Any success stories w/ treating just 1 apartment? « Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums

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Any success stories w/ treating just 1 apartment?

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Started 3 years ago by steph_in_brooklyn
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steph_in_brooklyn

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Posted 3 years ago
Tue Jul 7 2009 14:27:15
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Hi! I'm new here, but I've been reading actively since first discovering my bed bug problem about 2 weeks ago. Has anyone here had success eliminating bed bugs from their apartment without also treating adjacent apartments?

I live in NYC, but because I'm on a month to month lease my landlord is requiring me to pay for the treatment. I've had a PCO out last week and a follow up treatment is scheduled for next week. We laundered everything in the house and bagged it in new bags before he came and continue to keep everything bagged, we've also layed DE around all the baseboards and double sided carpet tape around the beds and on the walls. I have Climbup Insect Interceptors on the way and am going to follow up the PCO's treatment with BestYet Cedarcide all over the entire apartment. I plan to caulk the baseboard also.

Has anyone had success in getting rid of these buggers for good by only treating their apartment in a building? Or do I need to make moving out a priority?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
cantstandbedbugs

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Posted 3 years ago
Tue Jul 7 2009 22:11:28
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Hello steph_in_ brooklyn,

I don't have an answer to your question but I just wanted to ask you something. Are you sure about that landlord are not legally responsible to paying for treatment for bb in New York. I don't think it should matter that you are a month to month. I also live in NY and will be looking for a month -to -month lease agreement for my next place. Here is a link to the New York Renters Rights, refer to "Warrantee of HABITABILITY" page 19 in the book but its actually page 21 in the link because its pdf file.
It states that the landlord is responsible to rid the apartment of an insect infestation, however I also read something on there that if the tenant is responsible for the condition then the tenant should be held responsible. Well that is how I interpreted I don't understand legal jargon. So don't you admit you bought those vampire creatures into your apartment to your landlord (I hope you haven't already) plus even if you are responsible that is very hard to prove in court should you have to take that route. Also it states that if you pay for treatment yourself (or repairs or whatever the case may be) you can deduct that cost from the rent. Perhaps you can send this link or print it out and give it to your landlord as a friendly reminder of the NY tenants rights.

http://www.oag.state.ny.us/bureaus/real_estate_finance/pdfs/tenants_rights_guide.pdf

Contact your nearest New York State Attorney Generals Office call them up and ask for a better explaination of the law / rights and they can advise you on what steps you need to take next. Here is a link to the contact info. Even though it says fraud the number for the office are there and you can maybe ask for info or to be transfered to the right people.

http://www.oag.state.ny.us/bureaus/consumer_frauds/contact.html

Even if it says it on the lease and you signed the lease agreeing to the terms the wording in the lease doesn't not supersede the law and thats it. I remember when I lived in upstate new york I also had a month to month and it said something about the landlord has a right to remove my property if I fail to pay rent blah, blah, blah..I signed but I knew it wasn't right and I knew they couldn't just do that legally they would need a court order and I could've sued had they try to pull that one on me. I didn't make a big deal about it because I always paid my rent on time and didn't think it would ever come to that but I wouldn't love to see them try that one if my rent was backed up..I know my rights. Anyway sorry to go off topic but I hope this helps with this financial burden of paying for treatment..
Also I don't think one treatment (by spraying) would do because the 1st treatment won't do a thing to the eggs so the 2nd treatment would be necessary 10 to 14 days after the first to catch the baby Bedbugs. I think if you go the thermal treatment route 1 treatment might do.

BBs multiply like wild fire especially now in the summer the eggs hatch faster so don't wait on it. Find out your right and what steps to take and do something about it ASAP. Wish you the best with your LL and hope you get this BB's situation taken care of.
buggyinsocal

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Posted 3 years ago
Tue Jul 7 2009 23:37:08
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I am not a lawyer.

However, there is often a large gap between what the law actually requires and what a financially vulnerable person can actually get a land lord to do.

Even if the law in NYC requires LL to pay for bed bug treatment in an apartment, since steph_in_brooklyn is month to month and not protected by a lease, if the landlord doesn't want to pay for treatment, all the landlord has to do is not renew SIB's lease for the next month.

I don't know what NYC law is about renters on month to month leases, but, I would imagine that the fear of being kicked out is part of what is motivating SIB's question.

As for getting rid of bugs while treating only one apartment in a building, I did. My situation wasn't exactly typical. It's a small building (4 units), and all my neighbors cooperated and were inspected and found clear. My infestation almost certainly came from a stay at a hotel before I knew bed bugs were more than a line in nursery rhymes. And I had thermal treatment.

If the bugs are not in other units in the building, and you have a good PCO, it can be done.

If the bugs are in other units in the building, and the other units are getting effective treatment, it can be done.

One last word of advice that might (unlike most of what I've said above) be helpful. Make sure to clear your use of Cedarcide with your current PCO. It's likely that your current PCO will leave down residuals even at the last treatment, and I don't know how Cedarcide will interact with them. I want to be clear; I'm not suggesting that they might create some sort of toxic soup. But your PCO will know how the chemicals have been applied and where and how that will work on the bugs overall. Cedarcide may repel or direct them away from any chemicals already placed by the PCO, so check with him or her to make sure you're working in concert rather than against what the PCO has done.

and generally, which I think you mentioned above, wait to caulk until after you're sure the problem is gone because caulking while they're still there can make it harder to treat an ongoing infestation.

I hope some of that helps.
cantstandbedbugs

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Posted 3 years ago
Wed Jul 8 2009 8:34:17
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A month to month is a lease and should be protected by the law. I don't know the motive behind steph_in_brooklyn question so I will not speculate on that. If I were steph_in_brooklyn I wouldn't care if I got kicked out of a bedbug infested apartment (they can keep it and everything in it) but that's just me. Anyway I just put it out there as informational and included resources so steph_in_brooklyn can go and get help from someone that really knows what they are talking about..
steph_in_brooklyn

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Posted 3 years ago
Wed Jul 8 2009 12:10:15
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Thanks, everyone, for the advice. The who pays for extermination situation is tricky - the cost of moving seems to be about the same or more than treating my own apartment so decided to go that route. And I don't really have much recourse to push my landlord to pay since I don't have a lease.

But treatment #2 goes down next week and the bugs seem to be on the decline already. Praying I have a success story soon...