This article from the Wilkes Beacon (a student newspaper at Wilkes University, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) yesterday describes the ongoing battle against bed bugs in a student apartment in the university’s University Tower apartments, where the four student residents experienced bed bug bites, and saw bed bugs, even after multiple treatments.

It’s the third bed bug infestation at Wilkes University this academic year, according to the Wilkes Beacon. Of course, it can only be the third known bed bug infestation, since one can never be sure whether one has bed bugs that are as yet undetected or unreported.

The university called in their PCO (Terminex) to fight the infestation starting at the end of the Fall 2008 semester. According to Director of Residence Life Brenda Stanley:

“We brought in our pest control contractor…who we have used for a previous bed bug incident… and they came in and were inconclusive in their findings in terms of what the occupants presented and based upon what they actually found,” she said.

To alleviate any concerns school officials asked the pest control person to spray the area with the pesticide, which according to Stanley is eco-friendly.

Stanley also said that the school continued to treat the area over winter break and into the beginning to the spring semester. However, the residents continued to report bites and visual confirmation of the insects.

It’s interesting to note that before the first treatment, it sounds like Terminex was able to find no visual confirmation of the infestation, but after treating several times, the residents were finding bed bugs.

What is also unique about this story of bed bugs in a college, is that it’s the first time I recall hearing that students took their case to the city, when it was not resolved by the university:

After repeated treatments by the pest control company failed, the residents contacted the City of Wilkes-Barre.

An official from the city toured the apartment and told the residents to contact the school again and he would type a report for their records.

The article implies that the university moved students to a new apartment; it also provided them with new furniture and money for laundry.

And school officials say the infestation was isolated to the one unit:

Stanley added that the school and the pest control contractor was able to isolate the infestation to the single apartment.

She said, “We actually tested the four rooms adjacent to the apartment space, above and below, to ensure there wasn’t a deeper issue. That was both reassuring for the residents and for us to know that we had truly isolated it to its one location.”

I wonder how the testing was done? Perhaps Terminex or Wilkes U have access to one of the brand-new bed bug monitors, or perhaps they used a bed bug sniffing k9.

In any case, I hope extreme caution was taken to make sure bed bugs were not spread to the new apartment.

Bravo to Wilkes admin for talking about bed bugs, even when it means admitting that dealing with bed bugs is a struggle.

In my opinion, doing so is necessary as it opens the way for other students and staff to learn about the problem and what to do should they encounter it. More awareness of bed bugs is good for students, faculty, staff, parents, and administrators alike.

Read about an earlier case of bed bugs at Wilkes University here.
Similar Posts:

• Bed bugs at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania
• Portland State students sue landlord over bedbugs
• Toronto municipal councillor pushes for bed bugs to be declared a health hazard
• More students at college finding bed bugs in their dorm rooms
• bed bugs at University of Bridgeport

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:

• Bed bugs at James Plaza Apartments, Cleveland, Ohio
• More bed bug treatments in Lexington’s Ballard Griffith senior apartments
• Goucher students evacuated apartments due to bed bugs, then found them in their hotel
• Bedbugger readers: multiplying faster than bedbugs?
• More on New York’s response to bed bugs

According to the Baltimore Sun (10/8/2008), most of the 64 students evacuated from the Dulaney Valley Apartments because some students had apartments infested with bed bugs were moved to a local Sheraton.

Now WBAL TV in Baltimore reports that some of those students have encountered bed bugs in the Sheraton:

A room at the Sheraton Hotel North in Towson has been affected by bedbugs, displacing two of the students, school officials said. Some students staying at the Dulaney Valley Apartments were moved to the hotel after bedbugs were found at that location in both July and September.

Goucher College officials said the Sheraton will have the rooms examined and the hotel will take the necessary measures to rid the room of bedbugs.

