Bill Text: NJ A2935 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires owner of multiple dwelling to eradicate infestation of bedbugs at own expense.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-06-17 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Housing and Local Government Committee [A2935 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-A2935-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman RUBEN J. RAMOS, JR.
District 33 (Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
Requires owner of multiple dwelling to eradicate infestation of bedbugs at own expense.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the extermination of bedbugs and supplementing and amending P.L.1967, c.76.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. The common bedbug, Cimex lectularius, travels through the ventilation systems in multi-unit establishments, causing exponential infestations.
b. Bedbugs possess all of the necessary known prerequisites for being capable of passing diseases from one host to another.
c. Bedbugs destroy the habitability of a dwelling because, feeding nightly in groups on an occupant's blood, they turn hours normally reserved for serene repose into a traumatic, stressful experience.
d. Even when an infestation of bedbugs renders a dwelling unlivable, it may not be a realistic option for an occupant to vacate the premises, because of the limited availability and affordability of alternative housing.
e. The provision of decent, standard and safe housing remains necessary to maintain the health and welfare of the citizens of this State.
f. The owner of a multiple dwelling is in the best position to know of and coordinate the extermination of bedbugs, which can travel throughout the walls a structure to infest a whole building.
2. (New section) For purposes of this act:
"Bedbug" means an insect of the species "Cimex lectularius."
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Community Affairs.
"Department" means the Department of Community Affairs.
"Local board" means the board of health of any municipality or the boards, bodies or officers in such municipality lawfully exercising any of the powers of a local board of health under the laws governing such municipality.
"Multiple dwelling" means a multiple dwelling as defined in section 3 of the "Hotel and Multiple Dwelling Law," P.L.1967, c.76 (C.55:13A-3).
"Infestation" means an invasion in numbers large enough to be noticeable, harmful, or threatening.
"Owner" means the owner as defined in section 3 of the "Hotel and Multiple Dwelling Law," P.L.1967, c.76 (C.55:13A-3).
3. (New section) a. Every owner of a multiple dwelling shall be responsible, at his own expense, for maintaining the multiple dwelling free of an infestation of bedbugs.
b. Upon notice, either written or oral, of an infestation of bedbugs in any dwelling unit, an owner shall immediately, or as soon thereafter as practicable, at his own expense,
(1) eradicate the infestation of bedbugs in the dwelling unit;
(2) ascertain whether other units of dwelling space or common areas are infested with bedbugs; and
(3) eradicate any remaining infestation in other units of dwelling space or common areas.
c. If, upon notice, the owner of a multiple dwelling does not eradicate an infestation of bedbugs in an individual unit in the multiple dwelling, an occupant may notify the owner, or his agent, in writing that the infestation has not been eradicated. After the occupant has notified the owner in writing, and after a reasonable period of time for action by the owner, the occupant may:
(1) notify the local board of any failure of the multiple dwelling to be kept in a condition free of an infestation of bedbugs; or
(2) petition a judge of the Special Civil Part of the Superior Court for an order requiring the owner to eradicate the infestation of bedbugs.
4. (New section) At least once each year, the department shall inspect each dwelling unit and all common areas of a multiple dwelling to ascertain any failure of the multiple dwelling to be kept in a condition free of an infestation of bedbugs. The department may fix and charge a reasonable fee for the annual inspection. Any fee charged under this section is hereby appropriated to the department for use in carrying out the provisions of this act. The commissioner shall have the power to enforce the corrections of any violations found during an inspection conducted pursuant to this section..
5. Section 7 of P.L.1967, c.76 (C.55:13A-7) is amended to read as follows:
7. The commissioner shall issue and promulgate, in the manner specified in section 8 of P.L.1967, c.76 (C.55:13A-8), such regulations as the commissioner may deem necessary to assure that any hotel or multiple dwelling will be maintained in such manner as is consistent with, and will protect, the health, safety and welfare of the occupants or intended occupants thereof, or of the public generally.
Any such regulations issued and promulgated by the commissioner pursuant to this section shall provide standards and specifications for such maintenance materials, methods and techniques, fire warning and extinguisher systems, elevator systems, emergency egresses, and such other protective equipment as the commissioner shall deem reasonably necessary to the health, safety and welfare of the occupants or intended occupants of any units of dwelling space in any hotel or multiple dwelling, including but not limited to:
(a) Structural adequacy ratings;
(b) Methods of egress, including fire escapes, outside fireproof stairways, independent stairways, and handrails, railings, brackets, braces and landing platforms thereon, additional stairways, and treads, winders, and risers thereof, entrances and ramps;
(c) Bulkheads and scuttles, partitions, walls, ceilings and floors;
(d) Garbage and refuse collection and disposal, cleaning and janitorial services, repairs, and extermination services;
(e) Electrical wiring and outlets, and paints and the composition thereof;
(f) Doors, and the manner of opening thereof;
(g) Transoms, windows, shafts and beams;
(h) Chimneys, flues and central heating units;
(i) Roofing and siding materials;
(j) Lots, yards, courts and garages, including the size and location thereof;
(k) Intakes, open ducts, offsets and recesses;
(l) Windows, including the size and height thereof;
(m) Rooms, including the area and height thereof, and the permissible number of occupants thereof;
(n) Stairwells, skylights and alcoves;
(o) Public halls, including the lighting and ventilation thereof;
(p) Accessory passages to rooms;
(q) Cellars, drainage and air space;
(r) Water-closets, bathrooms and sinks;
(s) Water connections, including the provision of drinking and hot and cold running water;
(t) Sewer connections, privies, cesspools, and private sewers;
(u) Rain water and drainage conductors;
(v) Entrances and ramps; [and]
(w) Presence of lead-based paint hazards in multiple dwellings and in single-family and two-family dwellings, exclusive of owner-occupied dwelling units, subject to P.L.2003, c.311 (C.52:27D-437.1 et al.). In a common interest community, any inspection fee for and violation found within a unit which is solely related to this subsection shall be the responsibility of the unit owner and not the homeowners' association, unless the association is the owner of the unit; and
(x) Infestations of pests and vermin, including bedbugs, subject to the requirements of section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
(cf: P.L.2007, c.251, s.5)
6. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the owner of a multiple dwelling to pay for the extermination of bedbugs in the multiple dwelling. Bedbugs may render a multiple dwelling space unlivable. Because bedbugs can easily migrate throughout an entire building through interior structures, building owners are in the best position to coordinate eradication of bedbugs.
This bill requires owners of multiple dwellings to maintain them free of infestations of bedbugs. The Department of Community Affairs shall annually inspect multiple dwellings for infestations of bedbugs. This bill permits the Department of Community Affairs to charge a fee to cover the cost of bedbug inspections. When the owner is put on notice of an infestation of bedbugs, the owner is required to eradicate the infestation and to discover and eliminate any additional invasions of this pest. The bill also provides that an occupant may either notify the local health board or seek equitable relief in the Superior Court if the owner persists in failing to remedy a bedbug infestation.
