Protecting California’s Renters Against Bed Bugs
The law from which the amendment stems from is aimed specifically at bed bugs.
This is due to the serious expenses associated with treating bed bugs. They’re one of the most difficult pests to contain according to professionals. If you’re on this site, you’re likely no stranger to this reality.
Their ability to spread is magnified in housing where people live near each other – such as in apartments.
Curious about the entire extent of protections you have as a tenant in California? Give the California Renter’s Bed Bug Protections post a read.
Changes to The Bed Bug Protection Law
You can skip to the bottom of this section for an infographic on the changes.
The amendment to Section 1942.5 has put into place a number of key protections for renters that were missing.
New Bed Bug Protections
- Landlords can no longer show, lease, or rent out units with active infestations.
- Landlords can no longer retaliate against tenants who report their bed bug problems.
- Landlords must keep records of bed bug infestations. Prospecting tenants may ask for full disclosure of a unit’s infestation history. Landlords must disclose the history in writing.
- Landlords must share the findings of pest control operators (PCO) within two business days of receiving them.
Landlords cannot raise the rent, reduce services, or otherwise retaliate against tenants who report bed bugs.
It’s startling that these protections weren’t already in place.
Landlords are not required to inspect units or common areas if they have not received notice of suspected or actual infestation. If an infestation is readily visible, the landlord is considered to have received notice.
The Amendment came into effect fas of July 1st, 2017.
Don’t Let Bed Bugs Get Ahead
All these protections have their value and will serve Californians well. In reality, a single amendment cannot solve the growing bed bug epidemic.
Bed bugs are maintaining their upward trend throughout the world. Big cities everywhere are hotbeds of infestations.
In August, Terminix published its annual bed bug report of the 50 most infested cities. Los Angeles ranked 6th of the list of the country’s most infested cities while San Francisco came in at 34th.
Meanwhile, pest control professionals at Orkin published their own list of the 50 most bed bug infested cities. They based it on the number of bed bug treatments they gave each city in 2019.
They ranked Los Angeles 4th, San Francisco 9th, and San Diego 41st.
The best way to protect yourself at home is by taking preventative steps before you have a problem. Your home is the only place you can completely control.
The best way to avoid serious infestations is by catching them early. Early infestations are many times easier and cheaper to get rid of. It’s a win-win for landlords and tenants alike.
Here are 4 things you can do to start prevent bed bugs now.
- Use encasements and bed bug interceptors
- Learn the 5 symptoms of bed bugs to watch out for
- Start communicating with neighbors about bed bug symptoms
- Be careful when bringing home used clothes and furniture
- Learn the most common causes of bed bugs and avoid them
For resources like the traveling checklist, try the free ebook. The ebook includes several practical printables and a lot of information in a convenient package.
Thanks For Reading!
It’s great that the State of California has made a choice to further protect tenants. Know your rights and be sure to do everything in writing.
Educating yourself and taking preventative measures is still the best way to protect yourself from bed bugs.
Related Pages
References
https://debedbug.com/references/
Georg Rogers
Next door house has bed bugs. The renters found out when they moved. I told the owner about the infestation. I just over heard him saying to our other neighbor that their carpet bugs. How can I get him to get it professionally done?
Matthew
See your lease for details regarding this. I recommend consulting a legal professional and reaching out to someone from your city’s housing department.
Pete
Does the bed bug Laws apply to Camps? Y
Matthew
This is rather specific; I am not sure to be completely honest. Please leave a comment if you do find out as it may help others!
Best,
Matthew
Janice Hauser
A friend of mine has a landlord who has said that there’s no bed bugs and if there were bed my friend would not be able to comply with the exterminator so he will increase the deposit from $500 to $1500
Matthew
Hi Janice,
Thanks for your comment. I would recommend a passive trap to begin with. Being able to bring a whole specimen will make your friend’s case irrefutable.
Matthew
Debra
What do you do when your apartment manager will not validate or confirm the bed bugs, but you have been served notice, your unit has been inspected and they tell you via email that you are cleared from “bed bugs”, but they just “couldn’t tell you yet”?
When the following day arrives, there is a Remediation truck outside, a large black hose running up our patio to our neighbors directly above us, and the unit is being treated for many hours… What do you do? How susceptible are we? We moved in in November 2017 and she was there before us. I know how fast the infestation can happen. There as fast breeding as cockroaches almost. So now what are our remedies when we’re looking to even buy new mattresses and do not want them to be plagued with bed bugs? I’m pending my bilateral knee surgery, and these are really expensive hospital type beds. I have no idea what’s happened today but it’s a very unnerving
Matthew
Hi Debra,
Sorry to hear about the surprise trucks appearing. Given that the neighbor is directly above you, I would say that you are quite susceptible.
If I was in your situation, I would install bed post interceptors and encasements to all the beds in the unit as well as interceptors on the legs of any other furniture you may own for easy monitoring.
I would recommend first consulting the terms on your lease. Should that not have the answer, the next step would be consulting a legal professional and reaching out to someone from your city’s housing department.