Comments on: Landlord Bed Bugs!

By: Susan

Susan — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 19:53:12 +0000

im also dealin wit bed bu s i dont know wat else to do i need a solution i ave scars from bites all over my arms,back,ands

By: rey

rey — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 18:36:48 +0000

what if i cant afford the $35 processing fee are we just screwed ?

By: I am Bed Bug Food Supply

I am Bed Bug Food Supply — Fri, 25 May 2012 10:41:36 +0000

My boyfriend, nephew, niece and I moved into a Midtown apartment of Kansas City MO. Our lease started in August of 2011. By September, I had 5-6 red welted marks on my right knee. They itched pretty bad, but I couldn’t figure out what they were from. Then by the next week I had gotten another odd pattern of welted red marks above my left elbow. I believe it was about 7-8 of them. They too, were itchy. We didn’t have any pets, yet checked for fleas, nothing. Then I started getting scattered welts on my arms and legs. I finally couldn’t take it anymore and went to the ER. They were not just itchy anymore, they were getting painful depending on the location on my body. There were some infected with pus. They didn’t take too long before telling me that I had staph infection and since my niece has MRSA, they had to treat mine as such. I was prescribed Bactrim. It didn’t work for the 10 days I was required to orally take it. I eventually went back within three weeks and explained that it didn’t work and it’s only getting worse. The ER doctor (different one) said that it may be that Bactrim isn’t effective with me and prescribed another antibiotic, he also said that it looked like it could possibly be scabies. I asked if he was sure about that because I can’t imagine how I could get something like that. He said he was going to prescribe a cream for me to use against scabbies, to rule that out. I took them as directed and for the length of time needed. Nothing changed and it was getting worse. It was about December of 2011 that after being questioned about when it was occurring (which at the time was at night time when sleeping) and it was determined that it couldn’t be anything else but bed bugs. We went out and got bed bug bombs to rid of them. We set them off and left for the required time. I guess with that known that we bombed the place, I figured all was good to go. It didn’t take long before I was getting welts again and it was getting even worse!!! I would start to wake up from the little suckers and more and more, I couldn’t go back to sleep knowing that I would probably be bitten again! That went from waking up in the middle of the night from these critters to not sleeping at night at all. I was too afraid to go to bed all together knowing what was going to happen. We have reported the bed bugs to the landlord initially in January because we still continued to do something to rid of these things. They did nothing, of course it was no surprise because we had so many other issues as well, beginning with day 1 with the key to our front door, didn’t go to that lock, or deadbolt. Put it this way, it’s May and they still haven’t changed our locks as promised. That of course was just the least of our problems against the landlords. We would remind them of the bed bugs. FINALLY after all these months of insomnia….severe insomnia….of my niece having welts and waking up, now my nephew. For some reason, I think these bed bugs in the building here find females much sweeter than males. They don’t get the blood sucked out of them quite as badly. All four of us have serious sleep deprivation, although my boyfriend gets welts at times, it’s nothing like what I have experienced. However, because of my crying at night, waking at night in fear, NOT sleeping at all because of it, he has issues as well as it will wake him. So basically, nobody sleeps around here…back to FINALLY, I was given people to call and it lead me to the Neighborhood Preservation. They made two case numbers. One specifically for the bed bugs, the second, for the electrical issues (not grounded)…yes, my 5 year old niece as she put “an orange lightening came out and grabbed me”, she had her index finger and middle finger, burnt from it. I immediately took her to the ER to make sure that didn’t cause nerve damages or travel through her body. Anyway, the second case number also included rodents (although I personally would rather let them stay if the bugs will go) and possible asbestos (which we are pretty sure is the case as the walls are falling apart and that’s how we noticed it in the walls).

I just received a call back from an investigator yesterday, I am calling them first thing this morning.

I am a wreck. I can’t sleep, I can’t function. I am emotional. My anxiety is through the roof. Oh and by the way, I have so many scars and welts on my body (not really the face but a few), that I wouldn’t doubt that some strangers walking by me would make a bet that I was a total dying meth head!!! Those little suckers made me look like an addict and I do NOT do drugs. I don’t even smoke pot! Apparently am allergic because now under my eyes on the cheeks they have been swollen for at least a month now. I have gained weight from the depression! I hate going out in public and I just missed my son’s graduation in Florida because I feel like I will be what people will pay more attention to that day than the students that graduate!! I have never felt so ugly physically in my life!

Can I make a report with RPA as well, even if I have already gotten a case with the Neighborhood Preservation?

