News Channel 8 showed you the critters up close, then management was flooded with complaints. Bella Vista is an apartment complex with many elderly residents, many of which are subsidized. And, News Channel 8 has been told, some are afraid they’ll be evicted if they complain.

The management company says absolutely no one will be evicted for complaining. But, the company only spoke to residents after our first story aired even though they knew there was a problem here. And, that has some residents very upset.

Marilyn Watstein learned about the bed bug problem at the Bella Vista apartment complex in the Elm City from a News Channel 8 report. “I happened to catch the end of it last week,” she said.

In my last post on the Bella Vista’s bed bug problem, I suggested the building would do well to inspect every unit in the building and treat all vertically and horizontally adjacent units to the ones known to be infested, regardless of whether bed bugs were found in the adjoining units.

After all, the knowledgeable officials in Boston made that a city policy for buildings where bed bug violations were found. It’s considered a good practice.

It’s worth remembering that the City of Boston is not a business which stands to benefit from making landlords pay for such inspections and preventive treatments. They’re trying to help landlords and tenants resolve bed bug problems quickly and completely.

If landlords are not forced to undertake such an action, and do not choose it on their own, it is nevertheless the standard practice in the industry to at least inspect all units that are adjacent — horizontally or vertically — to an infested unit.

Most knowledgeable and reputable Pest Control Operators — the ones who know how bed bugs get around, and who want their customers to have a successful outcome — won’t treat for bed bugs in a building unless the landlord agrees to the inspection of adjoining units (above, below, all sides).

That’s right: business people will walk away from the job rather than treating a single unit for bed bugs without inspecting those connected to it. They consider it that important to bed bug treatment.

Is the management of the Bella Vista going to have those adjacent units inspected, let alone treated?

Nope.

[Carabetta Vice President Bill Stetson] says they will now be sending out an informational flyer to everyone. But, they refuse to inspect every apartment and will only exterminate when a resident complains.

“It’s not a question of cost for us, it’s a question of doing the right thing and getting rid of the problem as quickly as possible,” Stetson said.

Good luck with that.

Of course it’s a good thing the management is now going to inform all residents that the building has bed bugs (you know, in case some of them don’t watch Channel 8 news or don’t interact with their neighbors often).

But this act alone is hardly going to bring about a resolution to the Bella Vista’s bed bug problem “as quickly as possible,” which is what Stetson claims to be aiming for.

Click here to view the video.

• Piecemeal inspections and treatment: no way to rid an apartment building of bed bugs
• Bed bugs in Hamilton, Ontario: lessons for landlords and local governments
• Bed bugs in North Jersey
• Bowling Green Towers: residents organize to demand proper bed bug treatment in low-income building

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If your multi-unit building landlord, co-op association, condo board, YWCA manager, elderly housing provider are not taking action, make them watch this and remind them, your building can get to be this bad.

Stories like this are not that unusual–I have heard a number of them from pest control operators.

• Washington YWCA infested with bed bugs: more elderly, low-income residents being left to itch
• Residents at the Bella Vista apartments learn their building has bed bugs by watching the news
• apartmentratings.com on bed bugs; realtor warns clients about bed bugs; tenant.net on bedbugs; more video from Cincinnati
• everyone should watch this bed bug video

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