Jersey City Council Member Steven Fulop’s editorial in the Jersey Journal makes the case for his City Council ordinance introduction which would assign responsibility for the eradication of bed bugs to property owners. Our previous discussion is here.

Council Member Fulop clarifies the issue with regard to tenants who can’t afford pest control:

First, the issue with making tenants pay is that when poorer tenants think they will have additional fees for pointing out bedbugs in the building, history has shown that they will not report the insects to the landlord. The end result is that the insects spread rapidly to other apartments in the building, leading to larger-scale infestations, which will require more frequent and costly control efforts later.

That’s an accurate assessment.

Fulop mentions New York City and our laws assigning responsibility to landlords.

Since we still have bed bugs, perhaps we may as well point out the following.

When poor landlords have to pay for bed bug eradication, history has shown that they will:

• treat infestations serially (treating only the apartments of residents who complain about bites, when they complain), failing to inspect and treat as necessary additional apartments that are at risk for exposure or already infested;
• hire inexperienced pest control companies that are unable to eradicate the infestation; and
• lack the resources and the knowledge to educate their tenants about the prevention and management of bed bug infestations.

All of which will lead to “larger-scale infestations, which will require more frequent and costly control efforts later.”

Did I lose you at “poor landlords”? I hope not. How about cash-strapped, small landlords? There is no doubt that there are small landlords who are utterly squeezed and literally cannot afford a major pest control expense like this one.

And yet, from a control perspective, there is no escaping the essential rationale for making landlords responsible: that they are uniquely positioned to inspect and treat a building-wide infestation. Only such a coordinated effort stands a chance of actually eradicating the infestation.

Similarly, the rationale for municipal and state governments to roll out public education and prevention campaigns is that they are uniquely positioned to educate citizens about an emerging public health concern like this one. Only a coordinated education and prevention effort stands a chance of eradicating bed bugs from our cities.

Intellectual honesty demands that we acknowledge the complexity of the problem. The only way out of this mess will be a combined effort of cooperation and shared responsibilities.

UPDATE: September 25, 2008

According to the Jersey Journal, the Jersey City City Council passed Fulop’s ordinance, making landlords responsible for one treatment and one follow-up.

But if the problem persists, the law allows landlords to charge a tenant. The law applies to buildings with two or more units.

Sounds like a recipe for a mess to us.  Score one for the bed bugs.

These pages may be of related interest:

1. Where does it say…? 6 essential documents to survive an argument about bed bug dispersal
2. Columbus Apartment Association rolls its own landlord/tenant bed bug rules and regulations
3. Housing Court Judge Sheldon Halprin visits a Harlem building and changes begin
4. NYC Health Code, Pest Prevention and Management
5. Apartment Staff Training Manual from CAA