Bedbugs - HPD

Housing Preservation & Development


Housing Quality / Safety

Bed Bugs


Bedbugs

Bed bugs are small insects that feed mainly on human blood. Bed bug infestations are increasingly common in New York City. Bed bugs can enter homes by latching onto used furniture, luggage and clothing, and by traveling along connecting pipes and wiring. Left untreated, bed bugs can spread quickly.

Preventing and Getting Rid of Bed Bug Infestations

Property owners are required to address bed bug infestations promptly. The surest strategies to keep bed bugs from spreading are prevention, early detection, and rapid treatment. To learn more, see the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) Preventing and Getting Rid of Bedbugs Safely guide.

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Tenant Responsibilities

Tenants should report the presence of bed bugs to the property owner. If the property owner does not address the condition, file a complaint online or call 311.

When calling 311 to make a bed bug complaint, the caller may be asked by the 311 operator about whether it would be acceptable for HPD to bring a dog trained to sniff out bed bugs to participate in an inspection (note that even if requested, the dog may not accompany an Inspector). Whether or not a dog is present during an inspection, an HPD Inspector will conduct a visual inspection. Violations will be issued if the Inspector is able to visually confirm the presence of live bed bugs.

Listen to this podcast to learn more about bed bug-sniffing dogs and when HPD brings them into homes to investigate a possible bed bug infestation in this podcast.

Property Owner Requirements

The Housing Maintenance Code and Health Code both require that property owners address infestations promptly.

The surest strategies to keep bed bugs from spreading are prevention, early detection, and rapid treatment. To learn more, see the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) Preventing and Getting Rid of Bedbugs Safely guide.

Bed bug infestations usually require the services of well-trained, licensed pest management professionals, also called exterminators. New York State law requires that property owners hire only pest control professionals licensed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to treat apartments for bed bugs. The pest control professional should perform an inspection to confirm the presence of bed bugs and to eliminate bed bugs, if necessary. Property owners are expected to make follow-up visits to ensure that there are no signs of a bed bug infestation.

Property owners of rental residential properties are now required to file a Bed Bug Annual Report. See the Bed Bug Annual Report Requirement section of this webpage for the additional requirements. Once the Bed Bug Annual Report has been filed, the property owner is required to either provide the filing receipt to each tenant (upon commencement of a new lease and with each lease renewal) OR post the filing receipt in a prominent location in the building. In addition, the property owner must either distribute to each tenant or post the DOHMH Preventing and Getting Rid of Bedbugs Safely guide, which provides information on the prevention, detection, and removal of bedbugs.

Bed Bug Annual Report Requirement

Local Law 69 of 2017 requires that all multiple dwelling property owners must attempt to obtain the bed bug infestation history from the tenant or unit owner, including whether eradication measures were employed for a bedbug infestation.

Complete your Annual Bed Bug Report. Pursuant to the law, HPD will make the submitted information publicly available through HPDONLINE. This filing is FREE and requires only five pieces of information which you must provide. Please be aware that some companies are reaching out to property owners attempting to obtain significant fees for the filing of this report. This report is required to be filed by the property owner or agent and has no cost associated with the filing.

The online application will only allow validly registered property owners and managing agents of multiple dwellings to disclose bedbug infestation history. A building’s property registration must be current. If you have not registered your property, please do so by visiting Property Registration.

Based on public feedback, HPD made a paper form available for property owners who are not able to file electronically due to lack of email or access to a computer. HPD is adopting rules that will clarify that only non-corporate owners, who generally own smaller buildings and may have less available resources for electronic submission, may submit paper reports, as well as clarifying that submission of paper bedbug reports by corporate owners will be rejected and the submission will be deemed noncompliant. Corporate owners, including corporations, LLCs, condominium corporations, cooperatives, and other corporate ownership types must use the electronic form as stated in section 27-2018.2

This adopted rule will make it easier for smaller property owners to file the required bedbug reports while ensuring that corporate property owners continue to meet the electronic filing requirements.

Property owners will be required to file annually between December 1 and December 31 for the previous year from November 1 through October 31.

Property owners will be required to report the following information:

The number of dwelling units;

The number of dwelling units, as reported or otherwise known to the owner, than had a bedbug infestation during the previous year;

The number of dwelling units, as reported or otherwise known to the owner, in which eradication measure were employed during the previous year for a bedbug infestation;

The number of dwelling units reported in number 3 that had a bedbug infestation after such eradication measure were employed in such units.

When submitting, the owner will certify that either:

A copy of the most electronic form will be distributed to each tenant of the building upon each lease renewal or the commencement of a new lease issued; or

A copy of such form will be posted in a prominent location within the building within 60 days of the filing and that the owner will maintain a record that a copy of such form was prominently posted within 60 days of the filing of the information with HPD.

Once the Bed Bug Annual Report has been filed, the property owner is required to either provide the filing receipt to each tenant (upon commencement of a new lease and with each lease renewal) OR post the filing receipt in a prominent location in the building. In addition, the property owner must either distribute to each tenant or post the DOHMH's Stop Bed Bugs Safely guide, which provides information on the prevention, detection, and removal of bedbugs.

Only property owners who file as individual owners or joint owners can file a report using the Bed Bug Annual Filing Form instead of using the portal above. Please follow all instructions carefully. The Form is also available in the following languages:

Arabic / العربية

Bengali / বাংলা

Chinese (Simplified) / 简化字

French / français

Haitian-Creole / Kreyòl ayisyen

Korean / 한국어

Polish / polski

Russian / Русский язык

Spanish / Español

Urdu / اردو

Please note that New York State law requires property owners to disclose bedbug infestation history dating back one year to new tenants through the Bedbug Disclosure Form. For more information, visit the NYS Homes and Community Renewal website.

Questions?
See the Bedbugs Annual Report FAQs.

Complaints

Tenants should report the presence of bed bugs to the property owner. If the property owner does not address the condition, file a complaint online or call 311.

Violations

If the HPD inspector finds bedbugs, the property owner is issued an HPD Notice of Violation (NOV) ordering that the condition be addressed. When a NOV is issued by HPD, the property owner also receives a DOHMH Order of the Commissioner. The Commissioner’s order provides property owners more detail on the requirements for addressing bedbugs, including:

Inspect the apartment(s) cited for bedbugs.

If you find a bedbug infestation in the apartment(s), inspect all units adjacent to, above and below the infested units, as well as all common areas; and retain the services of a pest management professional certified and registered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to take all measures necessary to remove bedbug infestation where found.

Keep a record of all actions taken in compliance with the Order.

Certification

Certification of HPD's NOV is the only required notification back to the City that the condition has been corrected as instructed. There is no response directly to the DOHMH. The HPD Certification of Correction requires a sworn statement that the above corrective actions have been taken, in compliance with the DOHMH Commissioner’s Order.
For information about completing your certification documents for HPD, you can contact your Borough Service Center or certify online using eCertification.

Additional Resources

The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) Bed Bug webpage

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Bed Bugs: Get Them Out and Keep Them Out