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Bedbugs help!

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gml120

Junior Member
I live in a 2 unit dwelling in PA. My neighbors were infested with bedbugs. Landlord paid to treat that side but not my side. Now I have bedbugs and she is telling me I have to pay to have them eradicated. I'm also over a barrel because we just bought a house and were planning on moving next month but she is still refusing to take care of the bedbug issue. There were 2 bugs confirmed as bedbugs by a licensed exterminator in the last 2 months.
Help?
 


Just Blue

Senior Member
I live in a 2 unit dwelling in PA. My neighbors were infested with bedbugs. Landlord paid to treat that side but not my side. Now I have bedbugs and she is telling me I have to pay to have them eradicated. I'm also over a barrel because we just bought a house and were planning on moving next month but she is still refusing to take care of the bedbug issue. There were 2 bugs confirmed as bedbugs by a licensed exterminator in the last 2 months.
Help?
If I were you I would just have an exterminator treat your apt for the bugs. You really don't want to bring them into your new home.

Eat the 3 or 4 hundrend dollars.

BTW...I am a renter in Massachusetts.

Enjoy you new home!!

Blue
 

gml120

Junior Member
The lowest quote I received is $1400 for a heat treatment. The bug company told me that chemical spraying only works if done monthly over 6 months for around $700. I don't have that kind of money laying around or the luxury of paying a mortgage and rent for 6 months while the apt is being treated. I can't understand why the landlord shouldn't have to pay for my side when she paid for the other side. The only reference I could find in PA law is:

In Pennsylvania, tenants are protected by the Implied Warranty of Habitability, which guarantees “at a minimum . . . the premises must be safe and sanitary.” Pugh v. Holmes, 384 A.2d 1234. As discussed in a prior blog article, the implied warranty protects against “(a) lack of hot water; (b) lack of heat; (c) leaky roof; (d) infestation (****roaches, mice, and lice); (e) broken steps at the front and back doors to the property; (f) defective wiring; (g) defective windows; (h) overflowing toilets; (i) presence of lead paint; and (j) improper ventilation for a heating system.” While the issue has not yet been specifically addressed by the appellate courts, there is little reason to believe that bed bugs will not be treated as other infestations and, therefore, bed bugs are the responsibility of the landlord.

Can anyone confirm / deny this? Or is it up to a judge? I'm planning on treating my stuff before we move as much as possible - but looking ahead, can I sue her if my new house is infested being that she knew about the apartment infestation and did nothing? Can I sue to get my security deposit back if she keeps it to pay for bedbugs?

Sorry for the wall of text but I've gotten nowhere in phonecalls to lawyers, housing authorities, and health/code people over the last 2 weeks.
 

BL

Senior Member
Call the code inspector's Office and file a complaint . It's rediculous the Housing authotity I I live in use to do all Apts, then Hud cut funding they want to do one at a time. Not cool ..
 

gml120

Junior Member
Thanks all for the replies! I'm calling code enf tomorrow. Also found out that the new tenants next door who moved in less than a month ago are being bit and landlord never mentioned anything about ever having a problem...
 

Gail in Georgia

Senior Member
"Also found out that the new tenants next door who moved in less than a month ago are being bit and landlord never mentioned anything about ever having a problem"

None of that is your business. Perhaps they brought the new batch in since you indicated the landlord has previously treated this rental unit.

Gail
 

Isis1

Senior Member
Thanks all for the replies! I'm calling code enf tomorrow. Also found out that the new tenants next door who moved in less than a month ago are being bit and landlord never mentioned anything about ever having a problem...
to be quite honest...i'm a little puzzled at the thought of waiting until someone else takes care of the problem.

i've dealt with lice. sterilized my entire home. no professional services. took me 33 hours. no sleep.

i've dealt with bed bugs. still, no professional services. took me 3 days of sterilizing the mattresses. and a bottle of bleach.

my landlady didn't even KNOW about the issue until i already handled it. and she lived on the property.
 

gml120

Junior Member
Well the original infestation was not caused by me, it was the filthy pigs she rented to next door who moved out and she paid to treat that place, but not my place which caused me to be infested. Why should I be paying for other people's bugs?
Also, what's going to prevent her from suing me for treatment after I move out? She specifically wants the expensive heat treatment paid by me before we move which lets her enjoy the 2 year warranty on infestation, giving me no warranty on my stuff in a new place.
 

quincy

Senior Member
Well the original infestation was not caused by me, it was the filthy pigs she rented to next door who moved out and she paid to treat that place, but not my place which caused me to be infested. Why should I be paying for other people's bugs?
Also, what's going to prevent her from suing me for treatment after I move out? She specifically wants the expensive heat treatment paid by me before we move which lets her enjoy the 2 year warranty on infestation, giving me no warranty on my stuff in a new place.
I would not (necessarily) blame the bed bug infestation on the "filthy pigs" who lived next door.