While it is certainly possible that one can encounter bed bugs anywhere (including any hotel room), it is also true that bed bugs are easily carried from place to place. This chain of events raises the question of whether Goucher students were instructed to and assisted in making sure they did not move bed bugs with them to the Sheraton. This article describes ways in which Stanford University attempts to halt the spread of bed bugs when students are evacuated from dorm rooms due to these pests.

I want to stress that it is impossible to know from the article whether students brought bed bugs to the Sheraton, or whether they encountered bed bugs already at the hotel. But the potential of moving bed bugs is something colleges should consider when evacuating students under such circumstances. The students’ experience also highlights the need for people to learn to search a hotel room for bed bugs before settling in.

Although people often come on the Bedbugger forums asking how they can move without transporting bed bugs, it is not an easy process. Some people will have their possessions treated with sulfuryl fluoride (such as Vikane[TM]) or thermal processes, at great cost, in order to avoid moving bed bugs.

Bed bugs can crawl into a person’s luggage or other items, or even crawl into clothing and be moved from place to place. Bed bug evacuees must take precautions when fleeing to hotels or other locations, in order to avoid infesting them.

Our FAQs on travel offer suggestions on not moving bed bugs from place to place.Similar Posts:

• Goucher College suffers bed bug infestation in student apartments
• Cincinnati woman encounters bed bugs in a suburban Chicago Sheraton
• Woman notifies hotel desk about bed bugs in room, is evicted from hotel
• Ryerson University: a study in unenthusiastic bed bug control practices
• 80% of Single Room Occupancy units in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside are infested with bed bugs; also Rensselaer Polytechnic’s dorms

Question: Do you live in Astoria, Queens and have bed bugs?

Want to move out of your bed bug-infested apartment and avoid the hassle of destroying and tossing out your infested furniture and other items, including a futon and a captain’s bed, and stuffed animals?

Want to expose lots of people and their neighbors, co-workers, relatives and friends to bed bugs?

Great!

Here’s what you do:

1. Place ad on Craigslist offering nearly all of your possessions for free.

I apologize if this is a duplicate. I thought I posted it but now I can’t find it, so I’m trying again

FREE STUFF!!!!!! I am moving Saturday morning, so everything needs to go ASAP. Please email me to arrange for pickup. This list is *NOT* inclusive. As I pack, more stuff is being added…

2. Include detailed list of items available and warnings that the items have been exposed to bed bugs in your infested home.

I have to start with the warning: the home these items come from have bedbugs. HOWEVER, many of these items were from rooms where I never saw any evidence of bugs or will be easily cleaned. I just don’t have the time to do it myself!

3. Wipe your hands clean and don’t think twice about the carnage which will most surely follow.

Yes, sure, you gave the warnings, so you’re ethically absolved of all responsibility. Have a nice day!

The truth is, everyday people take bed bug infested stuff off the curb which has warnings attached. People can be idiots.

So if you don’t destroy or debug your stuff, you are spreading bed bugs.

You’re spreading the itchiness and discomfort of bed bug bites, the cost of pest control and replacing possessions, the many hours of sleep, and hours and hours of work. You’ll likely cause others to have to move too, at great expense of time and money.

Don’t kid yourself that the warnings you gave will prevent others from suffering. If you have bed bugs in your home, people could pick them up and take them home just by coming over to get something of yours, let alone taking it in their car or into their home.

Thanks to Aly of A Little Aly-tude for the find, for warning her public, (and for the shout out!)

If ad has been removed, see screenshot here.Similar Posts:

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• Bed bugs spread when no one who can pay for treating them is responsible for treating them

Bed bugs have infested rooms in McGill student housing buildings the New Residence, the MORE house at 522 Pins, and now in Solin Hall, the McGill Daily reports.

Student Aaryn Secker finally moved out after battling bed bugs in Solin Hall for months:

Secker notified Howard Zinman, Services Coordinator for Solin Hall, after discovering tiny red bites all over her body in September. Residence Services was initially responsive to her concerns, replacing her mattress and couch, paying for dry cleaning, and spraying her room with chemicals to kill the bugs.

