resources page, but apparently they’re hard to find.

So, we’re not lawyers but we can at least show you where to find information and what the statutes actually say. We’ve naturally tried to talk to legal experts about the more obscure bed bug legal issues but so far have not been successful.

For what it’s worth, to my mind the real question is not whether landlords are responsible to eradicate bed bug infestations, because my reading is that they are in all types of dwellings where there is a landlord/tenant relationship except where the tenant’s negligence has caused the infestation—I’m not sure I can figure out what that means in practice—but what are the practical remedies available to tenants when landlords refuse to help, or when the infestation continues unabated for months and even years, or when what the tenant really wants is no longer to obtain pest control services, but to move out and break the lease, or to sue for damages, or to compel their landlord to take action against the perceived source of the infestation within the building when that source is thought to be the apartment of an uncooperative tenant.

Also interesting from the policy perspective is the apparent inadequacy of the provisions of law against the nature of bed bug infestations and the current practice of bed bug management. There are numerous complicating factors. First, bed bugs easily spread between apartments, and this has two immediate effects: it becomes essential to inspect and identify other apartments that may be infested in order to eradicate the infestation and it is practically difficult if not impossible to ascertain the ultimate source of an infestation. Second, detection of bed bug infestations is difficult in cases of low-level infestation, so that city housing inspectors may not see the bed bugs and therefore not cite the violation. Third, even good bed bug management practices may fail to eradicate the infestation because the tools and skills currently available are inadequate, because the preparation requirements placed on tenants may be difficult to comply with, and because new infestations may develop, so that even the landlord’s good faith efforts may still fail. Fourth, the conventional wisdom is that bed bug infestations are so difficult that they are regarded strictly as a job for professionals, and so tenants are discouraged from self-treatment; it is also illegal for landlords who are not licensed pest control professionals to apply certain bed bug treatments. Fifth, professional bed bug eradication is prohibitively expensive. Sixth…

This discussion is not legal advice, is intended to help you find available sources and references, focuses on rental residential dwellings and, as it relates to actions that a tenant may take, is limited to those that deal with obtaining remediation of the infestation itself. Lawsuits for damages and personal injury are not discussed. We will look at the rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants under the New York State Multiple Dwelling Law, the New York City Housing Maintenance Code, New York Real Property Law and the New York City Health Code, and list sources of help and self-help.

Co-ops and Condos

For a discussion of co-op and condo responsibilities, please refer to Richard Siegler’s and Eva Talel’s article, Dealing with Bedbugs (PDF), New York Law Journal, November 5, 2008.

The Warranty of Habitability

Interestingly, the only information on the warranty of habitability available on the city’s website is in a FAQ from the legal department of the city’s Commission for the United Nations Consular Corps & Protocol. The FAQ disclaims policy or legal positions, but we’ll take the city’s summary take on this wherever we can find it:

Warranty of Habitability

Tenants have the right to reside in a comfortable, safe, and sanitary apartment. Landlords must provide heat and hot water on a regular basis. They also must control insect/pest infestation. If a landlord breaches this agreement, the tenant may sue for a rent reduction. The tenant may also withhold rent for recurring conditions, but in response, the landlord may sue the tenant for nonpayment of rent. In such a case, the tenant may counter sue for breach of the warranty. Any adverse condition caused by the tenant or other persons under the tenant’s direction or control does not constitute a breach of the warranty of habitability by the landlord. In such a case, it is the responsibility of the tenant to remedy the condition. Rent reductions may be ordered if a court finds that the landlord violated the warranty of habitability. The reduction is computed by subtracting from the actual rent, the estimated value of the apartment without the essential services. A landlord’s liability for damages may be limited when the failure to provide services is the result of circumstances beyond the landlord’s control. For example, a water main break or workers’ strike. In cases of emergency or neglect by the landlord, tenants may make necessary repairs and deduct the reasonable repair costs from rent when due. For example, when a landlord has been notified that a sink is leaking and willfully neglects to repair it, the tenant may hire a plumber and deduct the cost from the rent. Tenants should obtain receipts for the repairs and present them to the landlord along with a written explanation of the deduction from the rent.

The warranty of habitability is codified in New York State under Real Property Law Section 235-b which states in part:

In every written or oral lease or rental agreement for residential premises the landlord or lessor shall be deemed to covenant and warrant that the premises so leased or rented and all areas used in connection therewith in common with other tenants or residents are fit for human habitation and for the uses reasonably intended by the parties and that the occupants of such premises shall not be subjected to any conditions which would be dangerous, hazardous or detrimental to their life, health or safety. When any such condition has been caused by the misconduct of the tenant or lessee or persons under his direction or control, it shall not constitute a breach of such covenants and warranties.

This warranty cannot be waived or modified by either landlord or tenant and as you can see applies whether the lease agreement is written or not. It’s also important to understand that the warranty of habitability applies to lease agreements for any type of residential dwelling. So whether the rental is a two-family home or a multi-unit apartment building, the warranty is implied in every lease.

