Bed bug infestations can easily spread through apartment buildings in New York City and New Jersey and elsewhere. The odious insects find ways to climb through the walls and invade neighboring units. Bed bug monitors are an excellent way to help stop the spread of these horrible insects.

A lot of people don’t have a skin reaction to bed bug bites so they are unaware of the infestation and this gives the bed bugs the opportunity to invade other units before the landlord realizes their is a problem and calls a pest control company to destroy the bed bugs. The landlords can end up paying a lot of money for treatments since he didn’t have knowledge of the initial infestation. Since one female can lay about 500 eggs the infestation can become quire large very rapidly.

Apartment owners in bed bug infested areas can make a bed bugs prevention plan a lot stronger by putting bed bug monitors in all the units. These monitors can help prevent landlords from paying for extensive bed bug treatments.

A bed bug infestation can be costly, due to the expense of temporarily moving out of the residence, bed bug pest control treatments, steam cleaning fabrics, replacing some items etc. Unfortunately, according to the Insurance Information Institute, homeowners insurance typically doesn’t cover any of the costs associated with bed bugs. The institute stated that the expense associated with eliminating bed bugs is like the expense of eliminating cockroaches or rats which are considered to be part of the maintenance connected to owning a home and is not covered by a homeowner policy.

In general, losses caused by creatures including rodents, birds, vermin and insects are not covered by standard policies. Also, a spokeswoman for the Insurance Information Institute stated “it would be really hard to calculate the possibility of a bed bug getting into someone’s luggage at an airport and infesting a house.”

One of the best things people in New Jersey and New York City and elsewhere can do is have a comprehensive bed bug prevention plan. Bed bug monitors can be a vital part of a quality plan.

Rats have been a problem for New York City for a long period of time.  Currently, rats outnumber the residents of the City as well.  To help bring the rat population down and experience a less toxic pest control system, the New York City Health Department launched the Rat Indexing Initiative in the Bronx in 2007.  This pilot program was the first of its kind where inspectors were sent block-by-block to look for signs of rats.  Using sophisticated mapping technology and computers, inspectors were able to easily document areas that were conducive to rat habitats and infestations.  In areas where rats were discovered or suspected, owners were notified from the agency to correct the conditions observed by the inspectors.  The property owners then have two weeks to address the issues before further actions are taken.

The Rat Indexing Initiative uses advanced Integrated Pest Management (IPM) principals and this new technology to accomplish their goals.  These groundbreaking efforts set a fantastic example for other metropolitan cities around the United States.  The new statistics show that the New York City Health Department’s work has not been in vain.  There has been a significant reduction in the rat population in the Bronx since the program began, and the Health Department’s Rat Indexing Initiative has become the first in the nation to achieve Green Shield Certification from the IPM Institute of North America, Inc.

Residents of New Jersey and New York City and elsewhere may be interested to know that in Columbus, Ohio a landlord asked all tenants to pay $100 for bed bug extermination services. If they don’t pay they will be in violation of their lease. One tenant refused to pay the money.

The lease states the tenant is responsible for any pest control service if the tenant wants such a service. However the notice from the landlord states this treatment is not optional. However, the Columbus City Code states that “The owner is responsible for elimination of any insects, rats, or other pests in a dwelling containing two (2) or more dwelling units.

The landlords in many areas in the country are responsible for bed bug  treatments. They didn’t bring the bed bugs in yet they have to pay all the costs. They may not think that’s fair and if so, perhaps they have a legitimate complaint. It’s a difficult issue.

Landlords should consider purchasing and placing bed bug monitors in apartment units.

Continuing from Thursday…

Mr. Kelly brought the bed bugs that he had discovered to the Budget Inn Motel manager, who in turn brought a plastic sheet to cover the mattress.  The manager flipped the mattress and saw the bed bugs moving around but did not seem to care that they were present.  The Kelly’s asked for a refund for the days that they had stayed at the motel, but were denied.  They threatened legal action, and the manager still did not care.

The Kelly’s have hired an attorney and are suing the motel for the entire incident.  The couple has some pretty horrible photographs to back up their claims, so it looks like a pretty easy case to win in court.

The entire situation could have been avoided had the motel hired a pest control specialist who knew how to eradicate the bed bugs!  All hotels and motels should have bed bug monitors in place to safeguard themselves against any possible infestations.  Bed bugs sniffing dogs are a particularly good resource for hotels and motels as well.  Dogs work extremely fast with amazing accuracy.  For hotel/motel guests that think that they have encountered bed bugs; you launder your clothing in hot soapy water, dry your clothing on the hottest possible setting, and contact a pest control specialist as soon as possible.