Bed bug inspections, other housing agency requirements advanced

A measure requiring the Omaha Housing Authority to control bed bug infestations advanced to select file March 20 after lawmakers amended it to include two other bills related to urban affairs.

Under LB287, introduced by the Urban Affairs Committee, a housing agency in a metropolitan class city would have certain responsibilities relating to bed bugs. Omaha is the state’s only metropolitan class city.

Omaha Sen. Terrell McKinney, the committee’s chairperson, said OHA currently is involved in a class action lawsuit related to bed bug infestations at some of its residential buildings.

“It is very heartbreaking that people — Nebraskans — have to live in such conditions,” he said.

Before renting a dwelling unit, a housing agency would be required to visually inspect the unit for evidence of bed bugs. It also would be required to disclose to a prospective tenant if an adjacent unit currently is infested with or being treated for bed bugs.

The bill would prohibit an agency from showing, renting or leasing a unit that the agency knows or reasonably suspects has a bed bug infestation.

If a person who finds or reasonably suspects a bed bug infestation notifies the agency, it would have to inspect and obtain remedial services from a pest control professional within a certain timeframe. The agency would be responsible for investigation and remediation costs.

A committee amendment, adopted 26-2, replaced the bill with an amended version of the original proposal as well as the provisions of two other bills heard by the committee this session.

Under the amendment, a housing agency would have 10 days to acknowledge a bed bug complaint. If an infestation is found, the agency would have to obtain and provide remedial services within 21 days.

Additionally, an agency would be required to:
• provide tenants with reasonable notice in advance of entering a dwelling unit for purposes of inspection or bed bug remediation;
• provide tenants affected by a bed bug complaint with notice of the pest control professional’s determination about the unit within 10 days; and
• maintain a written record of all complaints and control measures provided for two years.

The provisions of LB514, sponsored by McKinney, would authorize a metropolitan class city to regulate any housing authority in the city by ordinance. Among other regulations, a city could provide for code enforcement, pest control and regular inspections as well as set penalties for code violations.

Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha supported LB287 and the amendment. He said the Legislature recently has passed measures to address problems at OHA that might better be solved by the city council, which confirms the agency’s board members.

“The reason that the city of Omaha has not engaged in more oversight of the housing authority is because they claim that they don’t have the authority that this bill would grant them,” Cavanaugh said.

Also included in the committee amendment are the amended provisions of LB321, introduced by Bellevue Sen. Rita Sanders.

Currently, three members of a sanitary and improvement district’s board of trustees are elected by the legal property owners resident within the district at an election held six years after the first election of trustees and at each following election. Under the amendment, those members would be elected at the election held eight years after the district’s formation.

Sanders said the extra time would allow developers to work more closely with an SID board before the end of a project.

She said the amendment also would clarify current law to ensure that neighboring property owners who benefit from certain SID improvements help pay for them.

LB287 advanced to select file on a vote of 29-1.