I always find stories involving bed bug lawsuits to be interesting.  Most people who sue because of bed bugs do so when they have been attacked by them in a hotel/motel room.  Sometimes I find a lawsuit where tenants are suing landlords.  On occasion I find where workers are suing their employers because they are being bitten while trying to perform their daily tasks.  The stories all fascinate and terrify me at the same time!

It’s recently been reported that the Dubuque, Iowa MainStay Suites Hotel is being sued by a woman who claims to have been attacked by bed bugs.  The lawsuit states that she rented a room at various times during July and August of 2009.   My question is, if she was attacked by bed bugs during July, why would she return to the same hotel in August?

Bed bugs are a menacing pest for certain and hotels would be wise to stay ahead of these blood suckers by using bed bug monitors and bed bug sniffing dogs to avoid lawsuits!

The New York City bed bug disclosure bill currently under consideration in the New York Senate has been amended. The original bill required landlords to provide disclosure of a building’s bed bug history going back five years to prospective tenants. However, this bill may not be fair to landlords since a bed bug infestation could of happened four years ago and eliminated four years ago, yet the former infestation could make prospective tenants go elsewhere.

An amendment to the bill states that an owner of the building has to provide each tenant signing a vacancy lease, a notice in a form approved by the state division of housing and community renewal that provides the property’s bed bug infestation history for the previous year regarding the premises rented by the tenant as well as the building that the premises are located in. So now they have to provide history for the entire building.

Landlords everywhere, including in New Jersey should give tenants bed bug monitors in order to get early detection of a bed bug infestation.

An increasing number of people living in New York City and New Jersey and in other parts of the nation are blood meals for the odious bed bugs. However, sometimes the red welts are not due to bed bug bites. People need to get confirmation that the rashes have actually been caused by bed bugs. Even doctors have incorrectly diagnosed skins welts as being produced by bed bugs.

The rashes often look like those caused by mosquitoes although the bed bug caused rashes usually last longer. Flea bites typically have a red dot in the middle which is not the case for bed bug bites. However, flea bites often are placed in rows which can happen with bed bug bites.

About one-third of the human victims of bed bugs do not have a skin reaction. So, an apartment in New York City or New Jersey could have a bed bug infestation without the residents realizing they need bed bug treatments. Bed bug monitors are excellent devices for revealing a bed bug infestation.

How much do residents of New York City and New Jersey and elsewhere know about bed bugs? Do they know that female bed bugs can lay one to five eggs each day including holidays. The eggs take about seven to ten days to hatch. The babies take about one and a half to two months to become adults. They have five stages of development before they become mature adults. Seems complicated for such a simple critter.

When the odious insects are not having a blood meal they are typically inactive, hiding in a crevice or somewhere else. Bed bugs may wait several days or a week before having another blood meal. They can also go dormant and not have a blood meal for a little over a year. Bed bugs need blood meals in order to develop and to have babies.

Bed bug monitors can provide an early warning that bed bugs have arrived in your residence. Bed bug monitors can play a vital role in a comprehensive bed bug prevention plan.

The odious, blood sucking bed bugs hide in more locations than just beds. Yes indeed, the horrible insects hide in various types of furniture, cardboard boxes, between the pages of books, carpeting, clutter, tiny crevices, heating ducts etc. Some exerts suggest their hiding places are typically within a hundred feet of their human blood source. Bed bugs typically stay close to their human meal in the same bedroom or area where the human blood source sleeps.

Yes, they do enjoy staying close to humans by hiding out in their beds but they also hide in furniture that people sleep on or take a nap on such as upholstered chair, couches etc. Unfortunately, a bed or a couch can become home to a large bed bug infestation in a short period of time. Wood and fabric are two of their favorite materials to hide in.

What can residents of New York City and New Jersey and other bed bug infested areas do? They can put bed bug monitors in their bedrooms and other rooms. Early detection of bed bugs will save a lot of money on bed bug treatments.

Bed bugs are a big problem in New York City and New Jersey and across the country. The blood sucking insects insert two hollow feeding tubes into the victim. One tube they use to inject saliva which contains an anticoagulant and anesthetics. The other tube is used to take blood from its host. Some experts claim bed bugs will feed for approximately five minutes.

