Comments on: Bed bugs invade Chicago’s Presidential Towers, and another Vancouver Island detox

By: Another suit at Presidential Towers: this one focuses on landlord’s non-disclosure of neighbor’s bed bugs | bedbugger

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 06:44:58 +0000

[...] Presidential Towers posts are here and here. And there are hundreds more on the [...]

By: nobugsonme

nobugsonme — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 05:55:08 +0000

thanks Parakeets. You’re right– disclosure is something this case may hinge on. (I don’t think they’ll win on “failure to prevent the problem,” nor on “failure to detect it” or even “failure to treat it”, since it does not sound like they’ve been treating it that long.

But if we could get a legal precedent for landlords having to disclose (unasked!) it would not only help people get treatment (because those warned of neighboring infestations could be watchful), but it would also help remove the stigma for landlords as well as for tenants.

The best buildings in NYC have some problems with roaches and mice. It is not something landlords are proud of, but it’s something they try to keep at bay. Now, the best buildings are also getting bed bugs. If they talked about it, people would see it was everywhere.

By: parakeets

parakeets — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 19:51:59 +0000

I find it interesting that they are being confronted because they “failed to prevent or detect the infestation–and failed to tell tenants about the problem.” It’s that second part that really sparks my interest. I live in an apartment building that, after self-treating and ineffectively treating for bedbugs and having tenants move out becuase of bedbugs, still has not disclosed to tenants that the building has bedbugs. Disclosure is a key point that we have to insist upon! The only effective way to deal with bedbugs is to communicate about them. Thanks for all the superb communication in this site.