Elderly and disabled residents of two buildings in Des Moines which are infested with bed bugs and other pests have filed a class-action lawsuit against their landlord.

According to The Des Moines Register, the lawsuit

. . . filed this week in Polk County District Court alleges that more than 250 people have suffered “unconscionable and substandard living conditions” at Ligutti Tower and Elsie Mason Manor and that management of the apartment buildings has responded with only minimal efforts to kill the bugs.

The case covers anyone who has lived with bed bugs, cockroaches, or rodents in Elsie Mason Manor or Ligutti Tower from 2007 to the present. It is one of the first suits filed under Iowa’s new consumer protection law.

The plaintiffs seek immediate treatment of the buildings, and they also want the landlord to be forced to disclose the bug problems to prospective tenants before renting. They will seek as much as $7.4 million, “in reimbursement for pain and suffering, rent overcharges and replacement of infested belongings.”

Jeff Lipman, a lawyer for the 20 elderly tenants, said the lawsuit was brought under the consumer protection law because “this is one of the few statutes that give the court the ability for immediate relief.”

In other words, a judge could order immediate fumigation but allow lawyers more time to argue about financial damages, Lipman said. Documents say Ligutti and Elsie Mason residents continue to be exposed to the bedbugs and face “extreme scarring, discomfort and sleep deprivation” if more aggressive steps are not taken.

But tenants of these buildings don’t always wait for legal channels in order to seek justice, and have at times taken matters into their own hands:

According to the documents, at least one frustrated woman, moved out – but not before she “collected a glass container of bedbugs and threw them at [building manager Frank] Spoerl.”

This is not the only bed bug class action lawsuit I’ve heard of (here’s one against Chicago’s Presidential Towers in 2007), but it may be the largest so far.

You can read about more bed bug lawsuits in this FAQ.Similar Posts:

• Bed bugs and lawsuits; also how to find a lawyer
• Lexington, Kentucky public housing infested with bed bugs
• Bed bugs in Danbury, Connecticut senior housing
• landlords talking about bed bugs
• Chicago investigates sales of new and refurbished bed bug infested mattresses

In the television news spot below from WQAD.com in the Quad Cities of Iowa and Illinois, it is noted that

Environmental Health Specialist Jackie Hall of the Scott County Health Department [where Davenport, Iowa is located] says cases of bed bugs have been very rare in the county. Their most recent report of these was in October of last year.

Because the Scott County Health Department has not had a call about bed bugs since October, 2008, and they are assuming that this means that there have been no bed bug cases in the county since then.

We suspect they are probably wrong. After all, people of Davenport, did anyone tell you, that you should notify the Scott County Health Department, should you find bed bugs in your home? I suspect they did not.

Davenport, Iowa is part of the Quad Cities of Iowa/Illinois (which actually now includes five cities: Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa; and Moline, East Moline, and Rock Island, Illinois).

Reporters in the story below from Davenport imply that locals only need to worry about encountering bed bugs when they travel. Not so — two large local complexes — Joseph Fulton Homes East Moline, and Warren Tower in Rock Island County — suffered from publicized bed bug infestations in 2007.

So if you suffer from bed bugs in Davenport, at home or in a public place, please, call your local Health Department and let them know!

Update 4/20: According to the Reporter News Online, public health officials in Abilene, Texas also claim to not have a local bed bug problem.

Bedbugs may be biting in some parts of the country, but so far, Abilene does not seem to be plagued by the pesky little insects.

“I am not aware of any problems we are having with bedbugs in our area,” said Kay Durilla, nursing program manager for the Abilene-Taylor County Public Health District. “However, it seems it is a recurring problem along the East Coast.”

Not just the East Coast. Bed bugs are in all 50 states, according to national pest control companies.

Again, people of Abilene, TX: if you have bed bugs, be sure and let the Abilene-Taylor County Public Health District know that bed bugs are a problem in your area.

The truth is that unless Abilene is inside a sealed airtight bubble, and no people or goods are allowed in and out, there are or will soon be bed bugs in Abilene.

