1.
BED BUG COMPLAINTS
Where are we now?
Krista McAfee
Property Maintenance Inspector
City of Columbus
Department of Development
Code Enforcement Division

2.
Where do complaints come from?
• This presentation
only includes
numbers from
the City of
Columbus.
• Suburbs (like
Whitehall, Bexley,
Dublin) typically
do not fall under
Columbus’
jursidiction.

3.
Where do complaints come from?
• A vast majority of complaints are requests
made through the City’s 311 call center.
• The remainder of the complaints are called in
to the Code Enforcement Operator.
• Complaints range from
– “I have bed bugs in my apartment” to
– “My neighbor has a couch on their porch that is
infested with bed bugs.”

4.
Factors:
• Large immigrant population
• Somali and Nepali
• Language Barrier making
education difficult
• Cultural Barrier making education
difficult
• Large apartment complexes
• Management may experience
difficulty staying ahead of
infestation
• Management may be lax in
treating practices
• Some apartment complexes are
in court for inadequate
treatment of infestations.
• Transient population

5.
Factors:
• Socio-economic issues
• Tendencies to acquire second-
hand appliances and furniture
• No extra income to pay for self-
treatment
• Ineffective self-treatment
practices and products
• Transient population

6.
Overall Trend

7.
Why the decrease?
• Callers and complainants seem more self-
educated.
– Callers often tell us they have received
information from COBBTF website or other
website.
– Callers and complainants often tell us they have
general knowledge of self-treating basics.
• Callers and complainants are often wary of
Code Enforcement’s involvement and are
willing to attempt self-treatment first.

8.
Decrease, continued
• Callers and complainants are realizing that
Code Enforcement:
– may, under certain circumstances, hold tenants
responsible.
– does NOT offer or provide extermination services
or any type of financial assistance.
• Code Officers have seen leases that include
riders requiring tenants to agree:
– the unit was bed bug free and/or
– The tenant is responsible for the cost (whole,
partial, flat fee, etc) of the extermination.

9.
Decrease, continued
• In general, inspectors and clients alike are
becoming more comfortable with handling
bed bug issues.

10.
Hamilton County

11.
http://www.orkin.com/press-room/
https://www.terminix.com/about/media-center/press-releases/
The Most Bed Bug-Infested Cities in the U.S.

12.
Why the discrepancy?
• Requests and complaints made to
exterminators are different than those that
are reported to jurisdiction.
• Exterminators are receiving requests for
service from people who normally would not
call Code Enforcement (ie, high-income or
owner-occupants)

13.
Thank you and
enjoy the rest of the Summit!
Krista McAfee
Property Maintenance Inspector
City of Columbus
Department of Development
Code Enforcement Division