Bedbugs... Who is Liable? Tenant? Landlord?
Hey- I live in a brownstone in North Park Slope. The unit includes 5 residential rentals in 1 building. We occupy the top floor. About two weeks ago, the landlord had to evict the tenant below our bedroom. Ever since, we have noticed being bitten at night. We found our first bedbug in our sheets…
Hey-
I live in a brownstone in North Park Slope. The unit includes 5 residential rentals in 1 building. We occupy the top floor.
About two weeks ago, the landlord had to evict the tenant below our bedroom. Ever since, we have noticed being bitten at night. We found our first bedbug in our sheets last night.
In NYC Landlord-Tenant law, who is responsible for the extermination costs? I am renting, and the owner occupies the bottom two floors of my building. I do not know if any other occupants have had bedbug issues, or if it is just my apartment.
We are due to renegotiate the least tomorrow, so I would like as much information as possible on who is possibly responsible.
That might determine whether we have to find another place (we already paid a pet deposit = 1 month’s rent when we moved in to cover damages, etc.).
Also, if there is law on the subject specific to NYC, are those laws capable of being overridden by a clause in a lease (I know some laws cannot be modified, even upon consent of the parties)?
Any input would be appreciated!
John,
You wrote:
I am going to try and see if I can use it as leverage to keep the rent the same with the broker/agent tomorrow (he is a licensed real estate broker and manages tons of properties… its pretty much all he does). If not, its not worth moving over.
How dumb can you be to publicize your negotiating strategy and fallback position on a popular real estate blog??
Also, FYI Brooklyn is not a city – at least not since 1898. It is a county and part of New York City. Welcome to New York.
I would not hire you as my accountant, I’m sorry to say.
Good luck with your bugs anyway.
Landlord is definitely responsible to exterminate. but exterminating to get rid of bedbugs is a shared responsibility between LL, tenant and the other tenants in the building. the best way to get rid of bb’s in our experience (i am a building manager) is as follows:
*exterminator checks apartment for presence and extent of problem and comes up with a plan. (LL Pays)
*tenant takes care of apartment — dry clean or lauder clothes at a HOT temperature etc. A good exterminator will provide a list of other things to do as well (tenant pays but can negotiate shared costs if LL is good and wants to set that precedent).
* LL requests an inspection of apartments above, below and to the sides of the infected apartment
we had bedbugs. exterminator was useless.
The answer is eucalyptus oil. they sell it at natural foods type stores, but its much cheaper online. youre going to need gallons of the stuff. We used it for months until they went away. So long as we put it out before we went to bed, the bedbugs didnt bite us. However, our apt became renamed the cough drop house. you will smell like a cough drop–its unavoidable.
Also when you travel don’t put anything on the floor or the bed, lift up the mattress and box spring and look for poops (they look like poppy seeds), pull the bed away from the wall, and keep your stuff on either a metal luggage rack or in the bathroom.
And John it sounds like your landlady is being responsive so that is great. BBs can strike anywhere so it’s possible you are better off with a LL who wants to deal with it versus moving to a new place and possibly facing these again. Good luck!
Quote:
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John
quote:
Also… If anyone needs any accounting work (taxes, audits, financial statements, etc.), hit me up!
dave from here did my taxes this year but he said he wont do them anymore because i didnt appreciate it hahahah. so you can do mine next year! thanks! 🙂
*rob*
the mattress pad, one specifically designed for bedbugs, will keep the ones already in there, in there unable to escape and die. kinda gross knowing they are in there tho, but better than biting you, and keep others from burrowing in your mattress. it wont keep them from getting to you tho from other places. ive seen some tips where someone used a mattress cover, and put the mattress on a bedframe that has 4 skinny legs. they put each leg in a bowl of water. the bedbugs cant swim. so they cant get to you as long as your bed isnt touching anything other than the water. i cant imagine living this way, but it’s a way for people with a serious infestation for people who keep getting bit and either cant afford the exterminator or have crummy landlords.
also if you ever throw out furniture on the street and you are throwing it out because of bed bugs PLEASE either wrap it in plastic, or spray paint BED BUGS on it so people dont take it off the street, there are many people who do take stuff off the street. ive done it before, and lucked out. i dont take anything with fabric these days but do take plastic and metal and make sure to decontaminate outside.
*rob*
Update: Spoke with landlord directly after work (she was coincidentally going out to her car). She straight up told me that the prior tenants brought some bed bugs with them (she had the apartment exterminated after they moved out after their lease expired… standard extermination visit, and they found a few bed bugs). They treated the place, re-caulked all the baseboard/plumbing cracks, and repainted everything (they were quite messy, apparently). It stayed bug free for a year (until we found them).
She SAID she is footing the bill for the bed bugs (she really is a great landlady). I am going to ask for a rider on the lease for the bed bugs, regarding prompt treatment and payment for everything.
I am going to try and see if I can use it as leverage to keep the rent the same with the broker/agent tomorrow (he is a licensed real estate broker and manages tons of properties… its pretty much all he does). If not, its not worth moving over.
Thanks for the input everyone! If the problems persist, I will probably revisit this thread.
Also… If anyone needs any accounting work (taxes, audits, financial statements, etc.), hit me up!
John, just wash your stuff on super hot water and high dryer but throw out the bag that it’s been in and any other bags your linens have been in. Don’t carry the old bag through the house to the trash but wrap it up where you find it and seal it tightly in another trash bag.
As far as I understand if you have BB’s in your mattress the cover can contain them, which you might want to do until you get a detective dog in there, which I hope you do ASAP.