District 6 Supervisor Jane Kim is launching a new offensive against bed bugs, which have now become a citywide epidemic. She's introduced an ordinance that will codify several recommendations made by a working group that's been convening on the problem over the past year, including one taken from a similar provision in New York that requires all landlords and property managers to provide prospective tenants with written disclosure of the property’s bed bug infestation and abatement history.

As of 2011, San Francisco became the country's 10th most bed bug-plagued city, which is embarrassing but not as embarrassing as New York, which ranks Numero Uno.

Kim's proposed ordinance, which will be taken up by the Board after their August recess, will also require the city to provide clear and accessible information on how to properly abate bedbug infestations to tenants, landlords, and exterminators. Also, it will require exterminators to report to the Department of Public Health on a monthly basis the number of units they have treated, allowing the city to better prioritize neighborhoods in which infestations seem to be increasing for greater enforcement and pest control intervention.

For her part, Supervisor Kim says, "This is the culmination of over two years of work by community advocates and city staff, and I’m proud that we are working to address an issue that cuts across socio-economic lines and impacts everyone from high-end office buildings to residential hotels housing our low-income residents."

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