But despite the intensive cleaning, Secker said that the bedbugs returned.

“They kept coming back. McGill [Residence Services] replaced my bed about twice. By the end of it they ended up taking out my bed and my fridge,” she said.

When the problem persisted, Secker moved out for good and sought rent compensation from the Student Housing Office for the entire academic year.

McGill’s refusal to reimburse Secker for rent or to terminate her lease has caused Secker to threaten bringing her case to the Régie du Logement, Quebec’s housing office.

Zinman refused to comment on Secker’s case, citing confidentiality reasons. He said the process of treating bedbug infestations has not changed since last year’s incidents in MORE Houses and New Residence, where bedbugs were found in several rooms.

It is not easy to treat for bed bugs, let alone in student housing. But replacing a bed twice does not seem like the most well-considered protocol, since beds can be treated, and moving infested furniture is tricky.

Perhaps McGill and their pest control operator should talk to Stanford and their pest control operator (who we believe is Crane Pest, San Francisco). Stanford has had its share of bed bugs, but the reports of their responses so far have been the best we have heard of on college campuses. And let’s face it, there will be bed bugs on college campuses, you can’t stop that from happening, though you can try to implement policies to help prevent it. And you can educate students and staff about the problem.

What matters most, though, is the response when bed bugs are discovered.Similar Posts:

• NYU student blogs about Bed bugs in Broome Street Residence
• Bed bugs at Stanford again
• Bed bugs at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania
• Stanford bed bugs: university fights back
• Stanford still fighting bed bugs

Bedbugger persona-non-Bugga mentioned an article today in the forums which I found quite interesting: yesterday’s “The Hunt,” a column which follows various New Yorkers in their search for an apartment, described the saga of a young NYC couple who moved five times in two-and-a-half years, simply unable to find the right apartment.

And what’s wrong with their latest pad, in Hamilton Heights? That’s right: bed bugs.

The great chicken-and-egg question for today:

Was the new apartment infested? Or was the moving truck infested?

(Bonus points if you know those are not the only possibilities. My personal bugaboos? Returnable-if-unused moving boxes, and moving blankets, which never get washed. Shudder.)Similar Posts:

• Bed bugs in Hamilton, Ontario: lessons for landlords and local governments
• Greenpoint mattress mountain: bed bugs, perhaps?
• Tales of bed bug woe: Allergicgirl’s questions
• Freehold, NJ Social Service agency asks county for money to treat bed bugs
• Yet another person tries to self-treat for bed bugs and sets building on fire

Bedbugger has followed the great bed bug saga of Amanda at Apartment Therapy with intense interest, and we have been torn between grateful relief at the apparent bed bug savvy of some of Maxwell’s readers and deep concern over the continuing lack of basic bed bug awareness among the rest, our fellow New Yorkers and apartment dwellers.

AT’s latest bed bug story, however, is a little different. In an AT Good Question, Anne asks, What Can I Do If They Lied About Bedbugs?

I just signed a 1yr lease for a new apartment. Prior to signing, I asked the management company whether there had been any roach, mice, or bedbug infestations. I was most particularly concerned about bedbugs. Management said no, and I believed them. However, after signing the lease, I returned to the apartment to take some measurements and met some of the prior tenants…

Oh, no, no! We know where this is going and we can see between the fingers covering our eyes that it’s not going to be pretty:

They said that one of the four roommates did indeed have bedbugs and that the management company sent an exterminator three times!

OK, first thought, one of the four roommates had bed bugs? That is an interesting, and perhaps revealing, way of putting it. If one of the four roommates had bed bugs, the other three roommates had them too. Even if they were not allergic to the bites, or were not bitten, or the bed bugs did not actually spread to their rooms (I think I just strained my optimism muscle), an apartment with bed bugs presents what you might call a situation for all who live there, a situation often freighted with stress and anxiety, sleeplessness, an overwhelming amount of work, and all-around aggravation. Laundry, cleaning, decluttering, bed bug treatments, all of these simply cannot be a matter solely for the one person in the apartment who is being bitten. I hope this is what occurred in this apartment: everyone worked together in one effort even if the roommates simply can’t bring themselves to say that they, too, had bed bugs. The alternative scenario is not very encouraging, and would not bode well for poor Anne, since any hope of the bed bugs being gone from this apartment starts with the image of a cohesive, supportive set of roommates bent on eradicating the bugs tormenting one of them.

