lawyer who had bed bugs

Bed Bug Attorneys have been successful assisting clients seeking compensation for pain and suffering in addition to the above damages. A good lawyer will thoroughly investigate your Bed Bug incident and work with Bed Bug experts in order to prove the property owner was at fault.

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Do I need a lawyer for bed bug injuries?

Yes, if you were injured by bed bugs in your apartment, you will need a bed bug lawyer simply because of how difficult it can be to handle a claim without any prior law experience. You may not have tenant’s insurance and your landlord may not have landlord’s insurance, which can make the entire situation get messy.

Can a bed bug lawsuit be filed against the owner?

Like withholding rent or security deposits if you try to break the lease. In most situations there are levels of evidence required to effectively establish negligence in a bed bug lawsuit. There consists of the warranty of habitability laws and breach of duty. You’re able to file a premises liability claim against the owner if you prove that…

Can a landlord prove a tenant is responsible for bed bug infestation?

Proving the origin of an infestation is difficult, but the landlord could prove tenant’s negligence through the following evidence: The unit was inspected and considered free of bed bugs before it was rented. The tenant did not keep the premises safe and sanitary

What evidence is needed to prove negligence in a bed bug lawsuit?

In most situations there are levels of evidence required to effectively establish negligence in a bed bug lawsuit. There consists of the warranty of habitability laws and breach of duty. You’re able to file a premises liability claim against the owner if you prove that…

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Can you sue for getting bit by bed bugs?

California law allows people to sue if they are bitten by bedbugs while renting property or staying in a hotel.To recover damages, the guest will usually need to prove that: The owner of the property knew or was on notice of a bedbug infestation, The owner failed to take reasonable steps to eradicate it, and.

How do you win a bed bug lawsuit?

Read on for some details about the sorts of things you'll need to file- and win- a bed bug lawsuit.You Have the Right Documents. ... The Bed Bugs are Still There. ... You've Taken the Bed Bugs Elsewhere. ... There Are a Lot of Bites. ... Property Damage Has Happened. ... You Have an Awesome Lawyer. ... Codes Have Been Violated.More items...

How does a professional get rid of bed bugs?

Whole room heat treatments involve a Pest Management Professional (PMP) bringing in specially designed equipment to raise the temperature in your home to kill the bed bugs. Bed bugs and eggs die within 90 minutes at 118°F (48°C) or immediately at 122°F (50°C).

What to do if someone comes over with bed bugs?

Remove and kill any visible bed bugs. Regularly steam-clean the couch if possible. Use bed-bug-killing products such as diatomaceous earth around the home, to control the bed bug population. Hire a professional exterminator to get rid of the infestation.

How much is a bed bug case worth?

How Much Is a Bed Bug Lawsuit Worth? As mentioned earlier, the average settlement awarded in a bed bug lawsuit is $25,000-$50,000. However, this value may be higher or lower depending on several factors presented during the case.

How long does it take to settle a bed bug case?

Settling a case will depend on a number of factors. However, the average personal injury lawsuit can take between 6-14 months. A lot of the time issues associated with your case will depend on whether the defendant will admit to liability.

Can you permanently get rid of bed bugs?

The best way to get rid of bed bugs permanently is to work with a pest control professional to come up with a plan that combines home remedies and professional pesticide solutions.

Can bed bugs be completely eliminated?

When it comes to getting rid of bedbugs, one of the most common questions homeowners ask is: “Can bed bugs be completely eliminated?” The short answer is yes.

Do bed bugs live in your pillows?

A: The truth is, bed bugs can live in almost any place that has a host – including pillows. They spend most of their lives in hiding and typically only come out at night to find a blood meal.

Do I need to quarantine if I have bed bugs?

Bed bugs are very small and their eggs are sticky so they can make their way back home with you even if you didn't see signs of bed bugs in your hotel. Because of this, it's important to quarantine your luggage away from the rest of your home when you get back from your vacation.

Can you get bed bugs from sitting on someone's couch?