The bites are typically not felt until hours later and in some case days later. The critters attempt to feed themselves every 5 to 10 days. Bed bugs that get meals on a consistent basis often live between six to nine months. If bed bugs don’t have a food source they can go dormant and not have a meal for up to 18 months. However, it was reported in 2009 at a Entomological Society of America meeting that newer generations of pesticide-resistant bed bugs located in Virginia could only live for two months without a blood meal.

Beg bug monitors can play a vital role in detecting the blood sucking bed bugs in your residence.

Bed bug infestations can easily spread through apartment buildings in New York City and New Jersey and elsewhere. The odious insects find ways to climb through the walls and invade neighboring units. Bed bug monitors are an excellent way to help stop the spread of these horrible insects.

A lot of people don’t have a skin reaction to bed bug bites so they are unaware of the infestation and this gives the bed bugs the opportunity to invade other units before the landlord realizes their is a problem and calls a pest control company to destroy the bed bugs. The landlords can end up paying a lot of money for treatments since he didn’t have knowledge of the initial infestation. Since one female can lay about 500 eggs the infestation can become quire large very rapidly.

Apartment owners in bed bug infested areas can make a bed bugs prevention plan a lot stronger by putting bed bug monitors in all the units. These monitors can help prevent landlords from paying for extensive bed bug treatments.

A bed bug infestation can be costly, due to the expense of temporarily moving out of the residence, bed bug pest control treatments, steam cleaning fabrics, replacing some items etc. Unfortunately, according to the Insurance Information Institute, homeowners insurance typically doesn’t cover any of the costs associated with bed bugs. The institute stated that the expense associated with eliminating bed bugs is like the expense of eliminating cockroaches or rats which are considered to be part of the maintenance connected to owning a home and is not covered by a homeowner policy.

In general, losses caused by creatures including rodents, birds, vermin and insects are not covered by standard policies. Also, a spokeswoman for the Insurance Information Institute stated “it would be really hard to calculate the possibility of a bed bug getting into someone’s luggage at an airport and infesting a house.”

One of the best things people in New Jersey and New York City and elsewhere can do is have a comprehensive bed bug prevention plan. Bed bug monitors can be a vital part of a quality plan.

Residents of New Jersey and New York City and elsewhere may be interested to know that in Columbus, Ohio a landlord asked all tenants to pay $100 for bed bug extermination services. If they don’t pay they will be in violation of their lease. One tenant refused to pay the money.

The lease states the tenant is responsible for any pest control service if the tenant wants such a service. However the notice from the landlord states this treatment is not optional. However, the Columbus City Code states that “The owner is responsible for elimination of any insects, rats, or other pests in a dwelling containing two (2) or more dwelling units.

The landlords in many areas in the country are responsible for bed bug  treatments. They didn’t bring the bed bugs in yet they have to pay all the costs. They may not think that’s fair and if so, perhaps they have a legitimate complaint. It’s a difficult issue.

Landlords should consider purchasing and placing bed bug monitors in apartment units.

Continuing from Thursday…

Mr. Kelly brought the bed bugs that he had discovered to the Budget Inn Motel manager, who in turn brought a plastic sheet to cover the mattress.  The manager flipped the mattress and saw the bed bugs moving around but did not seem to care that they were present.  The Kelly’s asked for a refund for the days that they had stayed at the motel, but were denied.  They threatened legal action, and the manager still did not care.

The Kelly’s have hired an attorney and are suing the motel for the entire incident.  The couple has some pretty horrible photographs to back up their claims, so it looks like a pretty easy case to win in court.

The entire situation could have been avoided had the motel hired a pest control specialist who knew how to eradicate the bed bugs!  All hotels and motels should have bed bug monitors in place to safeguard themselves against any possible infestations.  Bed bugs sniffing dogs are a particularly good resource for hotels and motels as well.  Dogs work extremely fast with amazing accuracy.  For hotel/motel guests that think that they have encountered bed bugs; you launder your clothing in hot soapy water, dry your clothing on the hottest possible setting, and contact a pest control specialist as soon as possible.