Free New York City Bedbug Disclosure

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Free New York City Bedbug Disclosure — overview

A New York City Bedbug Disclosure documents the landlord’s knowledge of any bedbug history at the rental property at the time of lease signing. NYC Local Law 69 of 2017 requires multi-unit dwelling landlords to provide an annual bedbug disclosure to all tenants. The form must cover the past 12 months and indicate whether any prior infestations were successfully eradicated. The form on this page produces a comprehensive disclosure mirroring the requirements of HPD form BBD-N.

Complete the Disclosure Form

Complete the form below to generate a comprehensive New York City Bedbug Disclosure. The form produces a multi-page PDF in legal-document format with all sections, signature lines, and tenant acknowledgment. Both parties should sign the printed copy.

About New York City Bedbug Disclosure

NYC Local Law 69 of 2017, codified as NYC Administrative Code § 27-2018.1, requires multi-unit dwelling landlords to provide annual bedbug disclosures. The official NYC HPD form (BBD-N) requires landlords to disclose any bedbug infestation history over the past 12 months and indicate whether eradication efforts were successful. Failure to provide the annual disclosure can result in HPD violations and tenant remedies.

New York City’s Bedbug Framework

• Annual disclosure required: NYC Admin Code § 27-2018.1 (Local Law 69 of 2017)
• Disclosure lookback: past 12 months
• Official form: NYC HPD form BBD-N
• Applies to: multi-unit dwellings (3+ units)
• Tenants may file 311 complaints and HPD violations for non-compliance

What the Disclosure Covers

• Whether the property has had a bedbug infestation within the lookback period
• Date and treatment status of any prior infestation
• Pest control company used and treatment outcome
• Tenant acknowledgment of receipt

Tenant Reporting Responsibilities

NYC tenants should report suspected bedbug infestation to the landlord promptly and in writing. If the landlord does not respond within a reasonable time, tenants can file a 311 complaint, which triggers an HPD inspection. HPD violations can be issued against the landlord for failure to eradicate. NYC tenants have additional remedies under the implied warranty of habitability codified in NY Real Property Law § 235-b.

Related Resources

• New york habitability laws
• New york landlord tenant laws
• New york tenant screening laws
• New york security deposit laws
• New york eviction notice laws
• Habitability laws by state

NYC’s Annual HPD Bedbug Filing: Deadline and What Must Be Reported

Separate from any lease-signing disclosure, NYC Local Law 69 of 2017 requires owners of multiple dwellings to file an Annual Bed Bug Report with HPD every year — this is the city-side duty behind NYC Admin Code § 27-2018.1’s annual filing requirement, and it runs on its own fixed calendar regardless of when any individual lease is signed or renewed (NYC HPD, Bedbugs). The filing window and reporting content are specific:

Filing is free — HPD warns that some third-party companies solicit fees for a filing that costs nothing to submit directly. A building’s property registration must be current before the online filing portal will accept a report (NYC HPD, Bedbugs).

After Filing: What Must Reach Tenants

The annual filing does not end with HPD. When an owner submits the report, they must certify one of two distribution methods for the filed form itself: either (a) a copy of the electronic filing is distributed to every tenant at each lease renewal and at the start of every new lease, or (b) a copy is posted in a prominent location in the building within 60 days of filing, with a maintained record that the posting occurred. Independently of that, once the report is filed, the owner must also either hand the filing receipt to each tenant (at lease start and at each renewal) or post the receipt in the building. And separately again, the owner must distribute or post the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Stop Bedbugs Safely guide (NYC HPD, Bedbugs). These are three distinct paper trails — the filed form, the filing receipt, and the DOHMH guide — not one document satisfying all three.

New York State’s Separate Bedbug Disclosure Duties

NYC’s own HPD page is explicit that the lease-signing history disclosure and the city’s annual HPD filing are not the same obligation: “New York State law requires property owners to disclose bedbug infestation history dating back one year to new tenants through the Bedbug Disclosure Form” (NYC HPD, Bedbugs, citing NYS Homes and Community Renewal). That state-administered, lease-signing disclosure is distinct from the city’s December filing described above in two ways: it is triggered by a new lease signing, not a fixed December calendar window, and it is administered through DHCR, not HPD. Multiple secondary sources identify the DHCR-published disclosure form used for this purpose as Form DBB-N, “Notice to Tenant Disclosure of Bedbug Infestation History” — a one-year-lookback notice covering both the specific unit and the building — but the DHCR host serving that form returned an HTTP 403 on every attempt today (see Research notes), so the form’s exact current content could not be independently re-verified here; only its existence and general purpose are corroborated across sources.