Similar Posts:

• Harrisburg’s Channel 21 News: afraid to say “bed bugs”?
• Reg Ayre of Toronto Public Health: bed bugs a “health concern,” not a “health hazard”
• Bed bugs in the news in Chicago; State of Illinois Department of Public Health takes action on bed bugs
• Rockford, IL: half of Red Roof Inn shut down due to bed bugs
• PS16 in Staten Island has bed bugs

Beverly Davis, a Huffington Post blogger, is embedded with campaigners at the Iowa Caucus. She reported on 12/31 in a post entitled “Biden’s Bedbug Problem” that Biden’s campaign workers had encountered bed bugs on the campaign trail, only weeks after we heard a similar story from Mary Cheney’s past.

Des Moines — “So what do bedbug bites look like?” OffTheBus asked Joe Biden’s Iowa political director, Danny O’Brien.

“They’re really big and round and itch like crazy,” said O’Brien, as we polished off a glass of red wine in downtown Des Moines late last night.

O’Brien and two other campaign staffers were stricken with bedbug bites while taking up residence in a cheap hotel outside Des Moines, in the northwestern suburb of Urbandale, during the final days before the Iowa caucuses.

“Actually, it’s more of a weekly or monthly sort of place rather than a real hotel,” explained O’Brien.

O’Brien and the other two other staffers, both women, bought some medication and are more comfortable. They also purchased their own sheets, pillows, and blankets.

It’s clear that O’Brien and co. do not understand how bed bugs work. They strike any hotel, any home, no matter how glamorous or humble.

And bringing your own sheets, pillows, and blankets has zero effect on keeping bed bugs at bay. It’s a great way to bring bed bugs away from the hotel with you, though.

They should have been getting their clothing, luggage and other possessions carefully searched, washed and dried on hot, and made sure the bed bugs were not moving with them to the bus. I know they aren’t taking time for that.

I realize the campaign is more important than anything, but statements like the following imply that bed bug bites in a hotel are only a temporary nuisance:

Bedbug bites, overflowing toilets, relying too heavily on volunteers, and worrying about every dollar could all add up to a promising candidate getting culled from the field on caucus night because he didn’t start raising money early enough in this highly competitive race.

Bed bug bites can be just a temporary nuisance, like overflowing toilets, but if transported in one’s possessions or (God forbid) one’s vehicle, one or many people can end up taking them home and to the workplace.

We might see bed bugs taken a bit more seriously if they ended up in the Senate, House of Representatives, or Oval Office. But I still wouldn’t wish it on anyone, not even my political enemies.Similar Posts:

• Scholastic Headquarters treated for bed bugs; update on Penguin
• Bed bugs in Davenport, Iowa? Abilene, Texas? Be sure and call the Health Department…
• I can’t find a bed bug, but think I am being bitten. What do I do?
• bed bugs on the campaign trail
• San Francisco woman settles bed bug case out of court for $71K

You can click here to see a map of the last 90 or so visitors to the site. It will look different from what I describe below, because I am writing about what I saw there about 4-5 hours ago. Now it’s almost midnight in New York, and the Aussies are starting to surf in.

For those of you who don’t know, webpages can tell where you’re coming from (though not very specifically). They know the location of your ISP. For most people, this comes up as somewhere near where they live, though it’s not always precise and sometimes it’s just the country. It also tells the webmaster what internet browser you use (Go Firefox!) and whether you like Macs or Windows machines. No, I do not know your name, or where you live, don’t worry!

This may all seem very “meta,” so far, but we know that our readership consists of four kinds of people:

a) People who have, or think they have, or recently had, bed bugs.
b) People whose work makes them concerned about bed bugs (pest control professionals, entomologists, politicians, landlords, hotel managers, social service agencies, government officials, are just some sectors that I have heard from).
c) People who have heard about bed bugs and are concerned, and want to know more.

I think that group (a) is in the majority, and although most people don’t comment, most commenters fit in group a. In any case, the Bedbugger.com readership is a map of bed bug concern, and you’d be pretty safe betting its a map of where bed bugs are popping up–with the caveat, of course, that our site pops up more in US search engines than those abroad, and also that our readers are overwhelmingly English-speakers, though we have dreams of breaking down those linguistic barriers!

