I live in an apartment with 3 other people in Massachusetts - we each
have our own bedroom. I recently discovered bed bugs in my room. After
being bitten several times, I woke up itching and found an engorged
one under my pillow - followed by several more climbing the walls.
This was rather apalling.
After doing alot of reading, I see that I need to contact a
professional. My landlord is responsible for pest control such as ants
or mice; I assume bed bugs would fall under this, but I am not sure. |
Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
06 Sep 2005 13:25 PDT
pete...
While mice and ants typically come in from the outside,
bed bugs are more commonly carried in, via luggage, old
mattresses, furniture, and so on. However, they have been
known to travel from unit to unit through piping, so it's
possible that other tenants in your building are having
the same problem, and your landlord then SHOULD be very
interested in controlling the situation. You may want to
talk to your neighbors to see if they can confirm this.
A group appeal to the landlord is more likely to be
successful, and carry more weight legally.
If your landlord has reason to conclude that yours is an
isolated incident, and that you somehow carried the critters
in yourself, he is less likely to feel responsible.
As for the certainty you seek, I don't think anyone can
provide that without going over your lease in detail, and
investigating whether your neighbors are having the same
problem, so I won't post this as an answer without your
approval.
Let me know what you think, and what else you might need
to consider your question answered...
sublime1-ga
|
Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
06 Sep 2005 13:29 PDT
P.S.
This page from the Harvard School of Public Health has an
excellent discussion of the matter:
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/bedbugs/
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Request for Question Clarification by
justaskscott-ga
on
06 Sep 2005 15:52 PDT
In what town do you live in Massachusetts? (I have not researched
your question yet; but I presume that different towns have different
pertinent regulations.)
|
Clarification of Question by
petes99-ga
on
06 Sep 2005 16:52 PDT
Hi there,
Thanks for the help thus far! I too thought these things were simply a
myth! The Harvard link has quite a bit of useful information, as does
the flow chart. I will contact my landlord immediately - unfortunately
he is not a very attentive property manager so I will have to have
some faith. I certainly do not want to be responsible for the costs of
an exterminator.
I have postitively identified several of the bugs now, but have not
found signs of much infestation in my room which is fairly comforting.
To boot, I found a creepy centipede on my wall the night I tracked
down the bed bugs. And there is actually a spider behind my bed that
has caught several in its web. I keep my room rather neat and am a
very clean person myself, believe it or not.
I currently live in Newton, MA. My lease is a standard RHA (fixed
term) lease for the state, which does not mention critter infestation
of any kind.
pete
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Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
06 Sep 2005 21:00 PDT
pete...
You said, "I certainly do not want to be responsible for
the costs of an exterminator."
I wanted to point out that this would not be a good thing
to do, even if you wanted to, per the site I referred you to:
"Do not apply pesticides unless you fully understand what you
are applying and the risks involved. You are legally liable
if you misapply a pesticide, or apply it without a license to
the property of another (including common spaces in apartment
buildings). Generally, landlords, owners and building managers
CANNOT legally apply pesticides. They should, instead, hire a
licensed pest control operator to confirm the infestation and
to develop an integrated pest management plan."
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/bedbugs/#do
I'll also repeat my encouragement to talk to your neighbors,
perhaps even before calling your landlord, to determine if
there might be a larger problem than simply your apartment,
and thus provide some leverage for pressuring your landlord.
sublime1-ga
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