D. L. Bennett of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports today that a family in Atlanta is suing Aaron Rents, a furniture sales and rental firm, which operates 515 stores in 39 states, for $250,000 in damages. They claim that the living room suite they rented from Aaron Rents was infested with bed bugs.
Rebekah Worsham said the saga began in Kentucky when the family was expecting a transfer to Atlanta. Rather than buy living room furniture, the Worshams went to a local Aaron Rents outlet.
When the delivery truck arrived at their home, the Worshams and the delivery personnel noticed bugs on the furniture, she said. The crew took the pieces back, promising to clean and return them.
Worsham said the furniture came back a day later, but so did the bugs.
“A week or so later our kids started waking up with these red bites all over them. We did too,” Worsham said.
The tiny biting insects quickly spread from the rental furniture throughout the Worsham home, infesting beds, carpets and other furniture, Akin said.
Worsham said Aaron Rents initially worked with the family, replacing bedding and mattresses and hiring an exterminator who made several failed attempts to remedy the situation.
The family thought, the lawyer said, that when they moved to Atlanta, they could leave the bugs behind by throwing away pillows, towels and other linens. Instead, they learned the bugs had infested the bed frames and other wood pieces they brought to a rental house in Dallas.
An entomologist the couple eventually consulted told them the bugs crawl into wood furniture, televisions, stereos, clothing and can live up to 18 months without feeding, Worsham said.
Tha family has completely abandoned two homes so far because they were infested.
People need to be aware that rental furniture is at serious risk of harboring bed bugs. Anything that has been in someone else’s home (whether it’s a rental sofa or a set of towels from eBay or Craigslist, or a comforter someone else bought and returned to the store before you bought it “new”) may have bed bugs. Something that can’t thoroughly be inspected, like the insides of a sofa, is especially suspect.
But the other concern here is the truck used to deliver the sofa; from the description above, it may well have been the truck that was infested.
When I first started reading about bed bugs in early 2006, there was a story going around that one furniture rental giant had heaters in its trucks that it used to de-infest rental items. I was impressed and thought this was a great idea. We still do not know which company is doing this, or if it is just another apocryphal bed bug myth. But I’d love to know.
![[Post to Twitter]](http://bedbugger.com/wp-content/plugins/tweet-this/icons/tt-twitter3.png){kind=icon}
{ 1 trackback }
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
We are also handling a case involving bed bugs against Aaron Rents
Dan Cytryn, Esquire
Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer
1401 North University Drive
Suite 401
Coral Springs, Florida 33071
(Tel) 954-255-7000
e-mail dancytryn@myacc.net
website: http://www.personalinjuryfirm.com
I had to move in Philadelphia from one property to another after someone informed me Korman Suites had their furniture provided by a company that does use heated trucks to deliver their furniture (American Furniture Rentals) and thank God because I have had no further issues. We had to throw away a ton of personal property.
I had rented a corporate apartment from someone that uses Aarons and I also had bed bugs. They tried to blame me for bringing them into the apartment!! Horrible experience! Make sure you ask about the furniture company if you rent a furnished apartment!!!! It does make a difference.
Oscar
Oscar,
It is worth considering that the corporate apartment itself can have had bed bugs. Rental furniture in general is at great risk for bed bugs and so are properties (whether long- or short-stay rentals).
well we have rented off american rentals and my wife wakes up every morning with bites all over her , we have had 3 beds from them and there all the same , i think we are going to use aaron rentals from now on
please get back to me if you have the same problem
Patrick,
ANY rental company is potentially a source for bed bugs. If there’s any way to avoid it, do so. If not, call the company and ask what they’re doing to prevent bed bugs. Ask what, if anything, they’ll do if they give them to you. Get it in writing. And let us know what you find out.
We heard once that one company was using special heaters to heat items (which requires temps over 120 for 3 hours) between rentals, but we do not know which company, if it is even true.
I have talked to some of the rental companies and they are using steri-fab it is a quick kill but it has no residual so it is a crap shoot if you rent furniture good luck.
I think the odds are worse than a crap-shoot, Vectorguard!
Steri-fab is fine for killing things you can spray directly. As we know, bed bugs don’t just hang out in the open like that.
I have a corporate apt, with rental furniture from Peoples 1. I have been bitten quite extensively, had to resort to steroids and antihistamines as I am severely allergic to bites. I am suffering at night with very little sleep, as I get up many times to turn on the light and check for bugs on my or anywhere near or on the bed. It’s terrible! The furniture company first denied their part in it by offering that they “cook” their furniture to a temp of 145 degrees and spray something on it. Well, here I sit with all new furniture in place, a fumigated apt, and awaiting the return of these dastardly creatures because they’re just hard to get rid of. I am now afraid that I will take them with me when I head to my next job, even though I have washed every item of clothing at least 2 times and with bleach and hot water. Help, I feel like I’ve lost my sanity, and not to mention the money I have spent for Dr, and things I had to get rid of….
Shawn,
It is fully possible for a rental company to remove bed bugs from furniture by heating it properly.
