As thousands of students move into Boston apartments this month, city officials are trying to prevent the return of some unwanted critters: bed bugs.
The Boston Inspectional Services Department and Boston Public Health Commission have been urging new tenants to avoid picking up discarded and used furniture and other items that can harbor bed bugs to thwart infestations. And in the coming week, city officials will be more vigilant in their search for health and sanitary code violations.
Inspectors planned to begin the ramped-up enforcement campaign by fanning across city neighborhoods known for heavy concentrations of students on Saturday to search for any violations of the city’s health and sanitary code. At the same time, the Boston Public Health Commission sent alerts to community health centers and local colleges on ways to prevent and deal with bed bug outbreaks.
Sept. 1 is a day when many leases expire and new ones begin as colleges open their doors for fall classes. With the Red Sox scheduled to play at Fenway Park and the Boston College Eagles slated to open the football season on Saturday, city officials were braced for more headaches than usual.
“We’re probably going to take what we’ve done before to a new level this year,” Inspectional Services Department Assistant Commissioner of Housing Dion Irish told Banker & Tradesman prior to the big move.
Inspectors who find code violations, such as non-functioning smoke or carbon monoxide detectors, can fine property owners up to $300. Landlords must make corrections within two weeks or face additional fines.
“If there’s an immediate response [to address violations], then we’ll work with those landlords,” said Irish.
Last year, the city issued 60 fines under an ordinance that enables inspectors to issue tickets for violations on the spot. Irish said city inspectors found more than 60 violations but gave landlords who had an onsite maintenance crews 24 hours to address violations.
“We want landlords to ensure that new tenants are moving into apartments that are clean and safe,” said Irish.
He added, “Apartments need to be free from any conditions that endanger any occupants.”
City trash collectors also were scheduled to make their rounds over the weekend, even though there typically is no trash pickup on Saturdays and Sundays. Irish said code enforcement officers were still issuing tickets to residents and property owners who put out trash and did not make arrangements for proper trash disposal.
Fines ranges from $25 for putting out trash too early or having loose trash and debris to $50 for overloading dumpsters or barrels. Those who put out excessive trash, which translates to over one cubic yard, can be fined $300 and violators caught dumping trash in other areas face $1,000 fines.
In all, 14 code enforcement offices will be out in city neighborhoods for about 10 days, said Captain Michael Mackan, head of code enforcement police. Most violations occur between Aug. 30 and Sept. 10 when college students return, Mackan noted.
In Allston Brighton, volunteers from a community-based organization plan to be out slapping warning stickers on discarded furniture and giving information to tenants about reporting any problems to the city.
Allston and Brighton have large student populations. Complaints about bed bugs in Allston Brighton peaked about three years ago. In an effort to prevent infestations, the Allston Brighton Community Development Corp. initiated an educational campaign aimed at residents and property owners.
The efforts seem to be paying off, with complaints about bed bugs on the decline in that neighborhood. The Allston Brighton CDC received 53 complaints from July 2006 to June 2007, compared to 94 a year earlier, according to Juan Gonzalez, director of community organizing for the group.
Gonzalez said there have probably been infestations that people didn’t report.
The CDC organized a conference on bed bugs more than a year ago to distribute information. The group also received $25,000 from the state to help families in Allston Brighton deal with bed bugs.
The funding, which was spent between August of last year and this past June, was used to purchase and distribute mattress covers to 45 families, and to provide incentives to property owners to treat units to exterminate infestations.
A maximum of $300 also was given to eight families to replace mattresses, according to Gonzalez.
Citywide, complaints of bed bugs have been steady, according to Leon Bethune, director of Boston Public Health Commission’s environmental health office.
Inspectional Services received 180 complaints of bed bugs citywide from July 2006 to June 2007, with just over 40 percent concentrated in Allston Brighton and East Boston, according to Lisa Timberlake, the department’s spokesman. The department could not provide the number of complaints it received a year earlier by Banker & Tradesman’s press deadline.
Bethune said the commission continues to receive one or two calls a month about bed bugs, but it’s not like the surge of complaints that the city received in 2004 and 2005.
“[Students] have a tendency of buying second-hand stuff and we’re trying to make people aware that if you do use used stuff there may be a chance you end up with an infestation,” said Bethune.
Tenants and landlords who have questions or want to report problems can call the mayor’s hotline at (617) 635-4500.