A great article by Stanley Panesoff of the Community Training Resource Center on the warranty of habitability that I recommend you read in its entirety provides some historical background:

Before 1971, residential tenants would sign leases which relegated most of the responsibility for repairs and maintenance to the tenants themselves. [...] Whether the tenant had a written lease or oral agreement, the landlord’s failure to maintain the apartment or building in a habitable state (or to furnish services specified in a lease) in no way diminished the landlord’s right to collect the rent, even if the landlord was in violation of local and state laws or housing codes. A 1971 court decision in Manhattan, noting the inequity of the landlord/tenant contract, read housing code requirements into residential leases as the minimum standard of habitability and awarded damages to the tenant for the landlord’s lack of a good faith effort to make necessary repairs.

What constitutes a breach of the warranty of habitability and any resulting damages are matters decided in court. Panesoff raises the possibility that tenants may not succeed:

However there is no guarantee that tenants will succeed in getting repairs or rent abatements, because some judges may refuse to enforce the Warranty of Habitability.

Panesoff cites some conditions that have been deemed a breach of the warranty of habitability. Vermin and rodent infestation are at the top of his list of examples.

He also outlines the remedies available in practical terms, noting especially the steps tenants should take before “negotiations or court appearances involving building conditions that violate the Warranty.” These include advising the landlord of the problem in writing (keeping photocopies and sending all correspondence by certified mail, return receipt requested), taking photographs, and reporting violations to the city.

As you probably already know, there is a well-known case of the warranty of habitability applied to bed bugs, Ludlow Properties v. Young. The tenant withheld rent and claimed a breach of the warranty of habitability as a defense in the landlord’s non-payment suit. The tenant was awarded a substantial rent abatement. The bed bug infestation in his case was long-standing and intractable.

Note: Before you consider any actions such as withholding rent to force your landlord to eradicate an infestation or moving out and breaking your lease in the expectation that you will be able to assert a breach of the warranty of habitability as a defense or counterclaim in the event of a lawsuit, you should consult a lawyer or tenant advocate.

The New York State Multiple Dwelling Law

The New York State Multiple Dwelling Law applies to cities with populations of more than 325,000. (Cities of less than 325,000 inhabitants and towns and villages are covered by the New York State Multiple Residence Law.)

A multiple dwelling is:

a dwelling which is either rented, leased, let or hired out, to be occupied, or is occupied as the residence or home of three or more families living independently of each other.

A very useful summary of the statutory rights of tenants is maintained by Stuart Lawrence of Housing Conservation Coordinators. Here LL stands for landlord, T for tenant:

2. Right to Repairs and Clean Premises

Multiple Residence Law § 174

Multiple Dwelling Law §§ 78, 80

LL shall keep all and every part of a multiple dwelling (three or more residential units) and the lot it is on in good repair, clean and free from vermin, rodents, dirt, filth, garbage or other matter dangerous to life or health. T also liable if T or T’s guests willfully or negligently cause violation.

The New York State Multiple Dwelling Law, Section 78, says in part:

§ 78. Repairs. 1. Every multiple dwelling, including its roof or roofs, and every part thereof and the lot upon which it is situated, shall be kept in good repair. The owner shall be responsible for compliance with the provisions of this section; but the tenant also shall be liable if a violation is caused by his own wilful act, assistance or negligence or that of any member of his family or household or his guest. Any such persons who shall wilfully violate or assist in violating any provision of this section shall also jointly and severally be subject to the civil penalties provided in section three hundred four.

Vermin are specifically mentioned in Section 80 which states in part:

§ 80. Cleanliness. 1. The owner shall keep all and every part of a multiple dwelling, the lot on which it is situated, and the roofs, yards, courts, passages, areas or alleys appurtenant thereto, clean and free from vermin, dirt, filth, garbage or other thing or matter dangerous to life or health.

My reading of this is clear, in a building of three or more apartments, the landlord is responsible for the eradication of bed bug infestations. If the infestation is caused by the tenant’s negligence, however, then the tenant is also responsible.

Why am I not addressing the definition of vermin? ¹ Because we’re not Cincinnati and on this point need not follow their lead.

What constitutes tenant negligence? I don’t know. But unfortunately it’s not hard to imagine plausible scenarios. An interesting question, given the language of the statute, is whether the landlord is still responsible for bed bug eradication despite any tenant liability for negligence.

The NYS Multiple Dwelling Law seems clear and straightforward enough.

The New York City Housing Maintenance Code

The New York City Housing Maintenance Code, contrary to popular belief, applies to all dwellings, see Article 1, Section 27-2003. Confusion may have arisen because Section 27-2005 provides that:

Sec. 27-2005 Duties of owner

a. The owner of a multiple dwelling shall keep the premises in good repair.

b. The owner of a multiple dwelling, in addition to the duty imposed upon such owner by subdivision a of this section, shall be responsible for compliance with the requirements of this code, except insofar as responsibility for compliance is imposed upon the tenant alone.

c. The owner of a one- or two-family dwelling shall keep the premises in good repair, and shall be responsible for compliance with the provisions of this code, except to the extent otherwise agreed between such owner and any tenant of such dwelling by lease or other contract in writing, or except insofar as responsibility for compliance with this code is imposed upon the tenant alone.