All of that speculation aside, however, I am not forgetting that they did tell Anne about the bed bugs! Yes, indeed, and well done! Therefore, I am prepared to believe that these roommates are good bed bug citizens trying to do the right thing, which brings me to the second troubling thought, did they actually get rid of the bed bugs, or are they moving because of them? Well, we can’t possibly know. So, what should Anne do?

I am very angry at the management company and feel foolish for taking their word. I am going to insist that they exterminate the apartment again before I move in but dont know what they will say.

Is there anything else I can do at this point?

Consulting a lawyer as a first step to terminate the lease is one possibility, perhaps the wisest. Bravely taking your chances is another. Yes, insisting on a professional inspection, perhaps even a bed bug dog inspection, would be advisable. We’re told that treating an apartment for bed bugs, successfully, involves sleeping in it, in order to draw out the bugs. I’m not sure that I could have any confidence in a pre-moving treatment plan for an empty apartment. In our heart of hearts, if Anne were our dearest friend, what would we tell her? I know what I would tell her! And you, bedbuggers? What would you say?

Still, in a major U.S. city, and perhaps elsewhere, what are the chances of moving into a building with a previous infestation history? Should the infestation history matter? In what way? If, or when, most buildings in an urban area have experienced infestations, would it not be better to ask What is your pest control policy? in addition to Have you had bed bugs here?

I’d be interested to hear perspectives from lawyers, PCOs and renters who have encountered or are worried about encountering Anne’s difficulties. The leasing, enforceable, obligations of landlords… do they include disclosure of bed bug infestations? Should they?

Finally, you don’t have to be in the middle of an apartment search to think about bed bugs. You can start a conversation about bed bug prevention and eradication protocols with your landlord and neighbors now, before you ever have a problem. Learn the basics and ask the tough questions.

If you are apartment hunting in New York City, you can look up violations at your prospective address at the HPD website here. Check the bed bug registries for your new building and new neighborhood here and here. You should also read Bedbugger’s landlords, tenants, and legal issues FAQs. And, yes, visit AT for inspiration; we hope you make yourself a lovely, bed bug-free home. Similar Posts:

• The ethics of bed bugs: the lies landlords and roommates tell
• Bedbugs called “a new kind of roach”; building managment lies
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• 25 Grant Street in Denver, Colorado: bed bugs for two years
• “The Hunt”: bed bugs in New York real estate

I was taken aback by the (albeit informal) poll currently running on Bed Bug City:

Bedbug City Poll

How did you deal with bedbugs at your home?

I moved out. 30.8%
I called an exterminator. 23.1%
I bought chemicals and applied on my own 19.2%
I discarded the mattress and most of the clothes. 11.5%
I do nothing. 7.7%
My landlord took care of the infestation. 7.7%

Total votes: 26

I realize the poll is pretty basic and unscientific, but it is still interesting. I don’t think “I moved out” and “I called an exterminator” should be exclusive answers. If you’re treating your bed bugs (and yes, if renting in most localities, the landlord must pay) when you move, as Windycitymike did, you have a much better shot. I know that isn’t always possible.

However, I have a hunch that the poll reflects the truth to some degree, and many people are fleeing bed bug apartments without treatment. In a lot of cases, I suspect people are probably getting the ball rolling, by reporting bed bugs and requesting treatment, but they’re not seeing results fast enough, or at all. So they’re fleeing with minimal treatment, which many landlords would welcome as an opportunity to not do anything further, because “no one is going to care.”

