RELATING TO BED BUGS.

HB1186

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1186

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING
TO BED BUGS
.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

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SECTION 1.
�
The
legislature finds that bed bugs,
cimex lectularius
, are bloodsucking
insects that typically feed at night and hide in warm sheltered areas, such as
bedrooms.
�
The United States Department
of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency, and the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention consider bed bugs a public health pest.
�
According to these agencies, there is a
resurgence in the population of bed bugs in the United States, which is likely
associated with the increased resistance of bed bugs to available pesticides,
increased domestic and international travel, lack of knowledge regarding bed
bug control, and the decline or elimination of effective vector and pest
control programs.
�
While bed bugs have
not been shown to transmit disease, they can cause negative physical health,
mental health, and economic consequences, including allergic reactions to
bites, anxiety and insomnia, and use of financial resources to contain
infestations.

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The
legislature further finds that more than twenty states have laws or regulations
specific to bed bugs.
�
Hawai
�
i's
landlord-tenant laws, however, do not explicitly address bed bugs.

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The
purpose of this Act is to prohibit landlords, including those operating in
public housing and educational dorm settings, from renting a dwelling unit that
the landlord knows has a current bed bug infestation and establish procedures
that landlords must take upon receiving notice of an actual or suspected bed
bug infestation.

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SECTION 2.
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Chapter 521, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section
to part IV to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

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"
�521-
�
Bed bugs; procedures and reporting.
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(a)
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Before renting a dwelling unit,
if the landlord has notice of a suspected or actual bed bug infestation, a
landlord shall visually inspect the dwelling unit for any evidence of the
presence of bed bugs.
�
Evidence of bed
bugs may be indicated by observation of a living bed bug; bed bug carapace;
eggs or egg casings; or brownish or blood-colored spotting on linens,
mattresses, or furniture.
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If a bed bug
infestation is evident on visual inspection, the landlord shall be considered
to have received notice.
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A landlord
shall not show or rent to a prospective tenant any dwelling unit that the
landlord knows or reasonably suspects has a current bed bug infestation.
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This section shall not require a landlord to
inspect a dwelling unit or the common areas of the premises for bed bugs before
renting the dwelling unit if the landlord has not received notice of a
suspected or actual bed bug infestation.

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(b)
�
Before renting a dwelling unit, a landlord
shall disclose to a prospective tenant if the landlord has knowledge of an
adjacent unit or units that are currently infested with bed bugs, are being
treated for bed bugs, or have been treated for bed bugs within the previous
thirty days.

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(c)
�
Upon notice from a person who finds or
reasonably suspects a bed bug infestation in a dwelling unit or common area of
the premises, the landlord shall, within five days of receipt of the notice:

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(1)
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Acknowledge receipt of the notice of
the suspected infestation; and

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(2)
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Inspect, or obtain investigatory
services from a pest control operator licensed pursuant to chapter 460J for,
the dwelling unit or common area.

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(d)
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Upon a determination of an infestation, the
landlord shall, within seven days:

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(1)
�
Obtain and provide remedial services
from a pest control operator licensed pursuant to chapter 460J;

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(2)
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Inspect, or obtain investigatory
services from a pest control operator for, any unit directly adjacent to or
above or below the dwelling unit or common area from which the original notice
came;

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(3)
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Provide all tenants of units who may
be affected by the bed bug infestation with notice of the infestation.
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Electronic notice may be provided by electronic
mail or by an electronic portal or management communication system that is
available to both a landlord and a tenant.
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Similar notice shall be provided to all
tenants in connection with determinations made regarding a common area of the
premises;

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(4)
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Notify the department of health of
the infestation and report any control measures taken, including any chemicals
applied and other remedies provided; and

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(5)
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Maintain a written record of all
notices and control measures provided, including reports of the chemicals
applied and other remedies provided, and any other reports or receipts prepared
by the pest control operator, which shall be maintained for two years.

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(e)
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Responsibility for cost of bed bug
remediation shall be determined as follows:

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(1)
�
If a tenant notifies the landlord
that the tenant discovered or reasonably suspects a bed bug infestation within
the tenant's dwelling unit within sixty days after the commencement of the
lease, or within thirty days of a discovery of a bed bug infestation in an
adjoining unit in the building, the landlord shall be responsible for the costs
of investigating and remediating the infestation; and

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(2)
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If a tenant notifies the landlord
that the tenant discovered or reasonably suspects a bed bug infestation more
than sixty days after the commencement of the lease, or more than thirty days after
a discovery of a bed bug infestation in an adjoining unit in the building, the
landlord shall be responsible for investigating and remediating the bed bug
infestation; provided that the tenant shall equally share in the responsibility
for the reasonable costs for remediating the infestation in the tenant's unit.

A tenant
shall not be responsible for sharing in any costs for dwelling units
controlled, owned, or managed by the Hawaii public housing
authority
or
by a university or
college in the State
.

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(f)
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A tenant shall not knowingly bring into the dwelling
unit personal furnishings or belongings that are known or reasonably suspected
to be infested with bed bugs.

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(g)
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A tenant shall have the duty to notify a landlord of the suspected
existence of bed bugs within the tenant's dwelling unit.

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(h)
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As used in this section:

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"Bed
bug infestation" means the presence of bed bugs.

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"Bed
bug remediation" means action taken by the landlord that substantially
reduces the presence of bed bugs in a dwelling unit for at least sixty days.

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"Dwelling
unit" means a structure, or part of a structure, which is used as a home,
residence, or sleeping place by one person or by two or more persons
maintaining a common household, to the exclusion of all others.
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Notwithstanding section 521-7, "dwelling
unit" includes:

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(1)
�
A
public
housing project or complex directly controlled, owned, or managed by the Hawaii
public housing authority pursuant to the federal low rent public housing
program, or a structure on a property directly controlled, owned, or managed by
the Hawaii public housing authority; and

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(2)
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A residence in a
structure directly controlled and managed by a university or college in the
State for housing its students or faculty, a residence in a structure erected
on land leased from the university or college by a nonprofit corporation for
the exclusive purpose of housing students or faculty of the college or
university, or a private dorm management company that offers a minimum of fifty
beds to students of any college, university, or other institution of higher
education in the State.
"

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SECTION 3.
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New statutory material is underscored.

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SECTION 4.
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This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Bed Bugs;
Landlords; Rental Dwelling Units; Infestations

Description:

Prohibits

landlords, including those operating in public housing and educational
dorm settings, from renting a dwelling unit that the landlord knows has a
current bed bug infestation.
�
Establishes
procedures that landlords shall take upon receiving notice of an actual or
suspected bed bug infestation.

The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.