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Compensation for Tenants Issue 

Nirvtiger
Nirvtiger
Posts: 1


Posted On: 1/2/2020
Nirvtiger
Nirvtiger
Posts: 1
I have lived in the same apartment building for 14 years now and not until the people underneath us moved in did we ever have problems. July 2018 was the first time we had to prepare our apartment for a "preventive treatment" because the tenants underneath us had bed bugs. During this preventative treatment no bugs were found in our apartment. A couple months later we were told, by word of mouth from the property manager that they were being treated for bed bugs again. Fast forward to December 2019, I find a bed bug on my blanket, check the corner under the mattress and voila, bed bugs. We reported it first thing that Monday morning and our place was treated 2 days later. We found out after this that the source was still the tenants underneath us, as they has been hiding it and did not let the office know they still had a problem. They caulked the baseboards and were sleeping on air mattresses to prevent getting bitten and it only made the problem worse and because of that, spread to our apartment.
Now since December 10,2019 we have had to live, if you can call it living, in our apartment basically upside down, everything in bags and not being able to clean for three weeks between treatments. My kids had to suffer through Christmas and New Years with our place like this and we had to put our cat down right before Christmas because all the stress and pesticide from this problem made him sick. I want to know if there is some kind of compensation we could receive for all the mental, emotional and severe impairment of our reasonable peace/enjoyment of our apartment?
The only thing we've done to this point is email our landlords office and explain just how much all this is negatively affecting us, the amount of money we have had to spend because of this that we don't have and, basically, the reply I got was sorry for the inconvenience. I'm sorry but our lives have been turned upside down, it is way past an inconvenience.
I also believe our landlord/property manager did not do enough to make sure the bed bug problem was solved underneath us. The problem was clearly not solved the first time that apartment underneath was treated. Which means the bugs have had a year and half to spread. Also I should note that this was the 4th time that other apartment was treated and the only reason it got treated was because now we have them and told the office.
How do we get compensated for this? Is our situation something that can be pursued legally?
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Moderator
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 4063


Posted On: 1/17/2020
Moderator
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 4063
Nirvtiger wrote:
I have lived in the same apartment building for 14 years now and not until the people underneath us moved in did we ever have problems. July 2018 was the first time we had to prepare our apartment for a "preventive treatment" because the tenants underneath us had bed bugs. During this preventative treatment no bugs were found in our apartment. A couple months later we were told, by word of mouth from the property manager that they were being treated for bed bugs again. Fast forward to December 2019, I find a bed bug on my blanket, check the corner under the mattress and voila, bed bugs. We reported it first thing that Monday morning and our place was treated 2 days later. We found out after this that the source was still the tenants underneath us, as they has been hiding it and did not let the office know they still had a problem. They caulked the baseboards and were sleeping on air mattresses to prevent getting bitten and it only made the problem worse and because of that, spread to our apartment.
Now since December 10,2019 we have had to live, if you can call it living, in our apartment basically upside down, everything in bags and not being able to clean for three weeks between treatments. My kids had to suffer through Christmas and New Years with our place like this and we had to put our cat down right before Christmas because all the stress and pesticide from this problem made him sick. I want to know if there is some kind of compensation we could receive for all the mental, emotional and severe impairment of our reasonable peace/enjoyment of our apartment?
The only thing we've done to this point is email our landlords office and explain just how much all this is negatively affecting us, the amount of money we have had to spend because of this that we don't have and, basically, the reply I got was sorry for the inconvenience. I'm sorry but our lives have been turned upside down, it is way past an inconvenience.
I also believe our landlord/property manager did not do enough to make sure the bed bug problem was solved underneath us. The problem was clearly not solved the first time that apartment underneath was treated. Which means the bugs have had a year and half to spread. Also I should note that this was the 4th time that other apartment was treated and the only reason it got treated was because now we have them and told the office.
How do we get compensated for this? Is our situation something that can be pursued legally?

Hello There,

Thank you for sharing your situation with us; we can see how you would be frustrated with the length of time this has taken to be resolved.

According to Steps to Justice, “if your landlord does not deal with the problem, you can call your local property standards or health department, or your town or city hall, municipal office, or local councillor. Many cities, towns, and other municipalities have inspectors who can order your landlord to take steps to deal with pests.”

If this step does not bring a resolution, you can apply to the landlord and tenant board. The landlord and tenant board resolves disputes between residential landlords and tenants. You may also want to connect with your nearest Community Legal Clinic for some legal advice regarding your situation.

I hope this information is helpful. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to follow up with us here.

We hope this information is helpful.

Settlement.Org Team
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