By: Kelly Whitten

Kelly Whitten — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:06:41 +0000

As a favor to the landlord I was vacumming the hallways of our complex…,..about 2 months after I started them my husband and I noticed small bites on just our arms. After doing a search we found out we had bed bugs…..we contacted the landlord who came over and checked all the apartments….One of the apartments was so infected with them that they were in the rug outside her apartment and I was vacumming them up…..The apartment renter NEVER TOLD ANYONE….. a week later the landlord had someone come in with a dog to confirm it and there were 3 apartments infected ours, hers and one other. A week after that she set up an appointment with a Pest Control company to come in the following monday (thats 3 weeks so far) We spent all week doing the “before treatment” list. Monday morning came and the Company arrived, about 30 mintues later she told them to go home that she decided NOT to use them and will check around for a better price in a couple of weeks. My family (and the others) are being eaten alive…my husband and I sleep like crap at night and my daughters school grades have dropped. WHAT DO WE DO?? IS THERE A TIME LIMIT FOR THE LANDLORD TO DO SOMETHING?? PLEASE HELP ME….

By: JMHKD

JMHKD — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:55:12 +0000

We moved into our new house rental about 3 weeks ago. 8 days after we started sleeping there my wife started waking up with bites. A few days later so did my 3 kids. After doing some checking in the house we found bedbugs coming from the baseboard and also coming from our boxsprings. We never had any problem with bugs in our old house. I called the landlord and was simply told “We have never had a problem or report of bed bugs.” They then informed me that I would have to call the exterminator and implied that it was my fault the place was crawling with these nasty creatures. I have researched and found that it takes 32-48 days for bed bugs to fully mature. We have found fully mature bed bugs in our bedroom. This leads me to believe that these bugs existed long before we moved in. I believe filing a complaint with RPA may be my next step.

By: CT landord

CT landord — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 21:07:10 +0000

This is all really silly. The MOST common way for “Beg Bugs” to be introduced to any space is buy hitching a ride on humans and there stuff. With that said to assume the landlord is responsible for a “Bed Bug” Infestation is insane. In MOST cases it is MUCH more likely that these bugs were introduced by the tenants. I own a duplex property that I also live in. I have NEVER had an issue with bed bugs in either of my apartments. My most current tenants have been getting bitten at night, we hadn’t found a shred of evidence until recently. My tenant contacted an exterminator who checked the place out and found evidence of bed bugs. This was the second time the exterminator was called, the first time he didn’t find anything. before I rented the apartment to the new tenants I replaced ALL of the flooring, carpets in bedrooms, and living room, hard wood in dining room. I stripped the floors down to the sub-floor. I also had all of the baseboard heaters disassembled cleaned and repainted. I had all of the wall switch and outlet cover plates removed to refinish the walls. We found NO evidence of any pest infestation. My tenants had been living in the apartment for close the 7 months before they noticed any “Bug Bites”. Whats more likely, that i did have bed bugs in the apartment before they moved in? Or they were brought in buy someone after the unit was leased? The law currently says its MY responsibility as the landlord to pay for this problem regardless. To me that seems insane. If you own a dog, and your dog brings fleas into the house, is that your landlords responsibility? Obviously if a landlord has other units with a history if this problem, or other nearby units that currently have this problem then yes the landlord should be responsible. Regardless of the facts RPA will beat a landlord into submission over an issue that more often than not can’t be proved either way. Bed bugs are not a product of a filthy environment. My tenants are VERY clean people. All it takes is a visit to a friends house, or a hotel, and suddenly the landlord is stuck with a $1200 pest control bill. Thats more than a months worth of rent in my area.
My tenant asked me to split the cost of pest control for his apartment, which i told him i could do NO problem. They are GREAT tenants, and i want them happy. But most of the renters im reading about here are CLUELESS as to how this problem starts, and just looking to make someone else pay. Get yourselves educated, and get used to the idea that you are just as responsible for your apartments interior as your landlord is.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 22:49:51 +0000

Towards the end of August of 2011, my dad and I got infected with bed bugs. We have no idea where they came from, yet no one knows. We’ve only been renting here at our apartment for a year and a few months. We bought spray from our local food store to try to get rid of them, but it turns out it didn’t work; only made it worse. We have never had this problem before and we keep our homes clean and bug free. My dad mentioned it to our landlord and she called the pest control to have them treat our apartment. For them to come here, we had to do our job and that was to bag all of our clothing and put other things in boxes(like things on our nightstands, dressers..etc). They have came a few times to do what they had to do, but apparently we have so much stuff that the pest control can’t get far with treating our home. Our apartment isn’t the biggest and we have very little room to put things. On their directions packet, they said we can put furniture in a storage unit and that they will inspect it all before it returns in our home, but we can’t afford it because of personal reasons. Also, we’re not allowed to have anything leave our apartment because the bugs could spread to other apartments. Anyways, the bed bugs have stopped after their first visit. Unfortunately, we’re getting blamed for something that no one has proof of and our landlord is making us pay quite a lot of money for the treatment of the bugs and we can’t afford it. I personally don’t think its fair for any landlord to make their residents pay for things that we have no control over and at the fact that there is no proof who brought the bed bugs in. Just because they are in a home, doesn’t mean that the person who lives there is responsible. Please help us! It would be very much appreciated.

