Stewart Langley Properties    |    Katrina Chase    |    Lynchburg    ,    Virginia 24502    Landlord Complaint 23-0342

A brief timeline of the dispute is the following: -After the July storm which left our apartment powerless, I went out of town for about 2 weeks. -When I came back, I noticed bed bugs around. I thought they showed up because of humidity since there was no AC, so I decided to wait and see for 2 more weeks. -They were still there, so I notified the manager of the problem on the beginning of September, which means it has been approximately 1 month and half by the time I notified them. -Dodson extermination came and did a quick inspection under the covers of the beds. -A day letter, I got a letter saying "...because of the amount and color of the bedbugs that were in your apartment...they could have originated from something in your apartment..." -The letter held me liable for 1775$ in extermination costs. I went and talked to my neighbor asking him if he got the same letter. He showed me his which asked for only $775. -I asked the manager( Stephanie Bowling) why I was charged 1000$ more even though we both received the same exact reasons , and I was told it was because I was also taking care of the other neighbors' extermination costs. -There are no laws that make one apartment responsible for another apartment. So I was told that I would get a call from her manager (Katrina Chase) to discuss the issue. I even asked if I could call her, and I still did not get her contact info. -After about 2 weeks of waiting, on Sept. 27, instead of a call I got a summons for unlawful detainer which claimed the $1775 in 'damages'. -The next day I called back and Katrina Chase picked up. So I talked to her. She told me the same thing as the previous manager and also let me know that she has the right to evict since I did not report the problem in time. She said I waited for 6 month before telling them but I have no idea where she got that information. - I believe that to properly resolve this issue, I should not pay a $1000 more. Also, I should not be threatened to get evicted for negligence since the other neighbors did not even report the problem and they got their extermination without a hassle and ridiculous costs. - Most of all, the property managers should not take fact that I honestly reported the issue as an admission of my responsibility for extermination costs. If I wanted an easy out of the bedbug problem, I would not have renewed the lease for another and just leave blaming my neighbors as the cause of bedbugs.