Are Bed Bugs The New Scourge For Landlords?

This New York Times article is quite possibly the best run-down on bedbugs I’ve seen to date. It dashes the myth that they’re only associated with filth and poor hygiene. It outlines the recent spike in reported infestations. It’s got Landlords a bit ruffled with all the talk of responsibility for eradicating infestations falling squarely on property owners’ shoulders.

The cost for remediation is prohibitive. Up into the thousands of dollars for a professional touch. And there are no guarantees that the little buggers won’t simply return. If a property does NOT have bedbugs one day, and then is infested the next, well, those bugs came from somewhere. Did the tenant bring them in? More than likely. Will they bring them in again? Difficult to say.

It’s especially difficult because of the stigma associated with bedbugs. Similar to the shadow cast over lice, it is assumed that bedbugs are the result of poor hygiene. This is a widely held fallacy, both for bedbugs and lice. But no tenant will want to take responsibility for bringing them into their own home, to save their pride if nothing else.

But some Property Managers aren’t taking the blame-game with a level head, as is seen here in a NY housing project where the tenant got evicted after she ceased making rent payments due to a child-horrifying bedbug infestation.

I’m not so sure it should be the responsibility of the Landlord. Not that they don’t have a responsibility to provide a clean and safe environment for Tenants, but certain infestations are NOT the result of poor property management. Most rodent infestations, or insect infestations (tree roaches, palmetto bugs, wasps, bees, ants, there are several potential examples) that result from poorly sealed properties, are understandably the responsibility of a Landlord. But what about infestations which obviously have no source in the quality of ownership? Kitchen roaches? Mosquitoes? Fleas? These are either brought in, allowed in, or openly attracted by the Tenants themselves.

Most pest control treatments are handled by the Landlord as a service, or as routine maintenance to ensure quality residences for rent. They aren’t wholly obligatory, most aren’t terribly expensive, and they rarely involve direct cleaning for the personal belongings of the Tenant.

So really, should Landlords take the financial beating brought about by remediation of bedbugs that were obviously brought in by Tenants? As is happening in NYC (based on the Times article mentioned above), where courts are finding in favor of Tenants, forcing Landlords to handle all remediation? I’m having trouble making that connection.