I am not saying those folks should necessarily stay in those apartments, especially if the landlord doesn’t get the whole bed bug vibe, or hires a crappy PCO.

On the other hand, as we’ve discussed elsewhere, it’s really hard to move without bed bugs. If you can get your landlord to treat them, then it’s worth fighting and living in a bed bug free home. Your next apt. may already be infested, or, more likely, you may take the bugs with you and they will set up home there. It is possible to get out bug free, and people here have done it, at great personal expense.

If many or most people are moving rather than dealing with bed bugs, then we are going to see bed bugs spreading at an even more alarming rate.

And specifically for New Yorkers, if you are going to ditch your infested apartment, because your landlord really is botching it, or the PCO is lousy, you really should make sure you reported the bugs to 311 before you moved. That way, at least the city has a violation of bed bugs listed for the apartment, and someone will at least be checking in to see if they’re gone.

Everyone in North America should post their infested addresses at Bed Bug City and the Bed Bug Registry. Both–because otherwise we have two 1/2 complete registries.Similar Posts:

• Toronto tenants camping outside to avoid bed bugs: update
• Shameful landlord AIMCO: biggest landlord in USA refuses to deal with bed bugs
• an honest PCO, a clever move
• Edmonton couple moves from an infested building, to another infested building
• Amanda at Apartmenttherapy.com, part 5

I subscribe to google alerts, which bring me news of articles. They also capture a lot of people blogging about bed bugs–most of which are not very interesting at all.

This, however, was another story, the known universe. The blogger’s friend had bed bugs:

She changed apartments since the last time I saw her, too. The previous one having been infested with bedbugs. “They were everywhere. Falling down from the ceiling, even. I started having these phantom bug attacks even when I went outside.

When the exterminator came to fumigate, he told her, “Listen: don’t tell your landlord I told you this, but this isn’t the first time I’ve fumigated this place. There’s a real problem here. Between you and me, I think you should move.”

The next day (she) checked craigslist, found a listing and jumped ship immediately.

I was touched by the PCO’s advice to this sufferer. I wonder how often this happens. I know PCOs can’t normally do this without losing the landlords as customers, but I wish they would.

Oh, and the blogger’s friend moved by clever means: she moved during a cold spell and left everything outside in freezing weather en route. I guess your chances for that have passed, New Yorkers, for 2007. Now you’ll need to wait for a week of 104 degree heat and leave that aluminum U-Haul truck baking for a week. In a very sunny spot. And hope it reaches 140 F for more than four hours, and kills them. (Note: we do not recommend this method. Environmental temperatures are not likely to solve your bed bug problem.)

I’m waiting for the drive-in-and-park frozen meat locker we can rent for a week while moving. Any investors for that idea?Similar Posts:

• bed bugs clear Port Jervis, NY Hospital’s mental health unit
• Singer Nicole Atkins tells amNY she fled bed bugs in Brooklyn
• more from Pennsylvania
• Yet more people who are yet to discover bed bugs exist
• Update: bed bug resources in Spanish: PCO assistance needed!

More infested apartments in Edmonton.

The Edmonton story is notable because it details how Robert Kirkland moved from one apartment infested with bed bugs, to another. When I first started reading, I wondered if he could have moved the bugs inadvertently with him. But the article states that Capital Health noted the building Kirkland moved into had an outstanding bed bug violation on record, that hadn’t been dealt with.

If Caryn is the first person to have gotten bed bugs again after 2.5 years bug free, Kirkland is the first I’ve heard of who appears to have moved from one infested home to another. Kirkland’s original residence was apparently next door to one featured in a news story last year.

Also in the news today, another non-descript dorm bed bug story. This time from Boston University.Similar Posts:

• Bed bugs in a University of Alberta residence (again)
• Boston University dorm residents bitten by bed bugs
• Bed bugs also causing havoc in England & Northern Ireland: university residence, hospital staff residence, possibly a school, infested
• University of Manitoba student rooms infested with bed bugs
• New York City is behind in the bed bug wars