My reading of this is that in the case of a one- or two-family dwelling there may be a (written) lease that assigns certain repair and maintenance responsibilities to the tenant. So you should check your lease and consult a legal aid organization if this is your case. However, even if there were such a lease, remember that you could not possibly have waived the warranty of habitability.

Further confusion as to this question of whether one- or two-family homes are covered by the New York City Housing Maintenance Code arises because HPD does not require certain one- and two-family homes to be registered. Therefore, many people, such as superintendents and others familiar with certain aspects of housing code enforcement, will say that one- and two-family homes fall outside the scope of the Housing Maintenance Code. This is plainly not true. Is it possible then that HPD declines to enforce the New York City Housing Maintenance Code in one- and two-family homes? I can’t say, but I know that I personally witnessed an HPD representative fumbling an answer to the question of who is responsible for pest control in buildings under 3 units.

Then there is what HPD says on its website, in a section on housing code compliance for homeowners:

Note: The following applies to one- and two-family homes if they are occupied by tenants.

The core mission of HPD is to promote quality housing and livable neighborhoods for all New Yorkers. One important way HPD fulfills this mission is by enforcing compliance with the City’s Housing Maintenance Code and New York State’s Multiple Dwelling Law. HPD seeks to support the preservation of privately owned housing by making both tenants and landlords aware of their rights and responsibilities.

What does the New York City Housing Maintenance Code say about bed bugs? It’s the only relevant law that specifically mentions them, see Article 4, Section 27-2017(b):

Insects and other pests include the members of class insecta, including houseflies, lice, bees, cockroaches, moths, silverfish, beetles, bedbugs, ants, termites, hornets, mosquitoes and wasps, and such members of the phylum arthropoda as spiders, mites, ticks, centipedes and wood lice.

And so, Article 4, Section 27-2018 provides for mandatory extermination:

Sec. 27-2018 Rodent and insect eradication; mandatory extermination

a. The owner or occupant in control of a dwelling shall keep the premises free from rodents, and from infestations of insects and other pests, and from any condition conducive to rodent or insect and other pest life.

b. When any premises are subject to infestation by rodents or insects and other pests, the owner or occupant in control shall apply continuous eradication measures.

c. When the department makes the determination that any premises are infested by rodents, insects or other pests, it may order such eradication measures as the department deems necessary.

Despite the language here which makes the owner or the occupant in control responsible (suggesting a joint responsibility and therefore giving rise to confusion as to ultimate responsibility), as we know from Article 1, Section 27-2005(b) quoted above, the owner of a multiple dwelling (3 or more units) is responsible for compliance with the provisions of the Housing Maintenance Code unless the provisions make the tenant alone responsible, and therefore would be responsible for compliance with this provision in Section 27-2018 for mandatory extermination. The owner of a one- or two-family dwelling would also be similarly responsible except conceivably where agreed to otherwise with the tenant, in writing, as provided in Article 1, Section 27-2005(c). And, again, any such written lease agreement cannot possibly waive the implied warranty of habitability.

Why then the language about the occupant in control? I don’t know. My guess but only a guess: because the tenant is also responsible and may be cited if necessary, in the event of negligence, for example, as provided in the duties of tenants.

Please note that the landlord has the right to access the apartment for inspection or repairs with due notice, see Article 1, Section 27-2008. This is important because many building infestations hinge upon one or more apartments whose residents are not cooperating with treatment. It is up to the landlord to exercise his or her right to access the apartment. Many landlords will say that there’s nothing they can do when a tenant refuses inspections or treatments. Indeed, no one wants the various hassles associated with bed bugs, but some basic mechanisms are nevertheless in place.

You should also review the duties of tenants under the Housing Maintenance Code and grounds for eviction, one of which is the unreasonable refusal to allow access to landlord for repairs required by the code. Please note again that, as in the Multiple Dwelling Law, the tenant is liable for violations if they arise from negligence.

The New York City Housing Maintenance Code is not as clear and straightforward as the Multiple Dwelling Law, but it makes up for its ambiguities by expressly featuring our friend the bed bug.

The New York City Health Code

If you’ve followed the sad career of New York vs Bed Bugs, you might remember that we tried to get bed bugs into the New York City Health Code, Article 151, Pest Prevention and Management (PDF).

Alas.

In any case, on the subject of clear definitions, the revised §151.01(c) at least has the grace of defining “person in control” — a person in control is:

the owner, part owner, managing agent or occupant of premises or property, or any other person who has the use or custody of the same or any part thereof.

The original Article 151 listed bed bugs much in the way of the New York City Housing Code. Now it is simply pest, meaning “unwanted insects, rodents or other pests as determined by the Department.”

