New California law aims to stop spread of bedbugs – San Francisco … – San Francisco Chronicle
Click Free Pest Control Quote
to fill in a form to obtain a free pest control quote today.
A new state law designed to battle bedbugs requires California landlords to provide tenants with written information about these blood-sucking, tenacious pests and how to report suspected infestations to the landlord.
The disclosure requirement took effect for new tenants July 1 and will apply to existing tenants Jan. 1.
The law also prevents landlords from showing or renting a vacant unit with an active infestation, and from retaliating against tenants who report bedbug problems. It does not require them to inspect rental units for bedbugs if they have not seen them or received a tenant complaint. But it does require them to notify tenants within two days of a pest inspectors findings. It also requires tenants to cooperate with the detection and treatment of bedbugs.
The law does not say what landlords must do when tenants complain. In California, however, residential leases have an implied warranty of habitability that requires landlords to maintain rental units in a condition fit for humans. That includes keeping it free of rodents and vermin, said Whitney Prout, a staff attorney with the California Apartment Association, which represents landlords.
Why bedbugs have their own law is that they are a harder pest to treat, Prout said. It requires early detection and integrated pest management between the landlord and tenant, because of how pervasively they can take over.
Bedbugs feed on blood, mostly human and usually at night. Adults are the size, shape and color of an apple seed. Eggs are the size, shape and color of a sesame seed, said Tami Stuparich, a vice president with California American Exterminator Co.
A baby bug, called a nymph, looks like an adult, but is pinhead-size and lighter in color. They turn reddish and elongated after a meal. Nymphs shed their exoskeleton five times before they become a breeding adult.
Unlike lice, bedbugs dont stay on people; they eat and run. Nor do they jump like fleas or fly. They can crawl or be carried from place to place on objects or people. Bringing in furniture from the street is a good way to get them. Because they are flat, they can hide and travel in cracks and crevices. (See article on one couples bedbug saga in San Francisco.)
They can move easily from unit to unit, and unless all affected units are treated together, theyll come back. Most places require more than one treatment.
Telltale signs include small red or brown fecal spots, molted skins, white, sticky eggs or empty eggshells. They are often found on mattresses, box springs, headboards, nightstands, linens, upholstery, walls and carpet edges.
Bedbugs do not carry disease, but some victims develop itchy red welts that could be mistaken for mosquito or flea bites. Others have no reaction, which makes them even harder to detect until theyre rampant.
Jennifer Brass found bedbugs in her San Francisco apartment in 2010. Their bites were extremely itchy and they lasted for a very long time in a very intensive way, she said. I still consider it one of the worst experiences of my life, more uncomfortable than childbirth without medication, said Brass, now a professor at Indiana State University.
Bedbugs were common in the United States before World War II, but essentially vanished in the 1940s and 1950s, thanks to DDT and other potent, long-lasting pesticides that could be bought over the counter, said University of Kentucky entomologist Michael Potter.
They persisted elsewhere in the world, and decades after those pesticides were banned, made a comeback here. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, they started appearing in big-city hotels, stowing away in the clothes and luggage of international travelers. They soon spread to homes, offices, schools, libraries, anywhere they can find a meal.
They dont care about filth, like a cockroach. They feed on us, Stuparich said. Equal opportunity diners, they show up in single-room occupancy hotels and posh apartments.
Los Angeles ranked fourth and San Francisco ranked 10th on a list of U.S. cities where Orkin, a pest control company, performed the most bedbug treatments last year.
San Francisco has had a bedbug ordinance since 2012 that, in some ways, goes beyond what the state law requires.
If a prospective tenant asks about bedbugs, the landlord must disclose in writing the unit's bedbug infestation and abatement history, or lack thereof, for the previous two years.
Within two days of getting a bedbug complaint, the property owner or manager must hire a licensed pest control operator to investigate that unit and the ones above, below, next door and across the hall.
Its one of the few pests where we dont want any kind of do-it-yourselfer dealing with it, said Larry Kessler, principal health inspector with the citys Department of Public Health.
