Bed bug liability in rental housing
Bed bug laws in New York
Who pays for treatment?
Bed bug statute
New York does have a statewide bed bug statute, contrary to what most guides say — the 2010 Bedbug Disclosure Act requires landlords to disclose the past year's infestation history for both the unit and the building before a lease is signed. On top of that, New York City is the strictest jurisdiction in the country. The real leverage for tenants is the rent abatement: courts have treated infestation as a breach of the warranty of habitability even where the landlord was actively trying to fix it.
- Who pays for treatment
- Landlord
- Landlord response deadline
- 30 days to exterminate in NYC
- Disclosure before lease
- Yes, one-year history
Are you in New York City?
The answer genuinely differs depending on where in New York you are. Find yours below.
New York City
All five boroughs.
- Who pays
- Landlord
- Deadline
- 30 days to exterminate
- Disclosure
- Yes — annual building report plus unit history
The strictest jurisdiction in the country. Bed bugs are a Class B violation with 30 days to exterminate. Under Local Law 69 of 2017 and Admin. Code § 27-2018.1, owners of multiple dwellings must file an annual bed bug report with HPD by 31 December covering the prior year, publish it via HPDONLINE, and distribute or post the DOHMH bedbug guide; § 27-2018.2 requires corporate owners to file electronically. Filing is free and takes five pieces of information — HPD warns that companies solicit fees for doing it, so do not pay anyone. You can look up a building's filing history before you sign a lease.
Rest of New York State
Everywhere outside the five boroughs.
- Who pays
- Landlord
- Deadline
- Reasonable time — none fixed
- Disclosure
- Yes, one-year history before signing
No 30-day clock and no annual filing, but the statewide Bedbug Disclosure Act still applies: under Real Prop. Law § 235-j the landlord must disclose the past year's infestation history for both the unit and the building before you sign. Enforcement runs through the warranty of habitability at § 235-b, and the Multiple Dwelling Law requires buildings to be kept free of infestation. Rent abatement is the real leverage — courts have awarded 45% and 12% in reported cases, including where the landlord was diligently trying to fix the problem.
What the law actually says
Hiring someone in New York? Check they are actually licensed for structural pest control before you pay a deposit. Verify a New York exterminator →
What to do, in order
Photograph everything before you touch it
Live insects, shed skins, dark staining along the mattress seam. Timestamps are the evidence.
Notify the landlord in writing
Email or certified letter, never a phone call alone. Written notice is what starts the clock in every state that has one.
Do not throw out furniture yet
Discarded items can't be inspected, and moving them spreads the infestation down the hallway.
Let the deadline above run
Escalating before it expires generally forfeits the remedy.
Escalate to the housing agency, then to court
An independent inspection report is worth more than your own photographs. Rent withholding rules vary sharply — check the section above before you try it.
Read it yourself
Everything above was written by reading the sections named in the citation, not by summarizing another summary. You should not take our word for it — open the statute and check. Look up the section numbers quoted above.
New York State Senate — Consolidated Laws →
The state's own legislature or code site. Search it for the section numbers quoted above — they are the whole basis for this page.
Last checked against the New York code: . Statutes change every legislative session — if you are reading this long after that date, open the cited sections yourself before relying on them.
Not legal advice. This is a plain-language reference to publicly available statutes, verified against the New York code. Liability turns on your lease, your local ordinance and your specific facts. Talk to a tenant attorney or legal aid before withholding rent or filing anything.