Comments on: Bite sensitivity, new data

By: sam bryks

sam bryks — Fri, 07 May 2010 20:59:18 +0000

The resources that are nade available here are quite exhaustive. Great as usual Renee.
Not dissimilar to New York in Toronto, there is much responsibilty put on the landlord however it is rare to see a tenant evicted for bed bugs unless there is a lack of reasonable co-operation.
but there is not always justice in the world and so many variables of attitude. I once read a case of a tenant not getting any rebate on rent as the member of the “tenant protection” tribunal considered the landlord’s actions as demonstrating due diligence. Those actions were laughable from a professional pest control perspective as they were very far from what would be expected as a reasonable action of control of bed bugs. The facts are always critical and the way they are presented. If a case involves serious reocvery fora tenant, then hiring a pest control expert to review the history and details of acitons, would be a very wise action. This can indicate whether it is worth litigation or really a waste of your client’s time and money. Either get a Board Certified Entomologist in Urban and INdustrial Entomology or Medical Entomology or an experienced pest control professional.

By: Renee Corea

Renee Corea — Fri, 07 May 2010 19:40:22 +0000

I’m not aware of any other agencies. Everything I know about the the laws as they relate to bed bugs is here: http://newyorkvsbedbugs.org/2009/07/13/bed-bugs-and-the-law-in-new-york-city/.

By: bert taras

bert taras — Fri, 07 May 2010 12:25:30 +0000

I am representing a former tenant who was forced out of apartment due to bedbug infestation. Looking for rules/regulations/codes etc. applicable to the liability of landlord for breach of warranty of habitability etc. since the landlord is claiming the tenant was responsible party and is suing her for damages and loss of rents to his building. I am trying to determine also if there were complaints made to city agencies and am contacting HPD,ECB, Environmental Protection; are there any other agencies who are responsible or who would have issued violations if complaints were made?

By: Renee Corea

Renee Corea — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:24:29 +0000

Well, it’s their point, Potter et al., not mine. I wish I could be as optimistic as they are.

Toronto has of course shown tremendous leadership on this.

By: sam bryks

sam bryks — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:06:27 +0000

Renee,
your point about the public health question is very well put. I see changes in the attitude of Public Health Policy towards bed bugs. I have had my own experiences in this such as speaking to a health unit and having the medical officer of health stop me in mid presentation when i was speaking of the impacts of bed bugs on people while acknowledging the fact that they are not a vector of transmissable diseases. Of course I was a small fish in relation to his power of authority, so I didn’t argue his point though I still spoke to what I knew of impact on people. The Ontario Health Protection and Promotion Act gives this definition of Health Hazard.

health hazard” means,
(a) a condition of a premises,
(b) a substance, thing, plant or animal other than man, or
(c) a solid, liquid, gas or combination of any of them,
that has or that is likely to have an adverse effect on the health of any person; (“risque pour la santé”)
This clearly would include bed bugs beyond any reasonable doubt.

In Toronto, the Health Department has been there from the start and with the formation of the Bed Bug Project has the active lead in this.
I think for some public health authorities this may have been a question of priority in relation to actual impacts… So in the bigger picture, H1N1, SARS, or West Nile Fever can kill a large proportion of victims whereas bed bugs are very unpleasant and stressful and terrible, but if anyone had a choice between gettng a life threatening infectious disease or other life threatening issue such as food poisoning, bed bugs are small fry in this context and the health departments are cautious about commitment of resources.
But I see that this has changed and one would expect all health departments to accept the realityof bed bugs as a Health Hazard by the definition noted.
It is a matter of degree of risk . The impact of bed bugs is horrendous even if the degree of risk is quite different. I am glad that this is clearly changing in terms of some health officials noting the impact on people. I don’t think any would now deem it not a public health hazard.