Rent-to-own News - ISPA pushing for new bed bug laws

International Sleep Products Association officials are pushing for new state laws to protect consumers from preventable fire and health risks, including the growing bedbug epidemic.

The mattress industry trade group is leading efforts in several states to enact new and tougher laws to address the spread of the bugs in used and renovated mattresses.

In Florida, which has been hit hard with bedbug infestation, the legislature will consider ISPA-supported legislation that would require renovators of used mattresses to sanitize their products before resale, the association said in a press release. Currently, the state has no such requirement.

Other states where ISPA is working with legislators include Connecticut, Tennessee and New York.

The rent to own industry, which rents new and used home furnishings including mattresses has taken a proactive stance against bedbugs for more than 15 years, with dealers implementing their own stringent sanitization and treatment regimens for used bedding that include a combination of high heat and more traditional pest control measures.

Custom fitted bed bug resistant covers and mattresses featuring interwoven "tear off" layers are also popular with RTO dealers and customers.

UHR Rents, last month, announced the rental industry's first 'bed bug free" guarantee in which UHR promises to pick up merchandise and refund payments if any type of bed bug infestation is discovered during the first week of rental. In addition, the merchandise will be replaced free of charge for two weeks and in some cases, UHR will even send a professional out to treat affected areas of customer's homes. Full story.

"We are so convinced that we've become so proactive, that we're very comfortable giving our customers this guarantee," Lewallen said. "They should have the confidence that they can rent from us without concern of bed bugs."

Over the years, Lewallen -- based in bed bug capital Cinncinati -- has developed a highly specialized system for dealing with the parasites which includes isolating the infested products and cooking them inside a truck at 125 degrees fahrenheit to kill both bedbugs and their eggs.

Returning UHR mattresses and furniture are then cleaned and disinfected before being re-wrapped and prepared for professional upholstery cleaning.

The country's two largest rent to own companies, Rent-A-Center and Aaron's, implemented standardized treatment protocol for bed bug prevention and treatment a number of years ago.

As bedbugs have reemerged as a pest control issue in recent years, the risk that consumers buying used and renovated mattresses will inadvertently bring these creatures into their homes has also increased, ISPA said.

Long time bedding dealer David Gradick, new accounts/marketing director for Serta's rental division in charge of state bedding laws and bedbug protocol, urged the International Association of Bedding and Furniture Law Officials (IABFLO) to also take a position on the issue as that body will be charged with inspections and enforcement.

But, given the potential impacts on the $7 billion rent to own industry, Graddick also urged caution in his email.

"This recent action by ISPA should be tempered with good judgment," Graddick said. "Most all rental stores follow some sort of tagging, cleaning, sanitization and logging process for their used furniture and mattresses. They are working hard to provide the customer with a quality, safe and clean product; new or used. We don’t want to unfairly burden the small business owner."

ISPA vice president of government relations and policy reiterated the associations move was not restricted to bed bug control measures but to overall used mattress safety as well.

"Though bedbugs are the most visibly recognizable threat from used mattresses, these beds may contain other hidden risks," said Christopher Hudgins, ISPA vice president of government relations and policy. "In addition to the public health risks of sleeping on a used mattress, too often these mattresses don't meet federal flammability requirements, meaning that renovated mattresses needlessly expose families to fire risks."