In addition to providing that properties shall be free of pests, §151.02(c) provides for pest management plans:

(c) Pest management plans. When the Department determines that, because of pest infestation or conditions conducive to pests, a written pest management plan is required, it shall order that a person in control of the premises write such a plan, maintain the plan in effect for such time as the Department shall specify, maintain a copy of the plan on the premises where the infestation or conditions were observed, and make a copy available, upon request, to the Department and, when specified by the Department, to occupants of the premises. In commercial and residential premises, when specified by the Department, the person in control of the premises shall post a sign at the building entrances stating that the pest management plan is in effect and identifying a location on the premises where a copy of the plan may be inspected. The plan shall include the following:

(1) Pest management strategies that will be employed on such premises;

(2) A schedule for routine inspections, determined by the person in control, for conditions conducive to pests and the presence of pests;

(3) Actions to be taken when pests are present;

(4) Instructions to premises’ occupants, tenants or other users on how to report the presence of pests to person(s) in control of the premises, with a notice conspicuously posted at building entrances indicating that such instructions are available and where occupants may obtain a copy;

(5) The name(s) and contact information for pest management businesses and/or professionals employed or contracted by the persons in control; and

(6) A log of visits by pest management professional(s) and the names of pesticides, if any, applied on each visit.

Emphasis added. This is interesting, is it not? Potentially useful.

Also, §151.02(d) provides for actions to eliminate conditions conducive to pests, including:

(2) Eliminate existing routes of pest movement by sealing and repairing holes, gaps, and cracks in walls, ceilings, floors, molding, baseboards, around conduits, and around and within cabinets by the use of sealants, plaster, cement, wood or other durable materials.

What is not at all clear is what is necessary for a residential building owner to be ordered to post a pest management plan, to caulk, etc. So I include the health code in this discussion mostly in the hope that it will be on your radar should it become clear in the future how it will be used by city agencies in relation to bed bug infestations and violations.

What can tenants do?

In the event of a dispute with your landlord over a bed bug infestation, you should consult a lawyer or tenant advocacy organization about the facts of your own situation. For legal assistance, visit LawHelp.org/NY and enter your zip code in the housing section, under private housing or public housing, to see organizations providing legal aid; see, as an example, the listings for a central Manhattan zip code here.

However, I should note at the outset that you are entitled to bring an action in housing court to get a judge to order your landlord to eradicate a bed bug infestation. It’s called an HP Action, Housing Part Action, and you don’t need a lawyer. The resource centers in housing court can provide information and help with filing. The filing fee can be waived if you cannot pay it. The City-Wide Task Force on Housing Court has an excellent how-to guide you should consult.

What actions can you take that fall short of going to housing court? You can file a complaint with the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), by calling 311, in the hope that they will send an inspector to your apartment who will verify the infestation and cite your landlord. Bed bugs are a Class B housing violation and the landlord would have 30 days to correct but may request an extension, which would be reasonable considering how long it may take to eradicate the infestation even with appropriate measures. Unfortunately, this is not a very reliable method of achieving your objective, getting your infestation dealt with, because HPD does not inspect every complaint, may not find evidence of infestation (bed bugs in a jar are not considered evidence), and because your landlord may ignore the violation. If you live in public housing, you can report the infestation to the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) centralized call center, (718) 707-7771, or simply 311. This may also not help because NYCHA may ignore your request for pest control services. Sorry, it is what it is. But violations will be part of the record in court if you decide to go to court. Needless to say, you should take care to document every action and fact.

You may be able to strengthen your position against your landlord by organizing other tenants who are also affected, and indeed how can they not be affected? Yes, this is sometimes very hard to do when the issue is bed bugs but you should know that others have succeeded with this approach.

You may also reach out to your elected representatives. You can find your council member here and you can also contact the Ombudsman Services Unit of the Office of the Public Advocate.

Other actions, such as withholding rent or breaking your lease, may work but may cause the landlord to take you to court. So you should consider such steps carefully and ensure that you are prepared. In my opinion, you should never undertake these steps without preparation and advice. These are some fact sheets that you can consult as your starting point:

MFY Legal Services: How Do I Get Repairs from My Landlord? (PDF)
South Brooklyn Legal Services: A Tenant’s Rights to Repairs
Metropolitan Council on Housing: How to Get Repairs, Part 1 and Part 2, (PDFs)
Met Council also has a fact sheet specific to bed bugs

I should add simply because sometimes it is asked and because the role of 311 is often misunderstood that obviously the first step is to ask the landlord for the service. Report the bed bug infestation to your landlord and ask for professional pest control service. Many landlords are aware of their responsibilities and are ready to fulfill them. If not, sometimes they may be persuaded with reasonable appeals to their self-interest (better to deal with an infestation before it spreads and costs a lot more money to eradicate) and with a set of well-researched documentation of their responsibilities. I am in no way suggesting this is easy, only that it has worked for others. I hope you don’t have to call 311 to file a complaint or go to court. But if you do, I hope the resources listed here are helpful to you.

In the end, of course, the situation is one where there are no adequate resources for anyone. The bed bugs are still winning.

