James F. McCarty of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported Monday that

A law student has sued one of downtown Cleveland’s chicer high-rises, contending that bedbugs drove him from two apartments — and flying gnats from a third.

In his lawsuit, Joshua Bobrowsky said the blood-sucking vermin in three Reserve Square apartments left him with painful welts and months of psychological and emotional distress. He seeks $142,000 in damages.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Bobrowsky, 26, of Pittsburgh, said in an interview Tuesday. “It was just a very horrible experience. Life isn’t enjoyable anymore when you think that everything you own is infested with parasites.”

A few questions:

1.  It is very easy to move bed bugs from one unit to another.  Could this account for Bobrowsky’s second apartment in the building having bed bugs?

2.  The “chicest” high rises in Cleveland charge $1650 for a 3-bedroom?  

(I just heard a rush of Manhattanites and their offspring running through the tunnel to New Jersey– they’re on their way, Cleveland!)

3.  Flying gnats?  Aren’t they a lot easier to get rid of than bed bugs?

Thanks to the Bedbugger who tipped me off to this one! Similar Posts:

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The Red Cross relocated the Mathis family to a Cleveland Days Inn, after a fire chased them out of their home. And guess what they encountered in their hotel rooms? That’s right, bed bugs.

Imagine having your home burn down (due to arson, no less), evacuating, and then having to deal with bed bug bites and a second evacuation?

I hope the Mathis family is now bed bug free in their current accommodation, and ever after.

Similar Posts:

• Entire Kansas City high-rise gets thermal treatment for bed bugs
• Family sues Chicago area Holiday Inn over bed bug infestation
• University of Manitoba student rooms infested with bed bugs
• 160-unit Richmond, California complex evacuated for tent fumigation of bed bugs
• LiveJournal’s januarychill: a day in the life of someone with bed bugs

I loved the headline of this article accompanying news video from WBNS 10TV:

“Bed Bugs Infest Apartment Building.” News at five.

Seriously, what would the world be like if every infested building was featured in just one major local news story? I can’t help having this thought when I see such headlines.

Sadly, that’s where my amusement ended.

The James Plaza Apartments in Cleveland is battling bed bugs, and after repeated treatments, bed bugs are still going strong. One tenant told reporters she’s moving out (good luck to her new neighbors!) and another wept as she described her bed bug experience.

Not to be upstaged, the management company made it clear who they feel is to blame:

Ebner Properties issued a statement to 10TV News, saying, “One of the apartment industry’s biggest fears is for a tenant to bring bed bugs into the community because it can entail such a lengthy and extensive treatment program.”

Wow. I’m speechless.

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In reference to the Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite Act of 2008, Budget Travel asks, “Should taxpayers fund the war against bed bugs?” The Act, H.R. 6068, is now in consideration by the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection,and would primarily give states funding to inspect hotel rooms for bed bugs.

(Welcome to Budget Travel readers who surfed in via the link! You might like to read this Bedbugger article on how to avoid bed bugs when you travel.)

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Meanwhile, the bill Dale Mallory is sponsoring in the Ohio House of Representatives, which would establish a hotline where Ohio residents could report bed bugs or get information about them, and would require the Dept. of Health to educate the public about bed bugs, is also getting coverage from Cleveland NBC affiliate WKYC and in Vindy.com.

H.B. 590 states,

The department of health shall make available on its web site information on the increasing incidences of bed bug (cimex lectularius) infestation and post notices that bed bugs are a public nuisance dangerous to public health.

You might protest that bed bugs are not a danger to public health, but then the World Health Organization includes bed bugs in its new book, The Public Health Significance of Urban Pests. (You can download a PDF on the right side of this page.) And the WHO not just includes bed bugs — as Renee reminds us in an analysis of the WHO study over on New York vs. Bed Bugs, a bed bug is on the cover, with a tick and a rat.

The WHO is concerned about the public health significance of bed bugs. Ohio, along with other states (and cities and countries) should be concerned too.Similar Posts:

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Where can I read about bed bug lawsuits? Here are some cases discussed online. (Links which are internal to the blog have additional links to news reports and sometimes case information.)

General

Article about bed bug lawsuits in New York City (Sept. 2008)

New Furniture Purchase

Couple claims they were sold bed bug infested furniture by J. C. Penney in Cherry Hill, N.J. and wins $49,000 in jury trial.

Furniture Rental

Customer of Aaron Rents (they rented an infested living room suite) 2007

Summer Camp

Family sues YMCA Camp Storer claiming kid brought bed bugs home from camp 2008

College Students

This Fordham student sued the provider of third-party student housing in the New Yorker Hotel. (09/2007)

Hotel guests

Woman stays in a San Francisco Ramada and gets 400 bites in three days; settles out of court for $71K. October 2008

Winnipeg Howard Johnson’s motel sued by Toronto resident, Steven Lipson April 2008

Milford Plaza, NYC hotel guest sues hotel and hotel’s PCO for negligence, in progress, March 2008 (punitive damages dropped); Bedbugger and New York Law Journal

Ohio Hilton guest, 2007

Guest of Roger Smith Hotel, NYC, 2007

Siloam Springs (bed bugs in motel caused nightmares) 2007

NYC Opera Soprano at the Phoenix Hilton Suites 2006

Mandarin Oriental, London here and here and here. 2006

Barona Resort and Casino (Robert and Gloria Chisley suing for bed bug bites at resort; 2005, still pending as of 2008)

BURL MATHIAS and DESIREE MATHIAS, v. ACCOR ECONOMY LODGING, INC. and MOTEL 6 OPERATING L.P. (2003)

Tenants

Cleveland law student sues Reserve Square landlord after having bed bugs in two units (and gnats in a third) in one building (Nov. 2008).

Capricia Osirus of 23-25 Temple St. in Nashua, NH. (Aug. 2008)

Richard Jebb of 23-25 Temple St. in Nashua, NH. (Feb. 2008) Case lost, tenant counter-sued for back rent.

Presidential Towers in Chicago here and here and here. 2007

Maya Rudolph’s case: press is here. 2007

Six tenants vs. AIMCO 2007

Brooklyn tenant sues 2007

Peter H. Young (Ludlow Street, NYC)

See also:

Landlords talking about bed bugs and How to Avoid a Bed Bug Lawsuit (for lawyers)

Hotel lawyers talking about bed bugs here and here and here.

Your rights as a tenant and how to organize.

This won’t ever be comprehensive, but there are obvious gaps, so feel free to post comments below with additional links I might add.

Can you help me find a lawyer?

No, sorry. We are not a legal service, we’re not lawyers, and we haven’t sued.Similar Posts:

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