By: Anon

Anon — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 19:58:24 +0000

I have perused all the previous posts here..and have realized that my problem may be rather unique.

The apartment I have rented in a part of an organized rental agency with official management offices etc. So when I called the management office to schedule an inspection, I was surprised to know that they would do it for free since they are the management. But then the nightmare started. They do it for free.. but wouldn’t come for an inspection whenever we want. They’d do it only between Tuesdays and Fridays and would come any time between 9am-3pm. I requested them to come over at 9am then so that I could still make it to work that day (albeit late).. But they refused and gave some absurd reason like they have no control over how long it takes them, can’t decide where the exterminators go first etc.

Having had gallons of blood sucked out of me by bedbugs, I caved and stayed at home an entire day and waited and my doorbell didn’t ring once (i continually called the management office to check why the exterminators weren’t there, but they claimed they couldn’t tell). But in the evening when I stepped out, there was a sign on my door: ‘We missed you’ from the exterminators. I am pretty sure the doorbell did not ring at all that day..but thought maybe I napped for a bit and missed it…

But turns out, that may not have been the case.. I have stayed back at home once again today.. and no one’s showed up (no sign either)..

I guess they are being so inconsiderate because they are doing this for free. But they are making it as inconvenient as possible for me. I tried to get it done from an independent exterminator, but turns out, legally it is the management’s responsibility.. so they have no authority over our area..

I’m so frustrated with this management… but I’m not sure if I can complain since, they have agreed to exterminate the bedbugs.. but have taken no action towards it yet.

By: Donna

Donna — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 22:25:29 +0000

I have residents with bed bugs that I am more than willing to treat. When the pest control tech advise them to get rid of couches and chairs and purchase mattress covers to be used after treatment, they refuse. Yet they continue to complain. What are my rights as the manager?

By: Joshua

Joshua — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 12:03:13 +0000

Ok, firstly, let me define the situation. I purchased my upscale unit which was newly renovated in late 2007, only to purchase a home elsewhere all of 3 months later in early 2008. I immediately rented out my unit at that time to my current tenant. I have had my share of issues with the tenant from smoking (and having weed) in my unit several times, and from him being late virtually every month with the rent (although I have assessed no late charges which I could have EACH time). I’m not going to mention the 4-5 times he has left his tv on full blast at all hours of the night without him even being there or having the cops called on him for other excessive noise … or maybe I will.

He is a rather dirty tenant, but that is his choice and lifestyle. However, it let to a roach infestation, which I promptly took care of with an exterminator. That corrected the problem right then and there, but the professional told me that he saw signs of bed bugs, and that the tenant brought that in and would be his responsibility. I notified the tenant about it and told him that he needs to throw out or treat his mattress and box spring immediately. He did not.

Now, about one year later, his unit is completely infested with bed bugs, and now they are coming through the floor boards of a unit above his. We have gotten a professional to quote $1,200 a unit to rid them but they may travel to other neighboring units. However they offered to sell the concentrated chemicals (3-step process) at $300 and train (for 30 minutes) a couple of the property maintenance guys on how to apply it correctly. I offered to split the cost with the other affected unit tenant (NOT OWNER!). Anyhow, our maintenance guys offered to graciously do it for $60 cash per unit .. so that is roughly $210 my cost. I offered to only assess $25 extra rent for the next three months ($75 total), which the tenant initially agreed. But now he is saying that he is not responsible for any of it, and that it is my issue and problem and I need to deal with it 100%!

The maintenance guys mentioned all of the prep work that needed to be done from moving all furniture and items to the center of the room, stripping beds, and washing ALL CLOTHES and drying in high heat, removing sofa cushions, etc.. and he is now holding up the process not wanting anyone in there unless he is there. I’ve been in his units several times, and it smells like an old locker room after a football game. He has piles, and I mean PILES of dirty clothes everywhere in 3-4 mounds, and I believe he only washes 2 days worth of clothes at a time to work. There is no way he would do all his laundry and all the other hanging (clean?) clothes he had before we did the treatment.

I’ve fought pretty hard for my tenant and have been pretty compassionate about his late rental payments and dirty living habits that have led up to this point, and now I have to take on this too? Is RPA saying that will still side with my tenant? I have been trying to help in every way I can I feel. I’m paying $210 out of pocket for a professional solution that WILL work, and he can’t even offer to help with $25 a month for 3 months?? Is it really all my responsibility?