Please help - uncooperative roommate and landlord « Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums

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Please help - uncooperative roommate and landlord

(7 posts)

StellaO

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Joined: Sep '09
Posts: 2

Posted 1 month ago
Wed Sep 23 2009 1:52:38
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Hi everyone, I need your help. My roommate recently told me she has found bed bugs on her mattress. We called our landlord and he advised her to clean up the space as much as possible, but said he doesn't want to call an exterminator because they will just keep coming back. Help me! I live in NYC, and I know that landlords are supposed to pay for a licensed PCO. What should I do?

P.S. I was planning on moving in 6 weeks until I got the news. I am terrified of carrying them to my next location, but my living situation has become unbearable (long story) without the bed bugs even!
nycbugz

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Joined: Sep '09
Posts: 12

Posted 1 month ago
Wed Sep 23 2009 6:41:31
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Move out of that place ASAP, but treat everything you are taking with you and do it meticulously - you don't want to spread them around the city. Throw away anything you can't live without (especially your mattress), wash all your bedding & clothes and pack them up in sealed bags until you move. Clean everything before you move and immediately seal them in plastic bags. When you move into your new place buy a new bed and immediately encase the mattress & boxspring in bedbug cases.

There is more info on here about moving - follow the advice and get yourself out of that apartment. Both your roommate and landlord are idiots if they think they don't have to do anything. Things are just going to get worse without PCO if you live in NYC.
bbfiend

junior member
Joined: Sep '09
Posts: 82

Posted 1 month ago
Wed Sep 23 2009 8:58:09
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call to report your landlord. he may still not pay until he receives a violation from the city, which may be a while.. so you may have to fork out some to make sure your move will not be a nightmare. in my opinion, that money spent will be well worth it! for your own sanity.

we didn't realise the landlord was supposed to pay when we got bbs, we paid for it ourselves. even though it was quite a bit of money that we could barely afford, it's well worth it. the sanity that came with the treatment is worth every cent spent.
buggyinsocal

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Joined: Jun '08
Posts: 1,130

Posted 1 month ago
Wed Sep 23 2009 10:14:40
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Even cleaning as meticulously as possible may mean bringing bugs with you when you move. Without professional treatment, moving without bed bugs is very difficult.

First off, your landlord is in violation of the law. Encourage your roommate to contact your local tenants' rights organization. The fact that bed bugs often do require multiple treatments when using chemical treatment is not a reason for the landlord not to be responsible for treatment. Also, the fact that the landlord has this attitude is not a good sign for the building ever being bed bug free. To get rid of bed bugs in a multiunit building, infested units and all adjacent units must be thoroughly inspected. Because if a landlord is only treating units where tenants complain, esp. if using a bad PCO, the bugs will simply migrate to other apartments.

Also keep in mind that many people do not react to bed bug bites. This means you may already have an infestation in your room. Neighboring apartments may have infestations.

The fact that your landlord seems unwilling to acknowledge that possibility is not a good sign. Your landlord may simply be ignorant, or he/she may just not care. The first might be fixable. The latter is not.

As for moving, there are options to move bed bug free, and they don't involve tossing everything you own including expensive items.

Find out whether there are PCOs who will use thermal or Vikane to treat the contents of your moving truck. Both thermal and Vikane, when done properly, will eliminate all bed bugs and eggs from the contents of your truck in one treatment. IF you can find a good PCO to do the treatment, you won't have to replaced expensive items like your bed and your furniture, and you can feel pretty confident about moving bed bug free into the new place.

(Also, check the bed bug registry to make sure that the new place is bed bug free. Some PCOs who do Vikane or thermal treatment on trucks during moves will require inspecting--either by PCO or a bed bug detection dog--the new place in order to guarantee their treatment.)

Those options are not always cheap, but they are definitely cheaper than tossing out lots of expensive household belongings only to also end up paying for treatment in the new place.
parakeets

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Joined: Mar '07
Posts: 866

Posted 1 month ago
Wed Sep 23 2009 10:23:07
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I went to a bedbug conference in Boston where inspectors who were presenting told the story of people who moved out of a bedbug infested unit into a hotel room that did not have bedbugs. All the people took with them were the clothes they were wearing, their medicines, and their wallets. Within 2 days there was evidence of bedbugs in the hotel room. Even the inspectors were surprised how easy it was to take bedbugs when you move.
BuggedInSomerville

junior member
Joined: Aug '09
Posts: 65

Posted 1 month ago
Wed Sep 23 2009 12:48:45
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Well, yeah, if you move from a bedbug-infested unit without treating your items, you're facing a large risk of bringing them with you. What I'd be curious to know is how extensive the original infestation was and what measures the people took between their infested unit and the hotel room. Someone who has had an infestation developing for a year and doesn't take any precautions is going to have a larger chance of transferring than someone who may or may not have them in their own room and who takes the necessary, thorough precautions. You're not doomed if you're infested and planning to move, but the move will involve a lot of stress, time, and money if it is to be successful.
StellaO

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Joined: Sep '09
Posts: 2

Posted 1 month ago
Wed Sep 23 2009 23:26:16
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Thank you, everyone. This forum makes me feel less alone in my plight. I spoke with my landlord today and he is so ignorant or choosing to revert to ostrich-like behavior, that he merely said we should get rid of my roommate's mattress. And I did "lay down the law" to no avail.

It's really infuriating, but I will report them to 311 and the local Tenants' Right's Association is a great idea, thank you, BuggyinSoCal!

I would be willing to pay for the treatments if my roommate was willing to share the cost. But she isn't. I'm looking into the off-site Vikane options.

Does the following sound crazy?:
I am thinking of safely disposing of my 3 pieces of furniture and mattress (Ikea-type things), double-bagging my freshly-laundered clothes and removing the outer bag right before I place the bag of clothes into a new suitcase waiting on the sidewalk. Also packing books, papers and misc. non-fabric items into Rubbermaids that I will clean with rubbing alcohol (someone mentioned that to me).

Does this seem viable at all? I haven't seen any bugs in my room/mattress yet but am very afraid that the above is not enough. My roommate doesn't have my back and I want to leave before it gets worse, but I'm so afraid of bringing them with me!

Thank you for the support.