Bed Bugs Through the Wall: Neighbors, Shared Areas and Who Is Responsible in Grand Rapids

How they move

Through the gaps a building has anyway: wall voids, the pipe chases behind a shared bathroom wall, outlet boxes back to back, the gap under a door, hallway carpet. The state manual’s sample treatment agreement has the landlord promising to “help the pest management professional get access to cracks and pipe chases for treatment” and to “caulk or seal any cracks and crevices in the unit,” because those are the roads. A fogger set off in one unit drives the population down those roads into the next; the manual’s verdict on foggers is that they “ARE NOT effective ... and should not be used.”

Five units, not one

MSU Extension’s instruction to property managers: “All of the affected units must also be treated at the same time. Ask the PMP to inspect any adjacent units (above, below, beside and across the hall) to determine the extent of the infestation.” The manual’s agreement puts it in the landlord’s mouth: “We will schedule inspections for adjacent units to assess the extent of the infestation. We will treat any infested units found.” The state fact sheet adds that landlords “should enable the pest manager to inspect every room and apartment.” A unit treated alone in a row of four is a quarter of the problem, and it is the pattern behind a building that pays for the same infestation three times.

Who is responsible for the shared parts

Three rules, all quoted on this site, all pointing the same way for common areas and structure:

• State Housing Law. “The owner of every dwelling shall be responsible for keeping the entire building free from vermin” (MCL 125.474). The lease covenant adds that “the premises and all common areas are fit for the use intended” (MCL 554.139(1)(a)).
• Inside Grand Rapids. In a building of two or more units, the owner “shall be responsible for pest elimination in the public or shared areas of the structure and exterior property” (IPMC 309.4 as adopted). And the occupant’s ongoing duty under 309.5 carries an exception: “Where the infestations are caused by defects in the structure, the owner shall be responsible.” A gap in a shared wall is a defect in the structure.
• Kent County outside the city. Regulation 401 requires walls, floors and ceilings to be “vermin proof,” and 601 puts extermination on the owner where infestation is “due to the failure of the owner to maintain the dwelling ... in a reasonably ... insect-proof condition.” Otherwise the occupant.

What that means in a dispute: the argument is about cause, and cause in a multi-unit building is a question about where the bugs are concentrated and whether there is a road between units. An inspection that covers the five units records exactly that. One that covers only yours cannot say whether you are the source or the destination.

The three-party rule

MSU Extension: “In rental or multi-family units, effective treatment requires the cooperation of three parties working together: The resident, the landlord and the Pest Management Professional.” Each has a job. The resident’s is prep and access; the manual’s agreement warns that “failing to cooperate and/or being fully prepped for treatment can result in termination of your tenancy,” and MSU says the same for repeated refusals. The landlord’s is the adjacent units, the repairs and the follow-ups. Ours is reaching every location and documenting it.

What to do if you think it came through the wall

1. Inspect your own unit and photograph findings by room, with dates. Where to look →
2. Write to the landlord the same day, citing MCL 125.474 and, in the city, IPMC 309.1 and 309.4, and ask for inspection of the adjoining units as well as yours. The template →
3. Offer access dates and do the prep. It is the fastest way to move cause off your side of the ledger.
4. Do not fog, and do not carry furniture into the hallway.
5. If nothing happens: inside the city, Code Compliance, 616-456-3053, where a hazard to health or safety can suspend the building’s Certificate of Compliance (1000.4); outside, Kent County Health Department, 616-632-6900.

For the owner of the building

Inspect above, below, beside and across before quoting the one unit that called. Treat connected units the same day; heat does several in a visit. Seal the chases and the outlet gaps afterward, which is the “proper precautions ... to prevent reinfestation” that IPMC 309.1 requires after elimination. And keep the per-unit reports; they are the file for the Certificate of Compliance and the answer to the tenant who says it came from next door. Building service →