In recent years, the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) has seen a steady increase in bed bug complaints and violations. The increase is attributed to several factors, including an increase in international travel, the use of reconditioned furniture and the elimination of harmful, but effective, chemicals like DDT in the extermination process.
An owner is not required to remove bed bugs from an individual apartment unless HPD issues a violation, but it is advisable to respond to bed bug complaints as quickly as possible. For a violation to be written, an HPD inspector must actually see bed bugs in the apartment. If a tenant “captures” the bed bugs in a container for the inspector to examine, a violation will not be issued. Once a Class B violation is issued, an owner has 30 days to take corrective action through extermination and to have the violation removed by returning a violation certification to HPD. Bed bugs in one apartment can easily spread to adjacent apartments, adding to the total cost of extermination. In one case, an owner reported that an infested mattress left in the hallway by a tenant resulted in all the apartments on that floor becoming infested by bed bugs.
The extermination company that a landlord uses should offer to service the apartment a minimum of three times. (Extermination costs vary widely, from $350 - $1000 per apartment.) This should eliminate any eggs that may exist within the interior of the apartment. Additional instructions should be provided by the extermination company for the tenant to comply with during the extermination process such as cleaning all clothing and the removal of certain items from the apartment. In a residential apartment setting, the renter must provide the owner access to exterminate and access for subsequent inspections to confirm that the bed bug condition has been eradicated. If the tenant does not comply with the further instructions provided by the exterminator, the owner is not required to provide further extermination services unless there is a subsequent HPD violation issued.
In a recent New York State Supreme Court case, Grogan v. Gamber Corp., the court considered the question of who was liable for the injuries caused by bed bug infestation in the Milford Plaza Hotel; the owner of the hotel or the exterminator. Guests of the Milford sought monetary damages arising from the injuries they allegedly sustained as a result of bed bug bites they received while staying in the hotel.
On a motion for summary judgment, Milford and the exterminator each argued that they had a complete defense to the plaintiff’s claims against them. The hotel without conceding any liability, admitted that it had a duty to provide its guests with reasonably safe rooms. However, the hotel argued that it deferred to the expertise of the exterminator on how to handle the bed bugs that were found. The exterminator argued that it fulfilled its duty to Milford under its service contract.
The court held that Milford had to prove that it did not breach its duty of care to the hotel guests and that it is for a jury to decide whether the exterminator assumed a duty of care to the hotel guests. The court dismissed the plaintiffs’ claim for punitive damages because they failed to establish that the conduct of the hotel and/or the exterminator rose to the level of being reckless or a conscious disregard for the rights of others.
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