The San Francisco ordinance requires landlords to make available to tenants information on the signs and symptoms of bedbugs. Under the new state law, they will have to provide it. Many landlords have voluntarily included in lease agreements a bedbug addendum put out by the San Francisco Apartment Association. The California association has published a similar addendum for member use that complies with state law.
There are various ways to kill bedbugs. The lowest level is treating the affected areas with steam or pesticides, said Darren Van Steenwyk, technical director with Clark Pest Control. Another option is heating an entire room, apartment or house up to lethal temperature. Extreme cases might require tenting the building and fumigating.
The cost of each treatment depends on the labor involved but can range from hundreds to many thousands of dollars, Van Steenwyk said.
William Meyer, whose company WM Properties manages apartments in San Francisco, had to treat about 10 units in two buildings, one on Nob Hill, a couple of years ago. The cost was about $1,000 per unit. Some required up to six visits over six months.
Tenants are often required to vacuum thoroughly; put their clothes, linens and stuffed animals in the washer or dryer on the highest heat possible and store other belongings in airtight containers for extended periods.
State law requires landlords to repair, at their expense, damage or problems that compromise habitability, unless they can prove that it was the tenants fault.
We find that landlords claim they are not responsible, for bedbugs, said Deepa Varma, executive director of the San Francisco Tenants Union. In multifamily dwellings, its almost impossible to prove it was the tenants who brought in the bedbugs. Because of that, generally speaking, landlords are not able to pass those costs on to tenants if tenants know their rights and fight back.
Tenants in San Francisco who think their landlords are not cooperating should contact the health department. We will make sure the landlord does what is necessary, Kessler said.
Since 2012, the department has received 1,079 complaints about bedbugs in apartments and 1,104 about hotels, including single-room occupancy hotels.
Prout, of the California Apartment Association, said that if a bedbug issue comes up and there is a dispute as to whose fault it was, our recommendation (to landlords) is to treat first and deal with the issue of who is responsible later.
The question of who is at fault is one reason neither the state nor city bedbug laws will stop the spread of bedbugs, Potter said.
The holy grail of bedbug management is proactive inspection, he said. If you rely on tenants, you can have have ticking time bombs. People dont want to report them; theyre afraid of reprisal or having to pay for eradication.
New York City requires landlords to pay for bedbug extermination, Potter said, but no city or state requires them to do periodic inspections. If you are going on a complaint-based way of dealing with bedbugs, thats how we get into these horrific problems, Potter said. Some tenant has the mother lode, never reports them, and they disperse throughout the building.
Kathleen Pender is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: kpender@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kathpender
See more here:
New California law aims to stop spread of bedbugs - San Francisco ... - San Francisco Chronicle
- Bed bugs in NYC: 500+ buildings reported pests so far this year; which borough has the most? - SILive.com - April 19th, 2024
- Claims of bed bugs, putrid odors at Rotterdam Super 8 where asylum seekers are staying - WRGB - March 25th, 2024
- One in Seven U.S. Travelers Have Encountered Mattresses Infested With Bed Bugs in the Past Year - PCT Online - March 17th, 2024
- Why have bed bugs become so difficult to control? We can only blame ourselves - Salon - March 17th, 2024
