Bed Bugs – Grounds for terminating a lease ?

By Tenant

I moved into an apartment in Boston one month ago.  About a week and a half ago, I found a bed bug after experiencing several bites all over my body.  I contacted our onsite management contact, and he told me that the two apartments below us have had a bed bug problem for several months.  They treated our apartment once (they claim they did this preventatively) before we moved in, and we have obtained a document proving this treatment.  However, even though Boston Housing dictates that they should be treating all adjacent units to the effected united, the management company has not been doing so all along.  I did NOT have bed bugs/have never had them before nor had I been traveling – I’m positive I got them in this building.  I have had to spend several hundred dollars on mattress covers, a new vacuum (mine didn’t have a bag, but you need a vacuum with a bag to treat bed bugs), dry cleaning, laundry, etc.  I am covered in bites, cannot sleep, have nightmares when I’m sleeping elsewhere.  They have exterminated once, and I’m trying to cooperate with the management but they are not returning my calls.  The people in the other units say, despite extermination every few weeks, they still have bites everywhere.  Because this was known to be an issue before I signed the lease (and I have proof) and it’s effecting my health, can I terminating a lease ?  Is this a form of constructive eviction? Any advice would be wonderful  – I am dying to get out of this living situation.

Edited on: Wednesday, December 18th, 2013 7:50 am

One Response to “Bed Bugs – Grounds for terminating a lease ?”

My response: (We welcome stories, examples, explanations, answers and a touch of your personality)
 

d b

February 16th, 2011 7:30 pm

My friend found a bedbug on the floor in the foyer, I immediately reported to office, after having to wash, dry and put all clothing in bins, I had the first treatment, then there had to be 3 more at 2 week intervals to make sure I was “bug free”, which I was when I moved in, so anyway, they are now trying to bill me for the service, the service for connecting apartments, and obviously cant count, because they don’t even know how often he was here. A friend told me they ended up having some and the apartment complex was responsible, especially since I had already lived here bed bug free for 7 months, if anyone knows the deparment I need to get ahold of, let me know, I have no intentions on paying for something I did not havbae when I moved in and appeared 7 months later.


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