More bed bugs in Nashua, NH: rooming-house tenant goes to court
By nobugsonme on Feb 27, 2008 in SRO, bed bug lawsuit, bed bugs, bedbugs, law, legal, low-income housing, nashua, new hampshire, nh, richard jebb, rooming house
More on the Nashua rooming-house mentioned in this story.
On Tuesday, Jebb took his bug problem to Nashua District Court, suing his landlord, Mark Flint, and the owners of the building, 23-25 Temple Street Realty LLC, for interrupting the “quiet enjoyment” of his property by not eradicating the problem in a timely fashion.
The company faces a $1,000 a day penalty for every day of the violation, about $240,000 if it is proven the company was in violation of the law in June.
Sixteen units inspected showed signs of bed bugs earlier this month.
The bugs only come out at night, he said, remarking that tenants in the building talk about seeing the bugs on their television screens late at night, something he said he recently experienced.
It’s not uncommon, especially in SROs, rooming houses, and other low-income housing, that tenants are afraid to (or don’t know how to) demand help with the problem.
Although many tenants in the building are suffering with the problem, Jebb said not all of them are willing to speak up about it.
Thank goodness Jebb was willing to go to bat:
It is partly for the “little guy” that Jebb said he decided to put his rent money in escrow and fight the issue in court.
“If that’s what it takes to get this building under control for all these people.”
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