Bedbug Clause in Lease?
Has anyone heard of adding a bedbug clause into a rental lease? I’m going to be renting the top floor of my brownstone soon and since neither I nor my house has a history of bedbugs, I’m considering adding a clause that says if a tenant has a bedbug problem after moving in, they’d be…
Has anyone heard of adding a bedbug clause into a rental lease? I’m going to be renting the top floor of my brownstone soon and since neither I nor my house has a history of bedbugs, I’m considering adding a clause that says if a tenant has a bedbug problem after moving in, they’d be required to cover all necessary treatment for their unit and even mine if the problem went into the walls as its known to do. But I can’t tell if this is a good idea or if it would make me a jerky landlord adding to an already traumatic experience.
I have also thought about adding this to a rider. I own a 4 unit building and tenants have brought them in twice over the years. How do I know it was the tenants? Well how would they suddenly appear in one unit in a building? Plus as I talked with the tenants they realized it was in the first case, a used piece of furniture that they had recently bought and in the second, a hotel the tenant had recently been staying in (and a high end one at that). Both times the tenants paid for the exterminator. I don’t think it would be fair for the landlord to bear that cost especially if someone buys a used couch and it’s infested. However, if the tenants had not been willing to pay I would have done it and then considered that fact when the lease was up for renewal.
I have a 4 unit building and tenants have brought them in twice over the years. How do I know it was the tenants? Well how would they suddenly appear in one unit in a building? Plus as I talked with the tenants they realized it was in the first case, a used piece of furniture that they had recently bought and in the second, a hotel the tenant had recently been staying in (and a high end one at that). Both times the tenants paid for the exterminator. I don’t think it would be fair for the landlord to bear that cost especially if someone buys a used couch and it’s infested. However, if the tenants had not been willing to pay I would have done it and then considered that fact when the lease was up for renewal.
I hate to say this, but EACH of us, if we travel could bring back bedbugs. Moreover, many office buildings in Manhattan are now infested, so having to travel is less of an issue. As the poster on brownstoner who has eloquently spoken of remediation efforts made by him (her? sorry, forget the gender), it’s not simply been the landlord’s responsibility! And far more of the hassle factor has been on the back of the tenant who moved into the situation.
The bedbug problem is a growing menace in New York City.
I’ve known of cases where tenants have most likely brought in bedbugs but treated their LL’s as though they were slumlords once the tenants found out they had them, even before their LL’s had a chance to take care of the problem.
Is it “fair” in the grand scheme of things? However LLords are legally responsible for pests regardless of how they got there.
It’s just another risk you take when you become a landlord, along with noise, non payment, fires and floods.
Maybe you can pay for one of those dogs to sniff their belongings for bugs the day they move in but I’m not too sure that will go down well.
So, from Puppimus, 1 vote for you’d be a jerky landlord.
From my reading of the page I linked to above, OP as an owner of a 2 family house could do what he’s suggesting. For an owner of a building with 3 or more dwellings it might be unenforceable.
“..In The New York State Multiple Dwelling Law…
Vermin are specifically mentioned in Section 80 which states in part:
§ 80. Cleanliness. 1. The owner shall keep all and every part of a multiple dwelling, the lot on which it is situated, and the roofs, yards, courts, passages, areas or alleys appurtenant thereto, clean and free from vermin, dirt, filth, garbage or other thing or matter dangerous to life or health.
My reading of this is clear, in a building of three or more apartments, the landlord is responsible for the eradication of bed bug infestations. If the infestation is caused by the tenant’s negligence, however, then the tenant is also responsible.
…
What constitutes tenant negligence? I don’t know. But unfortunately it’s not hard to imagine plausible scenarios. An interesting question, given the language of the statute, is whether the landlord is still responsible for bed bug eradication despite any tenant liability for negligence.
The NYS Multiple Dwelling Law seems clear and straightforward enough.
The New York City Housing Maintenance Code
The New York City Housing Maintenance Code, contrary to popular belief, applies to all dwellings, see Article 1, Section 27-2003. Confusion may have arisen because Section 27-2005 provides that:
Sec. 27-2005 Duties of owner
a. The owner of a multiple dwelling shall keep the premises in good repair.
b. The owner of a multiple dwelling, in addition to the duty imposed upon such owner by subdivision a of this section, shall be responsible for compliance with the requirements of this code, except insofar as responsibility for compliance is imposed upon the tenant alone.
c. The owner of a one- or two-family dwelling shall keep the premises in good repair, and shall be responsible for compliance with the provisions of this code, except to the extent otherwise agreed between such owner and any tenant of such dwelling by lease or other contract in writing, or except insofar as responsibility for compliance with this code is imposed upon the tenant alone.
My reading of this is that in the case of a one- or two-family dwelling there may be a (written) lease that assigns certain repair and maintenance responsibilities to the tenant.”
Whether or not it’s legal, it seems pretty arrogant and illogical to me. So, your building has never had bedbugs. Who’s to say that if it got them in the future, it was your automatically the tenant, and not you or your family, who brought them in!
I’m no expert, but posters saying it’s illegal or unenforceable may be thinking that would be the case if you were renewing a lease for a rent stabilized tenant, but that’s not OP’s situation renting out I assume 1 floor of a 2 family home.
I’d be curious to know how multiple dwelling law views the question. A search on the google turned up something possibly useful…
http://newyorkvsbedbugs.org/2009/07/13/bed-bugs-and-the-law-in-new-york-city/
Just like with any other vermin situation (mice, roaches, etc.) the landlord is required to provide extermination services, regardless of the source of the problem.
This is an interesting idea….Just recently tenants have brought bed bugs into two of my properties. One paid for and arranged the treatment (voluntarily) and the other we paid for, though as we all know it’s a huge imposition for anyone who lives where the BB are being exterminated, in terms of the work he had to do.
I also can’t see how this clause, like any other in a rider, would not be enforceable. Why would it be less enforceable than a rider clause about separating recyclables or whatever?