NYC Bed Bug Disclosure Law Explained for Renters and Owners

What is the NYC bed bug disclosure law?

It is a set of Housing Maintenance Code requirements, in sections 27-2018.1 and 27-2018.2, that make owners of multiple dwellings collect bed bug information from occupants, report it to HPD each year and tell tenants about the building's history. It is meant to make infestation history visible to the people living there.

New York City is a city of renters in shared buildings, so a bed bug problem rarely belongs to one flat. Bed bugs often spread between neighbouring units, and the law is built around that fact. It asks owners to look at the building as a whole, rather than leaving each tenant to find out alone.

There are three pieces. First, an annual report from the owner to HPD. Second, an annual written notice to tenants under Local Law 69. Third, a history notice at lease signing when a unit is rented after being vacant. The table below sets them next to each other.

When is the HPD annual report due?

The filing window is December 1 to December 31 each year. The report covers the previous year as measured from November 1 through October 31, so a report filed in December 2026 looks back over the year ending October 31, 2026. Filing is done electronically, with a paper option for certain non-corporate owners.

In practice that means an owner should be gathering information from occupants during the reporting year and not in December alone. The law asks owners to question occupants about infestations and to combine that with their own activity, such as treatments they arranged, before filing.

Reports are filed electronically with HPD. Only non-corporate owners, meaning individual or joint owners, may file on paper. A managing agent can help with the process, but the duty stays with the owner.

If you are a renter, you do not file the report. What you can do is answer when the owner or agent asks you, and answer honestly. A silent unit that later turns out to have bugs makes the building number less accurate for everyone.

What must the tenant notice say?

Under Local Law 69, an owner must give tenants written bed bug history once a year, by posting a notice in the building or handing one to each apartment. The notice must state how many units the building has, how many infestations were reported in the last year, and in how many apartments the owner acted to eradicate them.

Three numbers sum up the notice, and the third is the one to read closely. A building can report infestations and still show few apartments where the owner took steps. That is not proof of a problem, but it is a fair question to put to the owner or agent.

A notice may be posted in a common area such as a lobby or hallway or handed to each apartment. If you cannot find one, ask the owner or managing agent in writing. Keep a copy of your message, because a dated written request is useful if you later need to speak to HPD or 311.

We have not confirmed whether the notice rule applies in the same way to small buildings with an owner-occupant, or the amount of any penalty. If this matters for your building, rely on HPD's own guidance and not on a summary.

What does the vacancy lease notice mean for renters?

If you sign a vacancy lease, the owner or managing agent must give you a notice setting out the property's bed bug infestation history. It is a chance to ask direct questions before you move in, and to compare the notice with what you see in the unit.

A vacancy lease is one for a unit that was empty before you took it, not a renewal. The notice you should receive is about the property, not only the unit, so it tells you something about the building you are joining.

Before you sign, a few checks are reasonable. Ask when the unit was last treated and whether neighbouring units were involved. Look at mattress seams, headboards and baseboards in daylight. Bring a torch. Bed bugs are small and hide in seams and crevices, and a viewing is the one time you can search without belongings in the way.

An inspection report is also worth considering for a unit you are about to rent. Apartment pest inspection documents what a technician finds, which gives you something specific to raise with the owner. Written findings are more useful than an impression.

What should a renter do if bed bugs appear?

Tell the owner or managing agent in writing straight away, keep a copy, and photograph what you find. If the problem is not addressed, call 311. Avoid moving furniture between rooms or units, because that can spread the problem. A technician can confirm what you have before you decide on treatment.

This is general guidance, not a statement of a tenant's legal duty. We did not source a tenant-duty rule, so we do not claim one. What we can say is that a written, dated report is the clearest record of when the owner was told, and that it triggers the owner's own reporting and treatment steps.

Do not throw out a mattress in a panic, and do not carry it down a shared stairwell uncovered, since that can move bugs into the hallway. Wash and dry fabrics on a hot setting where the label allows, and bag items before moving them. Do not use over-the-counter foggers or sprays on a mattress. For the treatment itself, see bed bug treatment.

If you want a technician to look before you decide, call (855) 974-4733. Phones are answered 24/7, and a technician can often visit the same day when one is free. The price is explained and approved before treatment, and we do not guarantee an outcome.

How should you read the numbers on a notice?

Look at the three figures together: units in the building, infestations reported, and apartments where the owner acted. A notice is a snapshot of one year, not a verdict. It tells you whether reports were made and whether the owner responded, which are the questions worth asking.

Imagine a notice that lists a large number of units, a handful of reported infestations and the same handful of treated apartments. That reads as reports being answered. A notice with several reports and no treated apartments invites a polite written question. Both are illustrations of how to read the form, not figures from any real building.

Low numbers do not always mean a clean building. They can also mean few occupants reported, which is why the annual question to occupants matters. If you have seen signs in your own unit and the notice says nothing, report it in writing. Your report is part of how the building's record becomes accurate.

Co-op and condo residents, and owners of one- and two-family homes, may find the rules apply differently, and we have not confirmed those details. If you are unsure which category your building falls into, HPD's own pages are the place to check, and a call to 311 can point you there.

What should an owner or managing agent do?

Ask occupants about infestations during the year, keep records of reports and treatments, give the annual tenant notice, hand vacancy-lease tenants the history notice and file the HPD report between December 1 and 31. A treatment record from a technician makes each of those steps easier to support.

For an owner, the paperwork follows the facts. If a unit reports bed bugs in March, the owner should be able to show what happened next: when a technician visited, what was found and applied, and whether neighbouring units were checked. A written service report after every visit is exactly that record.

Treating one apartment in a multi-unit building often leaves the question of the neighbours open, so owners usually consider adjacent units too. That is where a building-wide approach helps. See multi-unit building pest control for how that works.

Bed bugs are not the only pest that can bring an owner into contact with HPD. The Housing Maintenance Code also requires reasonable measures to keep premises free of pests. Our landlord or tenant guide covers that duty, and landlord pest violation response covers what to do once a citation arrives.

Where do the disclosure numbers fit in the calendar year?

The reporting year closes on October 31, owners file in December, and notices are given annually. For a renter, late autumn and winter are when the new numbers appear, while summer, with its travel and moving, is when bed bugs are more likely to be brought home. Treat both as reminders to check, not predictions.

Our pest calendar lists these dates beside the seasonal pest notes. Bed bugs travel with summer movement, holidays and visitors, so a spike in reports is plausible in the late-summer weeks before the reporting year ends, though we do not have local numbers to prove it.

A practical habit for renters is to read the notice when it arrives and note the three numbers. A year later, compare. A rising number of infestations with a small number of treated apartments is a prompt to ask questions, and a steady or falling record is reassuring.