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

Seriously, we need not enter such a distracting and useless argument. The New York City Housing Maintenance Code clearly enumerates bed bugs as pests. Moreover, bed bugs fit quite nicely the dictionary definition of vermin, and finally, the city agency in charge of enforcing the Multiple Dwelling Law and the New York City Housing Maintenance Code, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), clearly considers that bed bugs are a housing violation and regularly cites landlords for bed bug infestations.

Lou Sorkin: loved, respected and essential to this endeavor

Renee Corea — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:11:55 +0000

New York vs Bed Bugs co-founder Lisa wrote a letter in support of Lou Sorkin’s appointment to the New York City Bed Bug Advisory Board:

BY MAIL AND FAX

July 6, 2009

Eddie Bautista, Director
Office of City Legislative Affairs
253 Broadway, 14th Floor
New York, NY 10007

Re: New York City Bed Bug Advisory Board

Dear Mr. Bautista,

I am writing to urge your consideration of Lou Sorkin for appointment to the New York City Bed Bug Advisory Board. No entomologist or pest control expert in New York is as qualified or as dedicated and generous of spirit as he.

Mr. Sorkin is both an entomologist with an independent institution, the American Museum of Natural History, and a licensed pest control professional. He can approach the problem of bed bugs with an understanding of the nature and biology of the bed bug as well as with practical experience and insight.

In the trenches since the beginning of the bed bug resurgence, Lou Sorkin has advised pest management professionals, elected officials, and New York City agencies. He has lectured on bed bugs and other insects to housing officials, parents and students at various universities, to landlords and building superintendents, to dermatology residents at NYU School of Medicine and to other entomologists, professionals and the general public at the New York Entomological Society; as a forensic entomologist, he has shared his expertise with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. He advises bed bug sufferers in online support communities and he assists an ever-growing stream of people who call upon him for identification of bed bug specimens and for personal consultations. His extraordinary generosity has earned him the deep affection and trust of pest control professionals, advocates and bed bug sufferers.

During the course of our own infestation, my husband and I were the recipients of his generosity. He always took our calls and answered our many questions. I heard Mr. Sorkin give a lecture to supers, for Go Green East, and he is clearly a very gifted teacher. Lou Sorkin’s long dedication to educating New Yorkers about bed bugs must be viewed as a vital asset if our city intends to develop a comprehensive bed bug control strategy amid such challenges as we presently face.

I respectfully urge you to appoint Lou Sorkin to the Bed Bug Advisory Board. He is loved and respected in our communities and essential to this endeavor.

Sincerely,

[New York vs Bed Bugs]

You can read our April interview with Lou here.

Beating Bedbugs guides from Greater London Pest Liaison Group

Renee Corea — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:17:39 +0000

The Greater London Pest Liaison Group’s Beating Bedbugs best practice guides are finally out and you may download them on the group’s new website.

Not since the days of stalking the Cincinnati Board of Health meeting minutes for news of the Cincinnati/Hamilton County Strategic Plan have I waited for any bed bug documents with such impatience, continually checking various websites. And now I can’t devote proper time to discussing them! (Apologies, I hope we can return to this subject and review it in greater depth soon, or better yet, you tell us what you find interesting.) I entreat you, then, to read these documents; they reward the attention.

There are five guides, all PDFs: Information for Residents, Information for Landlords, Information for Healthcare Professionals, Preparing your home for bedbug treatment, and Inspection and treatment guide.

We first noted them here and learned that they were presented at Pestex this year, where the adoption rationale as well as the use of relevant laws for treatment access were explained. Once again, the ever useful Pest showed us where to find what we were looking for.

If you are interested in this subject, the difficult subject of bed bug policy development, you might see in these guides one clear path. There are many different ways of achieving our hoped-for result. One way, the city government way, seems closed to us for now, but why can’t we do this here, exactly? Our system is different, no local authorities here providing pest control services, but the elucidation of what needs to be done, what existing laws can be used to advantage, and, more important, an obvious consensus from within the practicing professionals, an agreement on direction and purpose if not methods. Why can’t we have this here?

If you care to look at our interview with Clive Boase, you will see his discussion of the 1936 Public Health Act and the principles of bed bug treatment and eradication borne out in these documents.

Notice for example, in the Guidance on Inspection and Treatment (PDF):

Confirmation that bedbugs have actually been eradicated from the treated premises, is critical. A surviving and redeveloping infestation will disperse and infest other properties, undoing the work already carried out.

Ha, indeed.

One more letter

Renee Corea — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:51:47 +0000

Do you remember our old bed bug task force letter writing campaign?

Would you write one more letter?

The City Council Speaker has a contact form that you can use to send a simple (and polite) note asking her to appoint the members of the bed bug advisory board without further delay.

If you are up for it, would you also write to the Mayor’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, to Mr. Eddie Bautista, at this address:

Eddie Bautista, Director
Office of City Legislative Affairs
253 Broadway
14th Floor
New York, NY 10007

And/or by fax, (212) 788-2647.

Thank you for your help. I’m not entirely sure that this will help, but I’m asking anyway.

I will update this with my own letter to Mr. Bautista.

So, what now?

