New Jersey’s laws designed to spread bed bugs in rental …

Click Free Pest Control Quote
to fill in a form to obtain a free pest control quote today.

Many local laws make it easier for bed bugs to spread, and New Jerseys laws are among them.

As noted on our FAQ about who pays for treatment, the New Jersey Warranty of Habitability says landlords have to keep rental apartments pest-free.

However, things can be a bit more complicated than that.

Although the law says NJ landlords have to pay to eliminate bed bugs from rental units, they dont say landlords cant then turn around and charge tenants to cover the costs.

This Journal article details an example of this in action: seniors living in low-income housing, the 240-unit Grandview Terrace in Jersey City, are suffering badly from bed bugs, and have been for three years. Fifty units are now known to have them:

The state holds landlords responsible for extermination in multi-unit buildings of three or more apartments if the bugs are found in two or more units or in common areas. But the state doesnt take a stance as to whether landlord can then turn around and charge the tenants, said Jennifer Monaghan of the state Department of Community Affairs.

One-and two-family buildings are regulated by a different set of laws that can be superseded by municipal law, but in general the rules are the same: the owner is responsible, but has the right to include a provision in the lease charging the costs back to the tenants.

But despite the law most Jersey City landlords are shouldering the costs, said Charles Odei, director for Jersey Citys Division of Tenant Landlord Relations. With all the other cases (but Grandview Terrace) weve been successful in getting the landlord to pay so far, he said.

The 284-unit Grandview Terrace has had nearly 50 cases of bedbugs in the past three years, said Steve Lesko, president of Norman Ostrow Inc., which manages the building. He said the buildings tenant board voted in 2006 to charge tenants individually.

Why should people who dont have a problem pay for people who do? he said, adding that the policy tends to prevent false alarms.

Originally posted here:
New Jersey's laws designed to spread bed bugs in rental ...

Click Free Exterminator Quote
to fill in a form to obtain a free exterminator quote today.