City of Chicago Bed Bug Ordinance: Apartments and Rental Units

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In 2013, the City of Chicago passed an ordinance to help address the growing problem of Bed bugs in rental units. This ordinance assigns responsibilities to landlords and tenants so that they work together to quickly identify Bed bug infestations and coordinate treatment. The ordinance states that landlords must pay for the extermination service and cannot punish or discriminate against tenants for reporting Bed bug infestations.

Landmark Pest Management helps landlords comply with the City of Chicago’s Bed Bug Ordinance. We recommend that landlords engage our firm in creating a customized Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plan in advance so they can respond quickly when Bed bug problems arise.

Chicago’s Bed Bug Ordinance carries fines of $300 to $2,000 for landlords who don’t comply with the responsibilities it sets forth. The Department of Buildings and Department of Public Health (CDPH) enforce the ordinance, giving landlords 10 days to have units inspected once they receive notification from tenants that Bed bugs are suspected.

Landlord Responsibilities

Landmark helps landlords comply with the City of Chicago’s Bed Bug Ordinance. We create customized Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plans so you can respond quickly when Bed bug problems arise.

Landlords have three main responsibilities under the Chicago Bed Bug Ordinance:

  1. Educate tenants about Bed bugs by providing a brochure when tenants sign a new lease or renew an existing lease;
  2. Notify tenants prior to any Bed bug inspection or treatment of their unit, and provide instructions for preparing the unit such as stripping beds or clearing stored items from beneath beds;
  3. Pay for inspection and extermination service performed by a pest management firm who is licensed by the Illinois Department of Public Health, and continue paying for service until the firm certifies that the Bed bug infestation has been successfully eradicated.

Tenant Responsibilities

Tenants are required to notify their landlords in writing within 5 days of finding signs that they may have Bed bugs, such as observing Bed bugs or experiencing unexplained bites. Tenants who do not cooperate with treatment by allowing access to their units and preparing their units for inspection and treatment are subject to the same $300 to $2,000 fines.

Bed Bug Plans for Condos

The City of Chicago Bed Bug Ordinance requires condominiums to adopt pest management plans for preventing and managing Bed bugs in condominium or cooperative buildings. Management companies, HOAs and governing associations of condominiums must have a plan for how Bed bug problems will be managed in place by March 24, 2014.

Landmark Pest Management creates Integrated Pest Management plans for Bed bugs free of charge and also gives discounted pre-negotiated rates to condominiums, so that you can move swiftly to solve a Bed bug problem should one arise.

Bed Bug Emergency Response

We offer one of the most comprehensive responses to bed bugs. Our discrete rapid response can have a technician to you in as little as one hour. We respond 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

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