Bed bugs can get into a residence through shipping containers, wires, plumbing, rain gutters, old furniture - this according to Pennsylvania State University's College of Agricultural Sciences and their fact sheet on bed bugs, accessible through the following link: http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/bedbugs/

You were correct that remedies to a bed bug infestation in a rental appear to reside in Pennsylvania's "implied warranty of habitability." The case you cited earlier, Pugh v Holmes, was a good one to cite. Here is a link to the case: http://law.justia.com/cases/pennsylvania/superior-court/1978/253-pa-super-76-2.html

Two additional links for you provide access to articles written, first, by the FreeAdvice Staff ("Bed Bugs Treatment and Extermination in Rental") and, second, by Nolo ("Pennsylvania Tenant Rights to Withhold Rent or 'Repair and Deduct' ").

http://real-estate-law.freeadvice.com/real-estate-law/landlord_tenant/who-pays-for-bed-bug-treatment-extermination.htm

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/pennsylvania-tenant-rights-withhold-rent-repair-deduct.html

Bed bugs are difficult to eradicate and your landlord may have thought the problem was solved with the treatment of the neighboring apartment.

Good luck.
 

gml120

Junior Member
Thank you quincy!
I understand the bugs can be sneaky in how they get in and I can't say 100% that one didn't hitchhike on my shoe into my apartment but I was there the day the "filthy pigs" told the landlord to her face: "We have bedbugs, I brought them from my mom's house because she has them. We're moving out so we don't have to deal with it." We had zero bugs until they moved out, she treated that side, it appeared to be clean but after 20 days of it being vacant over there, I saw my first bug sitting next to me on the couch. She did have pest guys come in and search my place but found no signs of infestation (blood trails, exoskeletons, etc.), just the 3 total bugs I found and saved in a jar for him. Now that next door is rented and inhabited again, I haven't seen a bug.

I'm just leery over bringing some to my new house and angry that even though the pest control people told her to treat my side she ignored it, and now it's a problem she's trying to make me foot the bill, and I quote: "I would have the money to heat treat your place right now if my other tenants would pay their rent. But I don't have the money so you have to pay for it if you don't want to risk taking them with you."

It's really a shame because for the 5 years we were here we actually maintained a friendly relationship and I really don't want to get courts and lawyers involved but I can't understand why if I have some money I'm supposed to pay but the drug-dealer welfare pigs who walked out and disappeared just get off scott-free.
 

BL

Senior Member
Thank you quincy!
I understand the bugs can be sneaky in how they get in and I can't say 100% that one didn't hitchhike on my shoe into my apartment but I was there the day the "filthy pigs" told the landlord to her face: "We have bedbugs, I brought them from my mom's house because she has them. We're moving out so we don't have to deal with it." We had zero bugs until they moved out, she treated that side, it appeared to be clean but after 20 days of it being vacant over there, I saw my first bug sitting next to me on the couch. She did have pest guys come in and search my place but found no signs of infestation (blood trails, exoskeletons, etc.), just the 3 total bugs I found and saved in a jar for him. Now that next door is rented and inhabited again, I haven't seen a bug.

I'm just leery over bringing some to my new house and angry that even though the pest control people told her to treat my side she ignored it, and now it's a problem she's trying to make me foot the bill, and I quote: "I would have the money to heat treat your place right now if my other tenants would pay their rent. But I don't have the money so you have to pay for it if you don't want to risk taking them with you."

It's really a shame because for the 5 years we were here we actually maintained a friendly relationship and I really don't want to get courts and lawyers involved but I can't understand why if I have some money I'm supposed to pay but the drug-dealer welfare pigs who walked out and disappeared just get off scott-free.
Ueah. wel; when yhis p;ace use to do common sence they tore my lining off the box springs said one I see there'as sabout 3 inside ,NOT. Rooaches , they don't treat surroundind anymore . BS I hate the neighbors roaches incroching on me ,haven't seen none today . I left the powder from sprays where they are ,kills m eventully . Frigging neighbors some are filthy.
 

quincy

Senior Member
You're welcome, gml120.

If you want to discuss what options are available to you, you can go to the Pennsylvania Bar Association website and look for free legal aid clinics in your area. Most free clinics will handle landlord/tenant disputes.

The Bar site: http://www.pabar.org

But, with some luck, your bed bug problem has already been solved with the other apartment's treatment and the 3 bugs you found in your apartment were the sole remaining bugs from the infestation next door - so you may not need to do anything at all.
 

FarmerJ

Senior Member
One thing you may want to do is to rent a self storage unit where you can very slowly and carefully pack up & seal boxes as you also take steps to treat each box to prevent bringing them with you. Im sure you must have things like so called holiday things , winter things etc that would be easier to not have to move last minute.
 

quincy

Senior Member
One thing you may want to do is to rent a self storage unit where you can very slowly and carefully pack up & seal boxes as you also take steps to treat each box to prevent bringing them with you. Im sure you must have things like so called holiday things , winter things etc that would be easier to not have to move last minute.
To go along with FarmerJ's advice, here is yet another Pennsylvania State University College of Agricultural Sciences fact sheet, which borrows suggestions from a New York City guide on bed bugs (New York City has had a major problem with bed bugs):

http://extension.psu.edu/pests/ipm/resources/factsheets/preventing-and-getting-rid-of-bed-bugs-safely

You can scroll down to the section that covers what to do after an infestation to prevent another one. There is a list of important steps you may want to take before moving from the apartment into your new home.

Again, I wish you good luck.
 

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