The Real Deal New York

From the February issue: Residential bedbug complaints in New York City climbed 7 percent last year, statistics from the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development show. There were 13,472 complaints, up from 12,594 in 2009, the Wall Street Journal reported. Louis Sorkin, an entomologist at the American Museum of Natural History, said there are likely many more infestations than complaints. “[People who have infestations] may not file a complaint, but they may go through the proper channels and tell the landlord or co-op board or condo owner,” he said. In New York, bedbug complaints are registered with the city’s 311 nonemergency hotline. The landlord is notified and the department contacts the tenant to confirm before making a site visit. If bedbugs are found, a violation is issued. HPD lists bedbugs as a Class B housing violation, which means they are considered hazardous and the landlord has 30 days to correct the problem. Sorkin predicts that the situation may deteriorate in 2011. “Each year it’s always a little worse than the year before, because not everyone is on the bedbug bandwagon,” he said. Click here for more of this month’s top government briefs.