poffbrittney
Junior Member
This matter is in Virginia. On August 29,2015, my husband and I signed the lease to a two bedroom apartment, and moved our one year old son in along with us (of course). Well, we found out in mid October that our whole apartment is infested with bedbugs. We contacted our previous landlord and she confirmed that our old apartment was clear of any bedbugs, therefore confirming our believing we moved into the infestation without knowing. Luckily nobody in my family has been bitten, but upon further examination, we found the nest of the bedbugs in the crease between the carpet and the wall, confirming once again, that we did not bring these bugs into the apartment. When I called my landlord (who did NOT act surprised about the topic of my calling), he advised us to just move out of the apartment (in just a a matter of weeks so he can exterminate the apartment without our now infested belongings in the apartment) letting us out of our lease with no court involved or anything.
My question is, can I legally get my deposit back considering how I have to exterminate ALL of my belongings (all of our clothes, beds, couches, dressers, etc.) before moving them into a new apartment, so I do not take them with me? And if they say no, we can't have our deposit back, would I have a strong case if I took them to court? Would I lose more money than gaining any? I've lost a lot because of this. I have not paid November's rent because we are not living at the infested apartment, but our infested belongings are still there. They're asking for Nov. rent also. Keep in mind, we moved into these bugs and did not bring them into the home.
Note: Upon first looking at the apartment, the cleaning lady they hired to clean their apartments, told my husband and I that she (quote) "did not clean the apartment very good because I thought if they new tenants were clean people, they would clean it again themselves." If court has to happen, can the cleaning lady not properly cleaning, be the reason for all of this? If she would've cleaned properly in the first place she would've noticed something and saved my family and the landlord all of this trouble.
Thank you in advance for any and all information you give to me. It is much appreciated. Needing help and don't know where to turn!
My question is, can I legally get my deposit back considering how I have to exterminate ALL of my belongings (all of our clothes, beds, couches, dressers, etc.) before moving them into a new apartment, so I do not take them with me? And if they say no, we can't have our deposit back, would I have a strong case if I took them to court? Would I lose more money than gaining any? I've lost a lot because of this. I have not paid November's rent because we are not living at the infested apartment, but our infested belongings are still there. They're asking for Nov. rent also. Keep in mind, we moved into these bugs and did not bring them into the home.
Note: Upon first looking at the apartment, the cleaning lady they hired to clean their apartments, told my husband and I that she (quote) "did not clean the apartment very good because I thought if they new tenants were clean people, they would clean it again themselves." If court has to happen, can the cleaning lady not properly cleaning, be the reason for all of this? If she would've cleaned properly in the first place she would've noticed something and saved my family and the landlord all of this trouble.
Thank you in advance for any and all information you give to me. It is much appreciated. Needing help and don't know where to turn!