Renee Corea — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 03:12:32 +0000

John Raimonda, Director of Operations of Liberty Pest Control, wrote today in response to the NH Bedbugs post and I have his permission to share his email with you:

We’ve been hearing about other states but what is the status for New York as far as landlord or Mgmt Company responsibility re: accountability—cost/advising other tenants etc.
Many of our customers are asking these questions and are self treating or using inferior services due to cost and the process of extensive preparation.

John

This frustration is understandable, and familiar.

In my response to John I explained the contours of the situation (nothing is happening; the city is vetting the would be appointees to the bed bug advisory board but has not made any announcements and appears, to this interested and biased observer, to have no intention of acting with the appropriate seriousness and alacrity that the situation demands). And I of course told him that if his customers need to complain to HPD or bring their landlords to court they should find basic how-to instructions and advice from the various non-profits and tenant advocacy groups whose sites are listed in our resources page. There is nothing, however, to compel landlords to adopt sound bed bug management strategies. Nothing to compel them to inspect adjoining apartments and, as far as my knowledge and understanding extends, nothing to compel them to advise other tenants of infestations. In practice, landlords can get away with hiring spray and pray merchants, if that. To be sure, as we’ve noted before, bed bugs can be an unaffordable burden to small landlords.

There is no such thing as easy solutions and I don’t really believe in villains. Well, actually maybe there are people and organizations that are up to no good, exhibit A: the New York Association of Realty Managers extraordinary “Afternoon of Bed-Bug Awareness Training on Long Island” on June 1.

A bed bug seminar (PDF) to end all bed bug seminars, indeed.

I don’t think I told you about this:

1:30 to 4:00 pm Seminar The Crossroads of Warrant-of-Habitability &
Pest Infestation SPECIFICALLY, BEDBUGS How can Building
Management prove they got there? Dealing with the conundrum
of who should rightfully end up paying for their elimination? Ways to eliminate Bedbugs. Other Pest Infestation Issues.

That almost defies comment. Underlined text in the original. And yet, it is what it is. This is what is happening in our city. While people struggle with bed bug infestations, property managers schedule an afternoon of golf and advice from lawyers about a certain bed bug conundrum.

Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association bed bug awareness video

Renee Corea — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 02:06:15 +0000

The Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association (ONPHA) has produced an educational video about bed bugs. It is the first in a planned series for tenants and site staff; the second video will cover preparation and treatment.

I think the video does a good job of hitting the necessary points—although I’m sure we all would select, emphasize and deemphasize different things if we had the chance; for example, I could do with less footage of advanced infestations as I think it’s prejudicial in basic awareness materials.

It is always humbling to see organizations doing their jobs and taking on the essential and difficult tasks. Our city is now so woefully far behind, far behind is no longer descriptive.

Sam Bryks of Housing Services Inc. sent us the link and says that subtitled versions in four major languages in the Greater Toronto Area are being planned. Housing Services is providing technical assistance.

From ONPHA’s website:

There are almost 1500 non-profit housing providers in Ontario. They can be found in 220 communities, and range in size from 4 units to over 58,000 units. They own and manage shared houses, townhouses, small apartment buildings and high-rises in cities, towns and rural areas.

The NH Bedbugs project

Renee Corea — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 02:47:36 +0000

Nobugs has a nice post taking note of the remarkable news from New Hampshire of a new organization that will begin its work by taking on the eradication of bed bugs from a Manchester building as a community project.

My comment got lost in the spam filter but it was about this New Hampshire Public Radio story a year ago about bed bugs in a Manchester building, not identified in the story but managed by the same management company as the Langdon Mill Apartments, the building in the present community eradication effort. They spent $15,000 then on a protocol of emptying the contents of the apartments and fumigating them (perhaps it was not true fumigation but conventional treatment). The infestations persisted.

I hope the cycle of loss and bed bugs for these families, and for this building, will now end.

Congratulations to the organizations and volunteers of NH Bedbugs for an awesome undertaking.

Phenolphthalin test as inexpensive surveillance tool

Renee Corea — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 07:20:39 +0000

I’ve been looking at the literature concerning other blood-sucking pests as it is rich with insights and information that have not yet been investigated in bed bugs—and perhaps will not be any time soon because the clever bed bug does not vector disease organisms. (I want to tell you what I’ve found but I want to understand it better first.)

So I came across this description of surveillance activities for the Chagas vector Triatoma infestans, where the presumptive blood test known as the Kastle-Meyer test was used successfully, and it makes me wonder why this isn’t used more to exclude fecal trace evidence by people trying to ascertain the presence, or continued presence, of bed bugs. Lou Sorkin has mentioned this test to us before and I know some people have used it, but it’s certainly not used or recommended widely.

The authors describe the Kastle-Meyer test as 100% sensitive to black or dark brown fecal spots as old as 4 years:

Overall, 100% of black or dark brown triatomine-like dejecta from three species of laboratory-reared or field-collected triatomine bugs, mosquitoes, and cimicid bedbugs tested positively by the phenolphthalin test, regardless of the age of feces. All feces from cockroaches, which can be easily confounded with those from triatomine bugs, and from other arthropods tested negative. Therefore, the test very likely will give positive results in dark brown or black fecal smears (having heme residues) from other hematophagous arthropods.