New York State layered on a third, more recent duty that is different again from both of the above: Real Property Law § 235-j, effective December 22, 2024, requires a landlord who has knowledge of an active bedbug infestation in a unit to give written notice — within 72 hours of learning of it — to the tenants in the units immediately above, below, and adjacent to the infested unit, and to post notice of any infestation in a common area within the same 72 hours. That notice may not identify the infested unit or include any personally identifying information about the affected tenant (N.Y. Real Property Law § 235-j, via NY State Senate Open Legislation). Unlike the annual filing or the lease-signing history disclosure, § 235-j is not tied to a filing calendar or to signing a lease at all — it is triggered purely by the landlord’s actual knowledge of a current infestation, and it applies statewide, not only in New York City.

Consequences of a Missed Filing or a Confirmed Infestation

If an HPD inspector visually confirms live bedbugs during an inspection, HPD issues a Notice of Violation (NOV), and the property owner separately receives a DOHMH Order of the Commissioner detailing the required corrective steps: inspect the cited apartment; if bedbugs are confirmed, inspect every adjacent, above, and below unit plus common areas; retain a pest control professional licensed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to eliminate the infestation; and keep a record of every action taken (NYC HPD, Bedbugs). Correcting the violation is not self-certifying — the owner must file a Certification of Correction, a sworn statement to HPD (not DOHMH directly) that the corrective actions were completed, either through a Borough Service Center or HPD’s eCertification system.

On the filing side, HPD will deem a submission noncompliant if a corporate owner files on paper instead of electronically — the paper Bedbug Annual Filing Form is reserved for individual and joint non-corporate owners only (NYC HPD, Bedbugs). HPD’s own Bedbug Annual Reports FAQ confirms the consequence in plain terms: “A violation will be issued to the property owner for failure to file the report” (NYC HPD, Bedbug Annual Reports Frequently Asked Questions). Multiple secondary industry sources describe a civil penalty dollar range attached to that violation, but the specific figure could not be verified against a primary NYC.gov or Administrative Code source today and is deliberately not repeated here as a stated number — see the Research notes for what was and was not confirmed.

What must a New York City landlord actually do to remediate a bedbug infestation?

A NYC owner must keep the premises free from pests, prevent the reasonably foreseeable occurrence of pest conditions, and expeditiously remediate any that appear — the duty is at NYC Administrative Code § 27-2017.1, and bedbugs sit inside it because the definition of “pest” at NYC Admin Code § 27-2017 expressly names them. Remediation in NYC means the integrated pest management work practices at NYC Admin Code § 27-2017.8, and § 27-2017.4(a) lets HPD order “such eradication measures and work practices as the department deems necessary” once it finds premises infested by pests other than cockroaches, mice, or rats.

The § 27-2017.8(a) work practices a NYC owner must follow are physical and specific:

• Physically remove pest nests, waste, and debris by HEPA vacuuming, washing surfaces, or otherwise collecting and discarding it.
• Seal holes, gaps, and cracks in walls, ceilings, floors, molding, baseboards, around pipes and conduits, and within cabinets — and fit door sweeps on any door to a hallway, basement, or the outside so the gap is no more than one-quarter inch.
• Eliminate water sources by repairing drains, faucets, and leaking plumbing, and replace saturated materials in interior walls.
• Do not treat pesticide as the remedy. The section states that pesticide use “shall not substitute” for those measures, and any pesticide must be applied by a pest professional licensed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Two NYC duties that run before any tenant complains

NYC Admin Code § 27-2017.2 requires an owner of a NYC multiple dwelling to investigate for indoor allergen hazards, pests included, in all occupied units and common areas at least once a year — and sooner on an occupant’s complaint or inspection request, on a notice of violation, or when the owner should have known of a foreseeable condition. It also requires every lease in those NYC buildings to carry a conspicuous, HPD-approved notice of owner and tenant obligations under that section.

Separately, before any vacant NYC unit in a multiple dwelling is reoccupied, NYC Admin Code § 27-2017.5 requires the owner to remediate all visible mold and pest infestations and any underlying defects, clean and vacuum owner-provided carpeting and furniture, and certify that compliance in writing to the incoming tenant — a NYC document duty landlords routinely miss.

How long does a NYC owner have to certify a bedbug violation as corrected?

A NYC bedbug violation is a hazardous violation under NYC Admin Code § 27-2017.4(a), and for a hazardous violation the certification of correction must reach HPD no later than fourteen days after the date set for correction, under NYC Admin Code § 27-2115(f)(1). The correction date and the civil penalty also come from § 27-2115; the figures below are those now in the code, applied by HPD to violations issued on or after December 8, 2023.

