Comments on: Columbus Apartment Association rolls its own landlord/tenant bed bug rules and regulations

By: Renee Corea

Renee Corea — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 19:45:20 +0000

Deb, you should seek advice from the Central Ohio Bed Bug Task Force.

By: Deb

Deb — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:53:30 +0000

Help I live in columbus and have HAD BEDBUGS for 5 months and altho they exterminate i still have Them…I have bites all over me! What is my recourse??? I told them to move me or take up thge carpet!!
Deb

By: Renee Corea

Renee Corea — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:16:43 +0000

I believe the notice to tenants is the second link above, Integrated Pest Management Plan.

By: larry eichler

larry eichler — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:01:20 +0000

I read the Bed Bug certification but di not see the IPM Introduction letter. Is there such a letter to tenant(s)? Or is it the Plan itself. please advise or forward a copy of such letter.

Thanks

By: Apartment Staff Training Manual from CAA — New York vs Bed Bugs

Apartment Staff Training Manual from CAA — New York vs Bed Bugs — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 04:25:19 +0000

[...] The Columbus Apartment Association has been working on bed bug materials for a while. We previously looked, rather warily, at their compliance package. [...]

By: sam bryks

sam bryks — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:35:48 +0000

Renee, I attended a townhall meeting a few years ago here in Toronto – the one put on by Woodgreen Community Centre, at which a an activist lawyer who specializes in protecting the rights of the disadvantaged, spoke of her view of the obligations of the landlord when a tenant is physically or mentally incapable of preparing the unit for treatment. Of course, in her scenerio, the landlord was often a public housing landlord, but this could apply to any landlord. Her view was that a vulnerable tenant who was incapable of preparation should have support and should be protected from eviction for a reason that is not their fault. This comes down to the measure of what is a good society… one that cares for children and for seniors – the most vulnerable of our population, as well as for anyone who is disadvantaged through no fault of their own. My initial reaction to her views was incedulity as I know landlords are not social workers and do not want to do social work as such or senior care…. However, in reflection on the human rights aspect, as well as the impact that an untreated unit can have on the rest of the tenants, and this is not only bed bugs, it applies as well to major infestations of roaches, I changed my view on this. I see the landlord in these cases as a stakeholder in the IPM Chain of Accountability , so the landlord when a case is identified should act as a facilitator to enable support. This needs to be defined in the specific cases.. contact any family members, or supportive agencies or the health department to get a process of support going. The landlord has this responsibility to protect his own interests by protecting the other tenants, his clients really, from the consequences of the uncontrolled infestation. Sometimes people fall through the cracks if they don’t quite fit into this or that categoy, and often it is because no one has seen fit to ensure that a safety net is their for them. I believe that this is really what it takes.. I see sometimes that community support agencies act ast he facilitators when a client falls into this category, but the landlord is really the most representative facilitator because this is about protecting the asset (the building), and ensuring that landlord’s obligation to other tenants is fulfilled. It may not seem fair in a way to a landlord, but if it is seen as part of doing business and is acted upon like that, then the actual cases will decline.
The landlord should not be alone on this of course but must be supported so that the problem can be corrected. this will then also take ongoing follow-up. It is rare to have tenants who do not want to co-operate, but my experience has been that every situation has its solution, but that it takes trained skilled people in the various aspedts of address this to make it work.
I find that supportive agencies here in Toronto are starting to roll up their sleeves and see how they can get support to help their clients, and one of the rhings they do is invite me to speak to their staff to reduce fear and empower their staff so they can help clients and also protect themselves from taking infestation home. That is the greatest fear..
Sam

By: Renee Corea

Renee Corea — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:39:29 +0000

This city, Columbus, has a forward-thinking and committed bed bug task force. In other cities I think sadly this is exactly what will happen — landlords seizing control of the rules of bed bug management — and there might be no reasonable counteraction and education effort. The end result will be bed bugs, for everyone. A reasonable expectation is that the privileged classes in those cities will come to see the threat for what it is and will take measures (I read somewhere an argument that this is how the warranty of habitability came to exist, with those in power having recognizing their interest in ensuring safe and sanitary housing conditions) but this will take so long as to be practically useless. This is why we all should have an interest in advocating control methods for bed bugs rather than a re-engineering of how society works. We’ll get one sooner than the other.

By: Sam Bryks

Sam Bryks — Sat, 30 May 2009 00:44:06 +0000

I just read this and it seems… and i emphasize “seems” reasonable until one reads the so-called IPM rules and regulations.. These rules and regulations are certainly slanted to enable the landlord to lay “blame” on the tenant. What if the structure of the unit and the treatment caused the spread to the next unit?
I think that this has lots of good content, but if you have a senior or a handicapped person who cannot prepare physically and needs help, is the landlord going to try to evict that person for “non-co-operation”?
There are so many flaws in this …….. I agree with Doug’s comments. An exterminator may say that a unit is free of infestation and be totally wrong…. the nature of bed bugs and their behaviour, and so if an infestation was found, then who would determine if it was the tenant imported or the landlord previous infestation.. Lots of possibilities for distorting the truth and the very way the doc is written, it would encourage people to lie. “not my fault!!”
i think that the overall goal here is very good and much of the content is very well written and covers lots of good points… but if a site has one existing infestation of bed bugs, the onus for other units falls on the landlord..It is as if you went to a hotel and found bed bugs and the hotelier blamed you , even though there had been existing infestation elsewhere. David Cain asks clients to relate their habits so he can determine where they may have “picked up” bed bugs in order to stop the repeated infestation.. We tried that at the start in my organization but it just didn’t go over because no one waned to ask the questions, and eventually because teh spread from within was often the most probable. I think that the threat of eviction should NEVER be part of an IPM plan. that is not what IPM is about. There should be more emphasis in co-operation and support and nuance.. If it comes to actually needing to evict someone…. pretty sad because in those circumstances there is more often than not, a mental health or societal adjustment issue. The landlord should get help from appropriate agencies, and the outcome may ber moving that person to a more suitable residency if there are various other mental health issues involved. One gets a lot farther with support than with threats and this document has a tone of threat more than of support i’m afraid..

By: Renee Corea

Renee Corea — Thu, 28 May 2009 03:48:48 +0000

Well, yes, CS, in principle, but we all need to be aware that detecting bed bug infestations is not as easy as it sounds in many circumstances. Anyone can detect an advanced infestation, but lower levels may be elusive, especially if the bed bugs are retreating to walls or traveling between apartments through interconnected services (plumbing, heating, electrical). However, yes, having a professional inspection — a human pest controller or a bed bug dog, provided they’re trained and qualified — would be a good step.

Also, just to add to the fun, treating bed bug infestations without a human host present to draw them out during treatments (which are usually multiple treatments) is reportedly very difficult. So in this context “de-bugging” in between tenants may or may not be effective.

Bed bugs are like that. They confound the best efforts of well-meaning people.

The Columbus Bed Bug Task Force is reviewing this issue of landlord and tenant obligations and will produce a “more balanced” document according to its Chair.

By: CS

CS — Wed, 27 May 2009 19:56:21 +0000

AS a prospective tenant, I think I’d insist that there is evidence of bed bugs prior to move-in and inist that the landlord secure a pesticide company to rid the apt of them. If the pest controller sees no evidence, I’d feel safe moving in.
Do landlords de-bug after every tenant moves out?