Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite?
Something for the “I never thought I’d hear that!” category, lawsuits against New York City landlords are coming fast and furious for none other than bedbug infestations. For over 100 years (a 1908 case, Jacobs v. Morand stated that tenants must pay rent, regardless of vermin infestation), the bed bug law stated that the tenant was responsible for any infestation problems, but that all changed with a 2004 court case.
According to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, which keeps track of complaints about bed bugs and issues violations against property owners who fail to exterminate them, there were 8,830 bed bug complaints in fiscal year 2008, which ended June 30, up from 1,839 in 2005. This year, the department issued 2,757 bed bug violations, up from 366 in 2005.
In New York City, landlords are responsible for getting rid of bed bugs in infested buildings and units and they must pay for extermination.
This was not always the case, but a turning point was a 2004 case, Ludlow Properties, LLC, vs. Young, in which Judge Cyril Bedford sided with a tenant who refused to pay rent for six months because of a persistent bed bug problem.
"Although bedbug are classified as vermin, they are unlike the more common situation of vermin such as mice and roaches, which, although offensive, do not have the effect on one’s life as bedbugs do, feeding upon one’s blood in hoards nightly turning what is supposed to be bed rest or sleep into a hellish experience," Judge Bedford wrote.
Proof of infestation origins are hard to prove and being called into question, but the issues are real and being heard in New York City courts frequently.
