Prospective Tenants Now Entitled To "Bedbug Disclosure" From NYC Landlords

In New York City, the New York Post reports:

• New York City landlords will now have to tell prospective tenants if there's been a history of bedbugs in their building, thanks to a new law that Gov. Paterson signed []. The legislation requires that landlords give all tenant wannabes a disclosure form saying whether or not the building has had any of the bloodsuckers in the last year, said Manhattan Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, who sponsored the initial legislation.

• Even if the apartment that the tenant is going to occupy never had bedbugs, the landlord will be compelled to tell him or her about other infestations in the building, according to the new law. "Nothing is more horrifying than signing a lease after a lengthy apartment search only to discover that your new apartment is bedbug infested," Rosenthal said in a statement.

• The law applies only to New York [City], which the pest-control company Terminix last week named the most bedbug-infested city in the country.

Source: Sweet dreams: Landlords must disclose bedbugs.