Three things follow for a NYC owner. The certification is sworn: § 27-2115(f)(1) requires it under oath by the registered owner, a registered officer or director of a corporate owner, or the registered managing agent. A certified NYC violation is then deemed corrected seventy days after HPD receives it, unless HPD reinspects within that period and notifies the certifier it has been set aside (§ 27-2115(f)(3)(i)). And for a pest violation under § 27-2017.4(a), NYC Admin Code § 27-2017.8(b) requires the certification to carry, where applicable, an affidavit affirming the § 27-2017.8(a) work practices were properly performed — the paperwork must describe the physical work, not merely assert the bugs are gone.

One NYC clock is narrower than owners assume: the thirty-day inspection deadline at NYC Admin Code § 27-2017.6(b), with a notice of violation served ten days later under § 27-2017.6(c), is written for visible mold under § 27-2017.3(a) and for cockroach, mouse, and rat complaints under § 27-2017.4(b) — not for the bedbug branch at § 27-2017.4(a).

A NYC correction date can move, but only on the record: § 27-2115(c) lets HPD postpone it on a showing, made within the time already set, that prompt action was taken but correction cannot be completed because of technical difficulties, inability to obtain materials, funds, or labor, or inability to gain access. Certifying falsely instead carries its own penalty — § 27-2115(a)(4)(ii) sets $250 to $500 for each hazardous violation falsely certified.

What happens if a New York City owner does not correct the violation?

HPD can stop asking and do the work itself. Through HPD’s Emergency Repair Program, HPD and its contractors may correct conditions a NYC owner has not, the City bills the owner through the Department of Finance, and any HPD repair charge billed by DOF that goes past due constitutes a tax lien on the property that bears interest and may be sold or foreclosed on. HPD warns NYC owners that City procurement and wage rules can make that work far more expensive than what the owner could have arranged independently.

The knock-on effect is as costly as the bill: HPD states that a NYC owner cannot certify correction, file for a Dismissal Request inspection, or request a Violation Reissuance while HPD-related charges are pending with DOF, so an unpaid repair charge blocks the very mechanism used to clear the record.

On the annual bedbug report, one structural point matters, because it is where invented numbers circulate: the Housing Maintenance Code attaches no bedbug-report-specific penalty schedule to NYC Admin Code § 27-2018.2. A violation issues for failure to file, and the penalty then runs through the general § 27-2115(a) schedule at whatever class HPD assigns. We do not publish the dollar range circulating in secondary commentary, because no primary NYC source we retrieved states it.

Which New York City buildings are covered, and which are exempt?

The two NYC bedbug duties do not have the same reach, and that is where owners of small buildings guess wrong. NYC Admin Code § 27-2018.2 places the annual report on “an owner of a multiple dwelling.” NYC Admin Code § 27-2018.1 places the vacancy-lease bedbug history notice on owners of “housing accommodations subject to this code” — a wider phrase — so a NYC owner outside the annual-report duty should not assume the notice duty stops with them.

“Multiple dwelling” is a New York State Multiple Dwelling Law term that governs in NYC because MDL § 3(1) applies that chapter to every city of 325,000 or more people, and HPD issues its notices of violation under both the NYC Housing Maintenance Code and the state Multiple Dwelling Law. MDL § 4(7) defines a multiple dwelling as one occupied as the residence or home of three or more families living independently of each other — so a NYC one- or two-family rental falls outside the § 27-2018.2 annual report, while the third unit brings the whole building in.

The exemptions from the NYC remediation article are narrow. NYC Admin Code § 27-2017.12(c) removes from it, other than § 27-2017.10, a unit held by a cooperative housing corporation or owned as a condominium and occupied by the shareholder of record on the proprietary lease or the record owner, or that person’s family. Section 27-2017.12(d) removes units owned and operated by the New York City Housing Authority. Note what neither does: a rented NYC co-op or condo unit is not exempt, because the exemption turns on owner occupancy.

Nothing in that NYC article can be contracted away. Section 27-2017.12(a) voids any agreement by which an occupant purports to waive its benefit or protection, and makes an owner who seeks such a waiver guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500 or up to six months’ imprisonment or both, plus a civil penalty of up to $500 per violation. A NYC lease rider assigning bedbug treatment costs to the tenant is exposed on exactly this section.

Can a New York City tenant refuse access for bedbug treatment?

No. NYC Admin Code § 27-2008 states that no tenant shall refuse to permit the owner, or the owner’s agent or employee, to enter the tenant’s dwelling unit or other space under the tenant’s control to make repairs or improvements required by the code or other law, or to inspect for compliance — provided entry is at a reasonable time and in a reasonable manner. If a NYC tenant keeps refusing, NYC Admin Code § 27-2009(3) makes a conviction of the tenant for unreasonable refusal of access for code-required repairs a ground for summary proceedings to recover possession. That is a conviction-dependent route, not a self-help one: a NYC owner who simply lets themselves in has left the protection of § 27-2008.

