Has anyone taken a landlord to court over bed bugs?

Question

We rented a townhome and received keys on a Wednesday. By Friday we had moved a good bit of our stuff but not all. My husband and I decided that we would spend that night in the new place. Around midnight we started to notices these little bugs, as the place had been vacant I expected to see a few creepy crawlies, but then more and more started to come out. My husband noted that he thought they were coming from the baseboard. As it was so late I sent my landlord ( who lives in another state) and email telling him of the problem. The next morning I get an email from him saying that he had someone out the Saturday before to check for bed bugs but they didn’t find any...mind you..I NEVER mentioned bed bugs.
A POC came out that Saturday and confirmed there were bed bugs...a lot of them. There were nymphs all on the wall and eggs in some furniture that was left in the home. he told us we would need and initial treatment and 4 follow ups.
The landlord then told us he had bed bugs three years ago but it had not been a problem since he had it treated and that his previous tenants had not mentioned they had a problem. (a fact i find hard to believe with the extent of the infestation found by the POC) Either way, he agreed to have the home treated. My husband, who can be a hot head at times took it in stride and we chalked it up as a lesson learned.
The POC came out yesterday and spent 6 hours in the home doing the initial treatment. After he was done he called to tell me that it the bed bug treatment had gone well and as expected however while doing the treatment he found that the home also had a bad roach problem!!!!! Fortunately the problem is confined to the kitchen.
This sent my husband into a tailspin. He informed the landlord that while the bed bugs were bad enough but to now have roaches on top of that was not acceptable.

Well, luckily there were not many clothes there. What was left we washed or took to the dry cleaners. With advice from the POC, I even left my purse there :(
Our POC suggested leaving the stuff in the home until the 90 day treatment is complete. While we would have been perfectly fine with this (anything to make sure we don’t transfer them) this was not feasible for the LL (we have the sneaky suspicion he is just going to turn around and re-rent the place as soon as our things are out) So, since leaving the stuff there was not an option, we had to put everything in storage and have it treated there.

The Landlord refunded our deposit and move in prorate..but nothing more.

As you can image our expenses due to this have mounted (Storage, treatments,replacment of groceries and other items) not to mention to HUGE inconveniance..we have no seating because everything is in storage to be treated...

We really want to re-coup some of our exspenses. Has anyone ever taken a landlord to court over bedbugs???

Answer 1

You are absolutely within your right to pursue this in court to recoup some (if not all) of the costs incurred due to this problem.



I can't believe he prorated your move-in (if I read that correctly) and that you paid for the cost of treating the problem with no refund from the LL. He should have been the one financially responsible for this.



I would check out the Landlord/Tenant rights in your area. Calling your local District Attorney will give you the contact information you need to do this. File a complaint against this landlord, ASAP, as well.



As to how much you might get in restitution, that would depend on the judge. You could conceivably get every penny back, plus more to help cover the costs that you've accrued while looking for a new place (i.e. the cost of hotels, etc.).



Good luck with this!

Answer 2

mattress bugs are difficult to handle. you do no longer choose a bare unit (nevertheless it makes the activity lots less demanding) - yet you do choose a pest controller that is familiar with the undertaking and the thank you to handle the mattress bugs. Are the apartments interior the block all below a similar administration? if so landlord/supervisor could be treating total block, or a minimum of all apartments adjoining (up and all the way down to boot as sideways and for the time of from). in any different case tenants would desire to social gathering and charm some committee to pressurise landlords etc. As for the legalities this is predicated upon your settlement you want a legal expert to examine it and recommend.

Answer 3

The landlord is treating the problem, he has refunded your money. That's ALL he is required to do. Since the previous tenants did not report the problem, how was he supposed to know?

Answer 4

yes indeed.

check it out =)

http://bedbugger.com/2007/03/17/faq-where-can-i-read-about-bed-bug-lawsuits-can-you-help-me-find-a-lawyer/