- Bed Bug Sighting Prompts MSNBC to Clear Entire NYC Studio Floor Ahead of Super Tuesday Coverage - Mediaite - March 9th, 2024
- Does my landlord have to disclose bedbug infestations in a building's common areas? - Brick Underground - March 1st, 2024
- TikTok Confronts New Threat: Bed Bugs The Information - The Information - March 1st, 2024
- Getting Rid of Bed Bugs: Trickier Than Ever - The Good Men Project - March 1st, 2024
- NORTH DAKOTA AND MONTANA TOWNS CRAWLING WITH BED BUGS - SuperTalk 1270 - February 22nd, 2024
- Tennessee Is Home To Two Of The Most Bed Bug Infested Cities - 97X - February 10th, 2024
- Chicago Listed as Americas Worst Bed Bug City - CMM - February 10th, 2024
- The 20 Worst Cities for Bedbugs in the U.S., New Data Shows - Best Life - February 10th, 2024
- Bed bugs are increasing. Where does your city rank? - ConsumerAffairs - February 2nd, 2024
- Oh No You Have Bed Bugs? As a Tenant You Have Rights in Or and Wa - newstalkkit.com - February 2nd, 2024
- Upstate NY city ranked as one of the worst bed bug cities in America - newyorkupstate.com - February 2nd, 2024
- Bed bugs are crawling all over three Michigan cities more so than most - MLive.com - February 2nd, 2024
- America's most bed bug infested cities may surprise you - Fox Weather - February 2nd, 2024
- Here's the one thing you should do immediately when you enter a hotel room - New York Post - February 2nd, 2024
- Gross! Upstate NY City Included in List of 2024's 'Worst Bed Bug Cities' in U.S. - WTMM 104.5 The Team - ESPN Radio - February 2nd, 2024
- Top 50 U.S. bed bug cities: Is NYC high on the list again this year? - SILive.com - February 2nd, 2024
- NYC nears top of the list for worst bed bug cities but once city was worse (again) - NBC New York - February 2nd, 2024
- Bed bugs in Milwaukee among worst in the nation, Orkin study finds - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - February 1st, 2024
- Champaign Emerges as a Top 10 City for Bed Bug Infestations - Mahomet Daily - February 1st, 2024
- Chicago Retains Top Spot on Orkin's List of Top 50 Bed Bug Cities - PCT Online - February 1st, 2024
- Minneapolis makes Top 50 ranking... of worst cities for bed bugs - Bring Me The News - February 1st, 2024
- Oklahoma City named one of America's 50 top cities for bed bugs. How to get rid of them - Oklahoman.com - February 1st, 2024
- Walt Disney World's Hometown Ranks as One of the 50 Worst Cities for Bed Bugs - Disney Dining - February 1st, 2024
- Popular Colorado City Ranked Among The Worst Cities For Bed Bugs - iHeartRadio - February 1st, 2024
- These Major US Cities Are Dealing With Bed Bug Infestation (Again) - Billings Gazette - February 1st, 2024
- 3 Popular Florida Cities Ranked Among The Worst Cities For Bed Bugs - iHeartRadio - February 1st, 2024
- These Major US Cities Are Dealing With Bed Bug Infestation (Again) - Omaha World-Herald - February 1st, 2024
- 50 Worst Bed Bug Cities from 2023 Revealed - CleanLink - February 1st, 2024
- Popular Washington City Ranked Among The Worst Cities For Bed Bugs | 102.5 KZOK - iHeart - February 1st, 2024
- This Is The Very First Thing You Should Do When You Walk Into A Hotel Room - HuffPost UK - February 1st, 2024
- 3 North Carolina Cities Among The 'Worst Cities For Bed Bugs' In The U.S. | News Radio 570 WWNC - iHeart - February 1st, 2024
- Nevada City Lands On List Of Cities With The Most Bed Bugs In The U.S. - iHeartRadio - February 1st, 2024
- The 10 Cities With The Worst Bed Bugs Problem - Rock 92.9 - February 1st, 2024
- Here's where Cbus + two other Ohio cities ranked among the top 15 most bed-bug infested cities - 614NOW - February 1st, 2024
- South Carolina City Named Among The 'Worst Cities For Bed Bugs' In The U.S. | WVOC - iHeart - February 1st, 2024
- Nevada City Lands On List Of Cities With The Most Bed Bugs In The U.S. | Sunny 106.5 - iHeart - February 1st, 2024
- Tampa Has the Biggest Bed Bugs Problem in Florida - Tampa Bay's Q105 - February 1st, 2024
