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

Bed bug lawsuits

Here are some legal cases involving bed bugs which are discussed online. (Links which are internal to the blog have additional links to news reports and sometimes case information.)

General lawsuits involving bed bugs

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 they say contained bed bugs) 2007

Summer Camp

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

College Students

Multiple Portland State University students sue landlord (Park Plaza Apartments) over bed bugs here and here. (01/2010)

Cleveland law students sue Reserve Square landlord — see Tenants below (11/2008).

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

Hotel guests

Woman stays in a San Francisco Ramada and gets 400 bed bug 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

Tenants of Ligutti Tower and Elsie Mason Manor in Des Moines, Iowa file class action lawsuit covering about 250 elderly and disabled tenants of the building who lived with bed bugs, cockroaches, or rodents from 2007 to the present (3/2010).

Portland State University student tenants sue private landlord (Park Plaza Apartments) (see College Students above) (01/2010).

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.

I suggest reading the articles linked above and consulting some of the lawyers mentioned in cases which are similar to yours or which are in your vicinity.  Some lawyers may have begun leaving comments in the thread below this post.  Although the blog comments are not normally appropriate for advertising, I will allow lawyers to leave messages below, since some readers do seem to have an interest in and a difficulty finding a lawyer willing to take a bed bug case.

This FAQ gives advice on how to find legal aid, though this may be more suited to people seeking assistance with housing court and similar proceedings.Similar Posts:

• Tenants with bed bugs file class action lawsuit in Des Moines
• NH Bed Bugs: grassroots community organizing against bed bugs
• Portland State University students vs. bed bugs (and landlord)
• Christian Hardigree on bed bug legal issues
• Bed bug on Sardinia, Ohio second grader: child sent home, school “cleaned”