Gürtler, R. E.; Oneto, M. L.; Cecere, M. C.; Castañera, M. B.; Canale, D. M. (2001) A Simple Method to Identify Triatomine (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) Feces in Sensing Devices Used in Vector Surveillance Programs. Journal of Medical Entomology. 38(2). 147-152.

You can read about the Kastle-Meyer test and find the kits and procedures by googling presumptive blood test kit.

The authors simplified the protocol for their purposes:

Trials were carried out to simplify procedures for testing samples in the field. Square pieces (7 by 7 cm) of filter paper were folded twice, and one of the corners was pressed onto the fecal spot and then unfolded. The smeared portion of the filter paper was wetted successively with one drop of ethanol, the Kastle-Meyer reagent, and hydrogen peroxide. Whenever the dejecta gave a positive reaction, a fuchsia color appeared in a few seconds and the filter papers were discarded. When color development was slow or abnormal, or faded very quickly, the sample was regarded as suspicious.

Perhaps the best way to find bed bugs is with a pair of well-trained eyes, which is exactly what most people do not have. I now feel very strongly that this is what people must be taught, especially in our city given the prevailing business practices, how to inspect for bed bugs and how to evaluate evidence of infestation, so that they can rely on themselves. The cavalry ain’t coming.

1960, New Jersey, #4

Renee Corea — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 04:39:23 +0000

Time to put away the old DDT nostalgia. This should be the last DDT post. I should have ended on the good stuff, but apparently can’t leave well enough alone.

Guess what I found, an old top 10 pest list from from a Rutgers survey of New Jersey Pest Control Association members:

Top 10 pests, Rutgers NJPCA survey, Pest Control, May 1961

Kirby, J. 1961. Termites Rank No. 2 with PCOs in New Jersey. Pest Control. 29(5): 69-71

The New Jersey Pest Control Association is now the New Jersey Pest Management Association, and Pest Control is Pest Management Professional. I wonder if Rutgers or NJPMA did surveys in other years?

Anyway, what is interesting is the commentary from John Kirby, Rutgers extension entomologist:

It was somewhat of a surprise to me that bed bugs were mentioned on 11 of these 17 questionnaires and on this basis gained fourth place in the problem rating. A couple of years ago, bed bugs didn’t seem to be very much of a problem but now they appear to be popping up more often. Perhaps the proven resistance of Cimex lectularius to DDT in other areas of the United States is also a factor in New Jersey. Although such resistance has not been definitely established in New Jersey, PCOs have generally switched from DDT to lindane for bed bug control.

The bed bug, habitual popper-upper. Always causing surprise too—why do you think that is? Bed bugs?

Wonder if we’ll ever stop acting surprised.

Say bye-bye, DDT.

UF heat research (and a 1924 detour)

Renee Corea — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:11:09 +0000

University of Florida researchers have published their study of heat treatments to control bed bug infestations (free PDF). What distinguishes their approach from other published accounts is the DIY character of their method and materials: space heaters, fans, polystyrene boards, thermometers. All of $300.

As opposed to whole-room or chamber heat treatments, which necessitate expensive specialized equipment, their aim was to use heat to economically treat infested furniture by creating a heat envelope, an area within a room where, with the aid of inexpensive insulating materials, temperatures could rise to lethal levels—moderately high temperatures are sufficient—and then to use residual treatments in areas outside the envelope where heat could not penetrate. This point is important to understand and stands as my only caveat; bed bugs placed in control vials in closets or areas away from the heat definitely survived.

(It’s no secret that desperate bed bug sufferers do desperate things. Others have noted the ineffective and counterproductive measures frequently taken. Given the possibility that you might rush off to Home Depot without thinking things through, I worried about having to say many responsible things, but you can read for yourself. If you’re capable enough to pull this off on your own, good for you. If you’re not but think that you are, then no warning from me is going to deter you.)

This is the article and at the moment it’s available as a free download here.

Pereira, Roberto M.; Koehler, Philip G.; Pfiester, Margie; Walker, Wayne (2009) Lethal Effects of Heat and Use of Localized Heat Treatment for Control of Bed Bug Infestations. Journal of Economic Entomology. 102(3). 1182-1188. doi: 10.1603/029.102.0342

For the purposes of these experiments, the fact that the heat did not penetrate areas outside the envelope was judged an advantage:

Despite generating temperatures well above the lethal levels for bed bugs (41–49°C) within the treatment envelope, the heat treatment did not elevate the room temperature to temperatures >32°C (Table 3). Maintaining the room temperature at comfortable levels for human activity is very important because the heat treatment is intended to supplement a residual pesticide applied to the baseboard and other potential resting areas for bed bugs. Such treatment could be applied while the room furniture is exposed to heat treatment.

