7-28-850 Tenant responsibility.

   (a)   Within 5 days after a tenant finds or reasonably suspects a bed bug infestation in the presence of the tenant's dwelling unit, the tenant shall notify, in writing, the landlord of any known or reasonably suspected bed bug infestation in the presence of the tenant's dwelling unit, clothing, furniture or other personal property located in the building, or of any recurring or unexplained bites, stings, irritation, or sores of the skin or body which the tenant reasonably suspects is caused by bed bugs.

   (b)   The tenant shall cooperate with the landlord in the control, treatment and eradication of bed bug infestation found or reasonably suspected to be, in the tenant's rental unit. As part of that cooperation, the tenant shall:

      (1)   not interfere with inspections or treatments;

      (2)   after reasonable notice in writing to the tenant, grant access at reasonable times to the tenant's rental unit for purposes of bed bug infestation inspection or treatment;

      (3)   make any necessary preparations, such as cleaning, dusting or vacuuming, prior to treatment in accordance with any pest management professional's recommendations; and

      (4)   dispose of any personal property that a pest management professional has determined cannot be treated or cleaned before the treatment of the tenant's dwelling unit.

      (5)   prior to removing any personal property from the tenant's dwelling unit, safely enclose in a plastic bag any such personal property while it is being moved through any common area of the building, or stored at any other location. The personal property shall remain enclosed in a plastic bag until such time that the property is either properly disposed of or treated and no evidence of beg bug infestation can be found and verified.

   (c)   Prior to inspection or treatment for bed bug infestation, the landlord shall send a written notice to the tenant of the rental unit being inspected or treated, which advises the tenant of the tenant's responsibilities under this section and sets forth the specific preparations required by the tenant.

   (d)   This section shall not apply to any tenant of an assisted living or shared housing establishment, or similar living arrangement, when the establishment is required to provide the tenant assistance with activities of daily living or mandatory services. In such cases, the landlord will be responsible to make the necessary preparations, such as cleaning, dusting or vacuuming, of the tenant's rental unit prior to treatment in accordance with any pest management professional's recommendations. For purposes of this subsection, the terms “assistance with activities of daily living”, “assisted living establishment”, “mandatory services” and “shared housing establishment” have the meaning ascribed to those terms in the Illinois Assisted Living and Shared Housing Act, 210 ILCS 9/10.

(Added Coun. J. 6-5-13, p. 55787, § 5)

Editor's note – Per Coun. J. 6-5-13, p. 55787, § 6, §§ 7-28-810 – 7-28-900 become effective on 12-23-13.