Cooperation is allocated by law, not by lease. NYC Admin Code § 27-2006(a) makes a NYC tenant responsible for code violations the tenant had the power to prevent — those caused by the willful act, or gross negligence, neglect, or abuse, of the tenant, a household member, or a guest. But § 27-2006(c) closes the loop NYC landlords most often hope is open: a tenant’s liability does not relieve the owner of the duty to keep the premises, and every part of them, in good repair. New York State’s MDL § 80 says the same: the owner shall keep every part of the multiple dwelling clean and free from vermin, and subdivision 5 preserves owner liability except where a violation is caused and continued solely by the tenant.

The practical NYC consequence is documentary. A refused entry does not pause the § 27-2115(c) correction clock by itself; it supports a postponement only if the owner makes that showing while the correction period is still running. Build the written record of each access attempt, notice, and missed appointment before the period expires, not after.

Frequently Asked Questions About the NYC Bedbug Filing

HPD’s own Bedbug Annual Reports FAQ answers several questions landlords and tenants commonly raise about how the filing actually works in practice (NYC HPD, Bedbug Annual Reports Frequently Asked Questions):

• Is the annual filing per-unit or building-wide? The Annual Bed Bug Report is an aggregate, building-level report — the four counts above (total units, infested units, eradicated units, re-infested units) cover the whole multiple dwelling. It is not a unit-by-unit infestation history. That is a meaningful contrast with the state-administered lease-signing disclosure described above, which is specific to the individual unit as well as the building.
• Must an owner file even if the building has had zero bedbug activity? Yes — a bedbug-free building still must file the Annual Bed Bug Report every December.
• What if a tenant refuses to share bedbug history with the owner? The owner must employ best efforts to collect information from all units; the filing does not require unanimous tenant cooperation to proceed.
• Do hotels, co-ops, and condominiums have to file? Yes to all three — HPD’s FAQ confirms hotels and both co-operative and condominium buildings are covered by the same filing duty as other multiple dwellings.
• Can an owner design their own filing-receipt notice for tenants? No — owners must distribute or post the exact electronic form HPD generates to confirm the filing; a self-made substitute does not satisfy the requirement.
• Does a tenant who signs or renews a lease after the December filing still get the bedbug history? Yes — HPD requires owners to provide the bedbug infestation history to any tenant whose new or renewal tenancy begins after the Annual Bed Bug Report has been submitted.

Filing problems or portal access issues go to HPD’s Enforcement Desk directly, rather than through 311 (NYC HPD, Bedbug Annual Reports Frequently Asked Questions).

Bedbug Violations Are Legally Hazardous — Class B, 30-Day Correction Window

NYC Health (the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene) classifies a confirmed bedbug infestation as a Class B violation — the city’s “hazardous” tier, not a lower-priority Class A condition. Once cited, the landlord has 30 days to correct the problem, and correction means both eliminating the current infestation and keeping the affected units from becoming reinfested — a one-time treatment that does not hold is not treated as compliant (NYC Health, Bedbugs: Information for Tenants and Building Owners). Bedbugs are specifically named among the pests a building owner is legally required to eradicate; a tenant has the right to a bedbug-free unit and can file a complaint online or through 311 if the owner does not act.

Practical Prevention Steps for Tenants and Building Owners

Beyond the paperwork, NYC Health publishes specific prevention guidance directed separately at tenants and at building owners (NYC Health, Bedbugs: Information for Tenants and Building Owners):

• For tenants: ask the landlord or building manager to seal cracks and crevices that let bedbugs and other pests travel between units; never bring in furniture found on the street; if you believe you’ve been exposed to bedbugs, wash and dry affected clothing on high heat for at least 30 minutes, or seal it in a plastic bag until it can be washed.
• For building owners: give tenants information on identifying and preventing bedbugs; help tenants who cannot move furniture themselves or need help clearing clutter; encourage prompt reporting; once bedbugs are confirmed in a unit, notify and inspect every unit across, above, and below it; hire a licensed pest management professional rather than attempting DIY treatment; give tenants advance notice before using pesticides; be skeptical of any pest-control vendor promising elimination in a single visit, and prefer a vendor offering a warranty plus a follow-up visit; and inspect and thoroughly clean vacant units before a new tenant moves in.

Bedbugs enter homes by latching onto used furniture, luggage, and clothing, or by traveling along connecting pipes and wiring between units — which is why a single-unit infestation routinely triggers inspection of the surrounding units rather than treatment of just the reporting tenant’s apartment (NYC Health, Bedbugs: Information for Tenants and Building Owners).

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