I recently had a shareholder call me with bites on her body. We called in a visual inspection that turned up negative for bedbugs. We emailed the Board and notified them of the negative conclusion. The bites occurred again on the shareholder so we called in the dogs. The dogs sniffed positive for bed bugs, which means that they could have smelled old bedbug casings or live bedbugs. The dogs identified recently used luggage as a possible bedbug location. Emails went out. This warranted a return visit for a visual inspection of the locations the dogs sniffed out. Again, the inspection turned up negative for bedbugs (or any critters). Again, emails went out.
Now, who pays? Many property managers are faced with this dilemma and it's brand new. Bedbug removal is not included in standard commercial insurance policies, however if a shareholder claims personal injury from them, it may be covered under liability. In the above case, the shareholder is responsible for covering these costs. If the bedbugs affected many apartments, it would fall under a building expense. The gray area would be if they attacked a small number of surrounding apartments and it looked as though the source was a single apartment.
I've spoken with attorneys on this issue on a number of occasions and I have yet to hear a conclusive answer. Stay tuned.
Our visual inspection exterminators noted that bedbug sniffing dogs often turn up false positives if they are not trained properly. We used a company that had NESDCA trained and certified dogs, the creditable name in bedbug dog sniffing, but they still turned up false positives.
New bedbug abatements include freezing them and heating them up. Which is the best? Time will tell. I'll find out when I encounter an epidemic. Good luck!
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