Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums » Psychological and Health problems caused by bed bugs (besides bites)
Legal Recourse? My roommates kept their bedbugs a secret for months!
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buggieinbklyn
newbite
Joined: Apr '09
Posts: 1
Posted 7 months ago
Mon Apr 13 2009 18:04:24
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I feel I am at the end of my rope..! My situation is very stressful and complicated, and I need some perspective and advice:
I live with a couple, both of whom I had been friends with for several years. They had bed bugs in their room from Oct-Dec and fought them with bleach and water, vacuuming and laundry until their bites went away. The whole time, and in the ensuing months, they made a conscious decision to keep this all a secret from me. (It is now April.)
In the winter, around Jan-Feb, I began having terrible insomnia, getting hives and then waking up with bites and other weird rash symptoms. Our downstairs neighbor is also a friend of my roommate's and her bedroom is directly below theirs. A few weeks ago, she was in our apartment complaining of bites. I heard her and chimed in that I have also been having some kind of bites or rashes for a couple months and I thought it was just stress. My roommate who had the bed bugs stood right there listening to us and didn't say a word about his recent bout with bed bugs!! My other roommate, his girlfriend, even noticed me scratching bites on another occasion, right after waking up from a nap, and kept her mouth shut. (She later admitted to having noticed my bites..)
At the end of March, my downstairs neighbor finally found a bedbug in her room and called an exterminator. It was only then, and only through my neighbor, that I found out about my roommates' bed begs. And she had only found out after-the-fact from other mutual friends. I assume that I have them too, as I have been having bed bug-like bites for months, paired with terrible sleep problems. (I have torn apart my room looking for them and had an exterminator come, but have found no signs of them -- just bites.)
I have been totally livid with both my roommates!! The guy is very neurotic and does not communicate about things in general. My other roommate, his girlfriend and friend of mine for 4 years, went along with him in keeping it from me. When I confronted them about it, they said they "didn't want to stress me out" and "thought the problem was contained and taken care of." I feel this is an incredibly selfish way to treat ANYONE you live with - especially someone who had been a friend. In fact, I feel utterly betrayed, and would like to move out as soon as I'm sure the bugs are gone.
The other side of this is: My life is crazy in the first place. I am in graduate school, work full time, and have an internship. I work 7 days a week and I am in the middle of finals, and am stressed to the max as is. I had to take days off work to tear my room apart and have an exterminator come.
The added stress of the bed bug situation, and the seething anger I feel about my roommates' lack of concern for my well being has resulted in me having a total nervous breakdown these past couple weeks. I have had crying spells and panic attacks at work from the exhaustion. I am so distraught I feel I can barely make it through the last few weeks of my semester. And I am having so many different skin problems I don't know if I am actually getting bitten or just getting hives from stress.
My question: Do you think my roommates should be held responsible for reimbursing my missed days from work and the cost of my mattress and pillow covers ($150)? If they had had the decency to tell me when the problem was going on, I could have done preventative measures months ago when I was on winter break from school. I have also been thinking I'm going crazy for months - not sleeping, thinking I have stress-related rashes. I got sleeping pills from my doctor and have even had trouble sleeping on the pills! My physical and mental health have been seriously impacted by this infestation, and these people feel little responsibility for not informing me, and have not even really apologized.
Any feedback / support / advice appreciated!
Thank you.
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your host
Joined: Mar '07
Posts: 5,547
Posted 7 months ago
Mon Apr 13 2009 18:47:51
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It's seriously obnoxious and they should have warned you before you moved in. They should also have admitted the likely cause of the problem when you started itching.
Whether they're liable from a legal standpoint, I would not be able to say. I am not a lawyer and nobody should be giving or receiving legal advice on online forums.
A lawsuit would probably be very expensive. A small claims case might be an option.
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Emmm
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Joined: Mar '09
Posts: 225
Posted 7 months ago
Mon Apr 13 2009 20:21:40
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Wow, that's horrible. :( I'm so sorry it happened. Bed bugs seem to bring up potentially awful behaviour in friends. The friend who gave us bed bugs didn't meant to do it, and thought he was being careful. He was careless in research. On his end, though, his roommate knew about the problem for awhile and didn't say anything until confronted. In that case, the roommate did nothing, period.
I don't know if they would be legally on the hook for this, but have you asked them for financial help considering? Are they playing this as if it's not their fault? I'd be surprised if they are. Good luck!
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losingit
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Joined: Nov '08
Posts: 292
Posted 7 months ago
Tue Apr 14 2009 9:36:26
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What a horrible situation. First - I'd concentrate on getting the bugs gone. I'd not stress out about whos-to-pay or any of that just yet. You have plenty to worry about with bugs, school, work, health besides the added stress of a lawsuit or compensation added to an already tense situation. Yes, they should have told you sooner but they didn't for whatever reason. I'd just work on getting the bugs gone. Then I'd consider the money/compensation/apology issue.
Second: you mention the next few weeks of school? Get through that time period as best you can, like a deadline almost. Hopefully you'll be less worried (ie one less thing to worry about) once that's over and with a calmer head can decide what to do next.
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bugged.out.in.bklyn
newbite
Joined: Dec '08
Posts: 8
Posted 7 months ago
Tue Apr 14 2009 15:09:06
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i thought my roommates were jerks for not doing the dishes. i'm sorry to hear this happened to you.
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