I’m not sure how much it helps to kill the bed bugs in the sofa (even if they might be the hardest to kill of all) but still have bed bugs under the window sill, but if a war of attrition is all there is against these bugs, so be it.

I appreciate the discussion of what failed and I hope those of you interested in this solution will study this closely.

The bed bugs placed in different locations during the treatments had 100% mortality for all but two trials: the first trial (room D) and the initial trial in room Yb, both in rooms with tile floors. The initial treatment trial never produced lethal temperatures for the bed bugs in any location where temperature was measured. The maximum temperature reached was 41.5°C after 6.3 h, and the total treatment period was 7.3 h, indicating that the temperature in the treatment envelope did not rise during the last hour. This stabilization of the temperature was due to the excessive heat loss through the plastic tarp and the tile floor. Once polystyrene sheathing boards were used as the insulation around the treated furniture, the heat loss was significantly reduced and temperatures continued to increase throughout the treatments.

Yet more interesting are the boundaries of what was investigated:

These results demonstrate that short exposures to temperatures above 41°C will cause temporary immobilization of bed bugs, even when lethal levels were not reached. Once the bed bugs’ exposures to high temperatures were interrupted, some insects were able to survive. We did not test long-term survival of the heat-exposed bed bugs and did not determine whether survivors’ fitness was compromised. Bed bugs that survived exposures to nonlethal temperatures have been shown to have reduced fitness (Janisch 1933, 1935, cited by Johnson 1941). Sublethal effects of high temperatures are documented for several insects (Neven 2000, Mahroof et al. 2005). However, thermal wounding by sublethal temperatures may be as deadly, but without obvious effects that lethal temperatures cause (Denlinger and Yocum 1998).

These experiments were conducted in University of Florida dorms and campus housing, a convenience that has been exploited before.

1924

In 1924, at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Mississippi, bed bugs were successfully treated by simply turning on the dormitory building’s steam heat in the summer (average high temperatures of 115.8°F produced 100% mortality). This of course has nearly always been regarded as impractical.

The question of sublethal effects is an interesting one. In the Mississippi experiments, monitor boxes containing live bed bugs were placed in some of the rooms. Here’s an account of the fate of those bed bugs in one room:

In another room, most of the bugs were alive at 8 A. M. of the first day when the temperature had reached 108 degrees. At 1 P. M., with the temperature at 111 degrees, a few were found paralyzed; at 5 P. M., with the temperature at 114 degrees, all were apparently dead and the box was then removed. Several days later, the contents of the box was re-examined. At this time, 6 nymphs and 5 adults were dead but 3 nymphs were found to be alive, though paralyzed. Twelve days after removing from the heated room, the contents of the box were again examined and all were found to be dead, the paralyzed nymphs having failed to recover.

Dead, recovered, dead again. Nice.

Harned, R.W., Allen, H.W. (1925) Controlling Bedbugs in Steam-Heated Rooms. Journal of Economic Entomology. 18(2). 320-331.

While we’re here visiting the 20s, there’s a small joke in this article that we may as well examine for what it reveals of the polite bed bug fictions of the day (making me wonder what our own are today).

The authors describe the dormitory as one where many rooms “were found to be heavily infested with living bugs.” The paper must have been presented and a portion of the discussion transcribed with the article as there is a brief Q&A at the end:

MR. L. O. HOWARD: [...]

I have never been at the Agricultural College of Mississippi, but I had the pleasure of meeting a group of Professor Harned’s former students a year and a half ago at Gulfport at a dinner, and I saw the extraordinary love and admiration that they have for him. But it seems to me, assuming that this large dormitory could not have become naturally infested by bedbugs, that it must have been a part of a large experiment of introducing bedbugs in which the whole student body was concerned. From that point of view, it strikes me as one of the most extraordinary pieces of cooperation on record. (Laughter.)

UF’s research showcase

The University of Florida has a showcase document for their research, a bed bug manual of sorts that is well worth a look. You get to see useful pictures of the heat experiments, lots of information and recommendations on fumigation (Vikane), the armed forces’ technical guide on bed bugs included, plus a PCT article on the UF bed bug management method, Fumigation, Steam, Dusting and Labor, Walker et al. and a number of interesting slides.

If perhaps you’ve always wondered how fast bed bugs may crawl, or what exactly is meant about their missing tarsal pads, wonder no more. Here’s a link to the PDF and this is the page at the University of Florida. (The PDF is a large file, 100 pages.)

Further heat reading

There are also two 2008 PCT articles about heat trials if you wish to read further and compare notes, one from University of Kentucky researchers, Bed Bugs, Heat and Hotel Rooms, Potter et al. and another from a UC Berkeley group, Hot House, Getty et al.

Update: Doug Summers in a comment notes a safety caution:

I would like to caution anyone who is thinking about using this approach to consider using a proper commercial heater, instead of the residential style 1500 watt portable oil units that were utilized in the study.

The issue is fire safety… If you enclose the heater with insulated panels then you have voided the warranty… There was an extensive recall of this style of heater a few years ago… They were causing fires due to a faulty override switch that should switch the heater off at 130 degrees F.