Monthly Archives: September 2012

Bed Bug News

Will Bed Bugs Be Biting At The Democratic National Convention?

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Politicians attending the Democratic National Convention might encounter more than their typical supporters and policy naysayers while staying in Charlotte, North Carolina this year.  According to a report from the Washington Times on September 3, 2012, Democrats could be facing an itchy battle they were not expecting this week as nine of the ten hotels that are reserved for attendees of the Democratic National Convention have had reports of bed bugs living among the rooms in recent months.  According to the report, previous patrons of the hotels that are being used by the Convention have reported being bitten by the blood thirsty pests to the BedBugRegistry.com and BedBugReports.com.

The Washington Times article states that the  environmental supervisor for the Mecklenburg County Health Department has reported that “We did inspect all of the hotels and we do respond to complaints.”  He additionally said “We’re required to inspect them once a year, and we inspected them all after the start of the new fiscal year [July 1].”

In the world of bed bugs, inspecting hotels in July is great, but the reality is that a hotel can bed bug free on one day and infested on another due to the fact that any guest, hotel employee, delivery person, sales person, etc. can bring in bed bugs with them at any moment in time. Apparently, a search of Charlotte, North Carolina hotels revealed that there were more than 30 different hotels in the Charlotte area that had guests who had recently reported being attacked by bed bugs.

Politicians are just as susceptible to bringing home bed bugs as any other hotel guest that visits any hotel in the world.  As such, to remain bed bug free, they should follow strict bed bug protocol when traveling to a hotel.

Bed Bug News

Texas Landlords Taking Advantage of Tenants

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NJ bed bugs specialists know first-hand how difficult it can be to rid an apartment unit of bed bugs.  The tenacious bloodsuckers will easily travel from unit to unit using electrical wires and plumbing pipes until they reach their desired victim.  As with any home or business, bed bugs can easily hide within walls and creep out of electrical outlets, or under baseboards, or through venting systems.  Unlike single family homes, multi-unit buildings provide even more opportunity for hungry bed bugs to travel from unit to unit with great ease.  It is not uncommon to find when a unit is infested; the units on either side, and above and below also have some level of bed bug infestation as well.  This is why the National Pest Management recommends that you must take an aggressive approach to treating bed bug infestations when it comes to multi-unit buildings.

According to Kvue.com on August 31, 2012, about two years ago, many Texas landlords began adding a “Bed Bug Addendum” to the leasing contract that all new renters are required to sign. The Addendum requires that new tenants find and report any bed bugs in an apartment within 48 hours of signing a lease.  Finding bed bugs or evidence of the pests in that short of a time period is typically an impossible task as in most instances; the bugs would likely have to travel from another unit to begin attacking the new tenant.  Additionally, unless the tenant captured the bed bug and knew what type of bug it was, it is unlikely that the tenant would realize that their apartment was infested for at least a few weeks if not longer.

While it is understandable that landlords want to protect their interest and financial well-being, passing off the expense of bed bug eradication services onto tenants is unfair.

Despite the fact that bed bugs are not known to transmit diseases to humans, the Texas Tenants Union believes that bed bugs should be considered to be a public heath nuisance by the State of Texas just like rats, mice and mosquitoes are considered to be.