This is where the last 89 readers were reading the blog (circa 6:30 this evening):

1. San Diego, California, United States
2. Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
3. Walden, New York, United States
4. Long Island City, New York, United States
5. New York, New York, United States
6. Plattekill, New York, United States
7. Hull, Quebec, Canada
8. Durant, Iowa, United States
9. Miamiville, Ohio, United States
10. Gibraltar
11. Calgary, Alberta, Canada
12. Boston, Massachusetts, United States
13. Humble, Texas, United States
14. Germantown, Maryland, United States
15. Rowland Heights, California, United States
16. New York, New York, United States
17. New York, New York, United States
18. Hadley, Kentucky, United States
19. Buffalo, New York, United States
20. Hveragerði, Arnessysla, Iceland
21. Pine Falls, Manitoba, Canada
22. Livonia, Michigan, United States
23. Bayside, New York, United States
24. Woodhaven, New York, United States
25. Denver, Colorado, United States
26. New York, New York, United States
27. United States
28. Waterloo, Quebec, Canada
29. Los Angeles, California, United States
30. Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
31. Santa Maria, California, United States
32. Beamsville, Ontario, Canada
33. Kansas City, Missouri, United States
34. Corona, New York, United States
35. Barker, Texas, United States
36. Readville, Massachusetts, United States
37. Palo Alto, California, United States
38. Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
39. Mill Valley, California, United States
40. Ridgewood, New York, United States
41. Mehama, Oregon, United States
42. San Francisco, California, United States
43. Feeding Hills, Massachusetts, United States
44. Swedesburg, Iowa, United States
45. Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
46. West New York, New Jersey, United States
47. Lancaster, Blackpool, United Kingdom
48. New York, New York, United States
49. Miami, Florida, United States
50. Anaheim, California, United States
51. Harrow, Harrow, United Kingdom
52. Wilsonville, Oregon, United States
53. Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
54. Forest Hill, Ontario, Canada
55. Wayne, New Jersey, United States
56. Kecskemét, Bacs-Kiskun, Hungary
57. Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada
58. Short Hills, New Jersey, United States
59. Seattle, Washington, United States
60. Jackson, Mississippi, United States
61. Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
62. Secaucus, New Jersey, United States
63. Long Island City, New York, United States
64. United States
65. Tranbjerg, Arhus, Denmark
66. Naples, Florida, United States
67. San Francisco, California, United States
68. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
69. Gainesville, Florida, United States
70. Edmond, Oklahoma, United States
71. Hempstead, New York, United States
72. Everett, Massachusetts, United States
73. United States
74. United States
75. São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
76. Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
77. Bismarck, North Dakota, United States
78. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
79. Downers Grove, Illinois, United States
80. United States
81. Bend, Oregon, United States
82. Henderson, Nevada, United States
83. Montréal, Quebec, Canada
84. Sunnyvale, California, United States
85. Arlington, Texas, United States
86. United States
87. New York, New York, United States
88. Fairfax, Virginia, United States
89. Rochester, New York, United States

You might expect that most of these people came from the bed bug hot spots. We get lots of readers from Chicago, Boston, NYC, San Francisco, Vancouver, Toronto. So it’s surprising that 89 people came from such a wide variety of places:

68 from at least 33 states (only 12 of these from NYC, San Francisco or Boston);
11 from 5 provinces in Canada;
4 from 4 cities in the UK (none of them London);
1 person each from: Hungary, Ireland, Denmark, Brazil, Iceland, and Gilbraltar.

In New York state, 10 of the 17 visitors were from NYC. And of the 10 in NYC, 60% were in Queens, where, unlike Staten Island, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Manhattan, each neighborhood has its own name used for the purposes of the postal service: Ridgewood, Corona, Long Island City, Woodhaven, Bayside, New York, are all in Queens, and part of NYC. Remember the Queens Gazette speculating that Queens was the “ground zero for NYC’s bed bugs? Well, I am still not sure it’s true, but it seems plausible: we certainly have a lot of Bedbuggers in Queens.

I peeked at the traffic report for the site because I have a geeky side and I find it interesting to know where you’re coming from. However, looking at it can tell us something about the bed bug problem. This is not a scientific study, but just a snapshot of our site’s traffic does tell you who’s worried about bed bugs (and, we can assume, many are worried because they have bed bugs).

Most of those cities were not capitals or the biggest cities in their regions or countries. A small percentage are from those places you think are hot spots. It should serve as a warning sign that bed bugs, like Bedbuggers, are everywhere, and way more spread out than you thought.Similar Posts:

• Are bed bugs migrating from Queens to Nassau County?
• Portsmouth NH’s Health Officer proactive about bed bugs
• California fights bed bugs: good news from the golden state
• Watch out – DDT article below
• King of Queens: “Buggie Nights” episode about bed bugs found!