landlord bed bug issues- trying to force us to sign back dated forms

By Cooper

Coop

This gets a little hairy but I will break it down.
I moved into my complex August 15 2010. I live in a 2 bd with a roommate- the roommate had lived there for over a year with a previous roommate. The previous roommate moved out and I moved in, signing the renewal agreement.

While I was moving in, my new roommate was complaining of mosquito bites etc. well now we come to find out there are bed bugs in her room. I have not been bothered by them – it seems isolated to her room (but I realize that is highly unlikely to be the case).

I told management and they say we are responsible even though it is not addressed anywhere in our lease. When I pointed that out she got angry and said she would have the exterminator deal with it the next day. (They have an exterminator spray for roaches weekly).

Then I found a notice taped to my door saying that they would spray once and if the bugs come back we have to pay for it. Additionally they had attached a bed bug addendum (removing all of the responsibility off of landlords and onto tenants) told us to sign it — they had it dated to be effective Sept 1 2010. It is current October 2010.

I told her that I would not sign it- since A: we had signed a lease in August and this was not part of it
                                                        B: the bed bugs are already here

She told me that they would evict us if we don’t sign it. How can they legally do that!?!?!?

I have called every helpline to find out what my options are but I have not received any help yet.

Also- since the bugs were already there when I moved in, does that matter? Can my roommate and I be treated differently (since they are in her room, she had lived there for over a year already and I just moved int) or will we be treated as one?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!

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