Grand Point Apartments    |    Stephanie    |    Columbia    ,    Maryland 21045    Landlord Complaint 20-1410

I've been renting from Grand Point Apartments since 2009. In January 2011 my wife, 2-year-old son, and I started noticing bite marks on our arms and legs. After doing research we suspected that it was from bed bugs and immediately told the front office staff at the beginning of February. We called several times after that and they finally sent someone out to spray for generic bugs after we let them know our son was being bitten. The bites persisted and finally at the beginning of March my wife went back into the front office expressing that she had been bitten on her breast. Just by luck, the Terminex supervisor was there and told her where to look for bed bugs. That afternoon she found bedbugs on the box spring in the master bedroom. The Terminex supervisor was still on the property, came over to inspect and found the infestation had spread to our son's room across the hall. We hadn't come into contact with anyone who had bedbugs. The only change in our normal routine was that at the beginning of the year we had started working out in Grand Point's weight room, located in the basement of the high rise section. We later found out from tenants that the high rise section had been infested with bedbugs. We were then told by the Terminex supervisor that they would come and "wand over" our things, essentially freezing the bedbug eggs so they couldn't hatch. When the exterminator came out, he used a powdery substance that wouldn't kill the eggs, but would be eaten and taken back to the colony. At this time we found out the "wand" was banned 5 to 10 years ago. It is my belief that Grand Point knew about the potential for bedbugs spreading from the high rise to other sections of the complex. Furthermore, we believe they knew we had bedbugs in February but did not take effective action until late March. Now they will not let us out of our lease without giving 60 days notice and one months rent. This is an unnecessary expense as we have already lost $2500 to $3000 in belongings due to the infestation and we are all still being bitten.