- Orkin: Bed bugs are a problem in Indianapolis; How to get rid of them - IndyStar - January 24th, 2024
- The worst US cities for bedbugs include popular locations, Orkin says - USA TODAY - January 24th, 2024
- Top 15 New York Cities Most Concerned With Bed Bugs - WIBX AM 950 - January 24th, 2024
- Pittsburgh Bed Bug Problems: See Where Orkin Ranks City - Patch - January 24th, 2024
- Las Vegas Makes A Very Bad List For The First Time: Bed Bugs - 96.3 KKLZ - January 24th, 2024
- What U.S. City Is #1 For Bed Bugs & Where Does Minneapolis Rank - K102 - January 24th, 2024
- This Is The Very First Thing You Should Do When You Walk Into A Hotel Room - HuffPost - January 24th, 2024
- Orkin: Denver among cities with the most bedbugs - FOX 31 Denver - January 24th, 2024
- Chicago Joins Paris in Global Bed Bug Spotlight, Ranking As the Worst City on Orkin's U.S. Bed Bug Cities List - PR Newswire - January 24th, 2024
- Is your city on the list of US cities with the worst bedbug problems? - Scripps News - January 24th, 2024
- Denver ranked among top cities for bed bug infestations - The Denver Gazette - January 24th, 2024
- Chicago named worst bed bug city in the US, Orkin says - WGN TV Chicago - January 24th, 2024
- These dirty cities have the worst bed bug infestations see where NYC ranks on the list of shame - New York Post - January 24th, 2024
- NYC is the 2nd worst city in the US for bed bugs, Orkin says - PIX11 New York News - January 24th, 2024
- 'Generational Spectacle' In The Sky Coming Soon To New York State - Hudson Valley Post - January 16th, 2024
- Year In Review #1: New York Is Crawling With Bed Bugs, 2 Cities Among Most Infested - Hudson Valley Post - January 5th, 2024
- How Many Of The 40 New Hallmark Movies Are Based In Minnesota? - Minnesota's New Country - December 25th, 2023
- Chicago Tops Bed Bugs Cities List for Third Consecutive Year - CMM - December 17th, 2023
- Colorado Travel Warning: Beware of Bed Bugs in These 50 Cities - K99 - December 17th, 2023
- Bed bugs and tax hikes: The issues that will affect travellers in 2024 - WAtoday - December 17th, 2023
- Bedbugs - HPD - New York City - December 23rd, 2022
- Bedbugs: Information for Tenants and Building Owners - NYC Health - November 27th, 2022
- The Bed Bugs Were the Last Straw for Us: Starbucks Workers at the NYC ... - November 27th, 2022
- Bedbugs - NYC Health - New York City - November 11th, 2022
- Top 10 Worst States For Bed Bugs | Bed Bug Map Infographic [2021] - October 26th, 2022
- Top Ten Tips For Getting Rid of Bed Bugs Permanently - September 23rd, 2022
- How Bed Bugs Spread, and How to Prevent It - Healthline - September 14th, 2022
- How to Use Diatomaceous Earth to Kill Bed Bugs - MMPC - August 21st, 2022
- How you get bed bugs? How they infest your home and what you can do. - USA TODAY - August 13th, 2022
- Bedbugs: Information for Tenants and Building Owners - July 8th, 2022
- Worst cities for bed bugs: Heres where New York City ranks - SILive.com - January 27th, 2022
- Chicago Takes Another Top Spot for Pests, This Time Ranking #1 on Orkin's Bed Bug Cities List - KPVI News 6 - January 13th, 2022
- How Fast Do Bed Bugs Spread | Terminix - December 29th, 2021
- EcoRaider Natural Insect Spray |Bed Bugs| Mosquitoes| Ants ... - December 29th, 2021
- Mount Sinai contends with bedbug outbreak in rehab area - New York Post - October 23rd, 2021
- Slog PM: The Seattle Times Backs Sarah Perry, Bed-Bug Submarine Hits Object but Who Knows Why, and Where Is That Record Shop Opening? -... - October 13th, 2021
- Poop, blood, bedbugs and needles: Report reveals how filthy NYC subway is - indy100 - June 21st, 2021
- Even Bed Bugs Fled NYC In The Past Year - Patch.com - June 5th, 2021
- This City Has the Worst Bed Bug Infestation in America - AOL - February 13th, 2021
Click Free Exterminator Quote
to fill in a form to obtain a free exterminator quote today.