If they did so, and delivered it in a truck free of bed bugs, it is possible the bed bugs are not coming from the furniture.
They could instead be coming from the apartment. All adjacent neighbors (top, bottom, sides) must be professionally inspected and treated. Your apt. must be retreated at 2 week intervals until bed bugs and bites are all gone.
Please click the “forums” button at top right to come to our forums if you’d like to discuss this further. You’ll get more responses there.
What everyone needs to understand, its not rental places that they get bed bugs from, its their own neighbors. If you purchace something used from a rental store, its used because someone in YOUR own city had it and that someone in YOUR city has bed bugs.. Rental stores do not have a supply of insects that they put into a living room set then deliver it to you. People need to stop using rental companys as their scapegoats.
Jim,
I do appreciate that agencies renting furniture do not intend to rent out furniture infested with bed bugs.
However, you must agree that the person renting items is still right to expect they are renting clean and pest-free furniture.
If I rent furniture, my contract is with the rental company, not the person who rented before me. Companies that rent or sell items infested with bed bugs have to be held responsible.
Think of it this way: perhaps I rent a broken TV. The person who rented before me broke it by dropping it down the stairs, but the rental company had no idea it was broken.
Do I blame the company? Or do I seek out the guy who broke the TV? Obviously, I can only deal with the company.
But renting an item with bed bugs in it is much worse than renting a broken item, because bed bugs spread, easily. So if I rent furniture from your company and get bed bugs in my home, I then have to pay a lot of money and spend a lot of time getting rid of them.
The good news, is that rental companies can actually prevent the spread of bed bugs from one customer to another via rental items, if they care to. Thermal heat, properly applied, is one way rental companies could de-bug items they pick up from tenants, and it could be done in a truck or specially designated warehouse.
There would be an initial investment, but renting bed bug-free items will likely attract many new customers away from other companies who want to shirk this responsibility.
Renting or selling furniture which is bed bug-free just makes good business sense.
I just read this article. The family is stupid for throwing all their things away and moving house twice. Jeez, they should have just done some research and could have handled that initial infestation pretty easily I reckon.
Cody,
A lot of people do not know enough about bed bugs, and a lot of folks do the wrong things before they learn what they should have done instead. (And I think it’s fair to say that there’s a lot more information available now than there was a year or two ago).
IMO, we need more public education campaigns to help people learn about bed bugs and tell them where to find more information.
hi there i rented furniture from aarons october 2007 living room furniture and the sofa had a nest in it and when i contacted aarons they told me that it would be a week before they could come and get it so i contacted the corprate office and they sent some one out that day to pick up the furniture and they sent an exterminator to spray the house but they only sprayed were the sofa was the bug man told me the the sofa had a nest now my home is infested what should i do every room has them now and every one is getting ate up aarons has given me a hard time in the past and thats why i’m contating you i have tryed taking care of it my self but nothing works and i can’t afford to throw every thing away again i’m a single mother of 2 boys no child support coming in thats why im not able to keep buying furniture and beddings its even in our clotheing please help me
Hi Sherry,
It seems like you have two questions: what to do about the rental company, and what to do about the bed bugs.
As far as the rental company, that seems like a legal question. I’m not a lawyer–I just post bed-bug related news. You need to talk to a lawyer (there is a FAQ about how to find free legal assistance if paying for a lawyer is a problem).
Obviously, if you are also talking to a lawyer, get their advice about how to document the problem and treatment.
As for the bed bugs, you need to get professional help in dealing with them. They are very hard to eradicate as you have seen, and you need someone with lots of bed bug experience. If you go to the forums, someone there may be able to recommend PCOs in your region. We also have a FAQ on how to choose one (what questions to ask).
I want to fight these bed bugs
I have a case in litigation against Aaron Rents for bed bugs infestation and injuries that were in furnishings delivered from its Pompano Beach store, existing in the mattress and box springs to my clients.
Aaron Rents also gave us bed bugs. Please see our story at http://www.aaronrentsgaveusbedbugs.com.
BED BUGS–Virginia
I recently purchased a dresser, head board and foot board with the sides. Shortly after I started breaking out and did not know what was going on. Well, finally I found out that the furniture was infested with bedbugs. When they set the furniture up I saw real small black dots in spots throughout the sides of the bed that hold the box spring in place. Well, the spots were the potty spots the bugs were leaving and/ or had left on the furntiure. I asked Aarsons to come and get the furniture yesterday (6/16/09) and no one came. I will be back down there tomorrow (6/17/09). I was told that since it has been 120 days I can not get my money back. I have to take medication and apply cream to my skin everyday to cure myself. I feel like taking this company for everything they have. I am suffering. They have infested my little girls room and I am so afraid that they will spread all over if they havent all ready started. We sprayed the room and washed all the items in it and placed everything in plastic bags. We sprayed towels and rolled them up under the door so they would not escape but I dont know if they is working so far so good but I am worried after reading all the stories I have read on the internet. I need a lawyer and need to know how do I get rid of these things ASAP…
Cassandra
Fort Belvoir, Virginia