Bedbugs can hang out in any bit of fabric furniture, including your sofa, your office chair, and – shudder – the seats on buses and the Tube. That's right – you could pick up bedbugs from sitting down on public transport.

Can you have bed bugs in one room and not the other?

If one room has bed bugs, do they all? The short answer is that it's possible there are bed bugs in more than one room in your house. It depends on your living habits, how long the bed bugs have been there, how extensive the infestation is and how you respond to their presence once you find out about them.

Can you sue a hotel for bed bugs?

Yes, you can sue a hotel for bed bugs. A hotel has a duty to keep its guests safe from health hazards, including bed bug bites. If a hotel is found...

Can you sue a motel for bed bugs?

Yes, you can sue a motel for bed bugs. Motels are usually more negligent than hotels in the upkeep of their premises. Since they try to keep their...

Will I be able to get compensation for my medical bills and lost wages?

Yes, if the hotel is found to be negligent and the cause of your injuries, you can recover all damages results from those negligent acts. This incl...

My hotel has bed bugs. What should I do?

We recommend that you first inform the management, and collect as much evidence as possible. Make an incident report. Ask the manager's name and em...

Who represents homeowners against fraudulent termite inspection companies?

Whitney, LLP represents homeowners against negligent and fraudulent termite home inspection companies who cause our clients to incur thousands of dollars repairing property damage caused by termite infestations that were not detected, not properly treated, or sometimes, not treated at all.

What happens when a landlord leases an apartment with bed bugs?

When landlords lease a bed bug infested apartment, the tenant and their family suffer bed bug bites, mental and emotional distress, property damage and other economic damages. Learn More.

What are the effects of bed bugs?

Bed bug bites and bed bug infestations are known to cause harm. Physical injuries include intense itching, swelling, disfiguring bite marks, permanent scarring and hyperpigmentation. Mental injuries include anxiety, headaches, high stress levels, sleeplessness, emotional distress, and feelings of helplessness, especially in parents whose children are continually being bitten. Recent studies have proven that bed bugs can transmit Hepatitis B and Chagas disease. Chagas disease is a slow killer, and causes heart disease over a decade after first infecting the body.

How to recover from a bed bug bite?

The first step to recovering compensation for bed bug bites is to contact Whitney, LLP for a free consultation. We know that bed bug cases are valued on more than medical bills and property damage. Bed bug bites often cause ugly and itchy bites, lost time from work, physical scarring, mental anguish, emotional distress and anxiety.

What is the duty of a pest control company?

Pest Control companies have a duty to properly inspect for and treat all infestations, including bed bugs. When a pest control company fails to properly inspect and detect an infestation of bed bugs in an an infested home, hotel room or apartment building, the tenant is left with an infestation that continues to plague them. ...

Do hotels have bed bug inspections?

Hotels, casinos, apartment complexes, rental furniture companies and used mattress retailers that do not follow industry-standard bed bug inspection and treatment procedures, or worse, who fail to disclose known histories of bed bug infestations in hotel rooms, apartments, or merchandise, cause consumers to be injured and further the spread of bed bug infestations to consumers’ homes.

Do you have to have bed bugs in your apartment in Maryland?

Maryland law requires residential apartments to be free of all insect infestations, including bed bugs, at the time the lease begins. When landlords lease a bed bug infested apartment, the tenant and their family suffer bed bug bites, mental and emotional distress, property damage and other economic damages. We have successfully recovered compensation for all of these damages and have helped many clients break the lease due to a bed bug infestation.

Preserve Evidence of the Infestation

Once you’ve sort of taken care of the immediate issues the next step is going to be, if you’re thinking about potential compensation and thinking about down the road, what you’re going to want to do is absolutely make sure that you are able to save and preserve some sort of evidence of the infestation.

Pursuing Compensation Yourself or With a Lawyer?

And after that, as far as recovering compensation, what you can do is either make a go at it yourself and contact the hotel and chances will be you will probably be ignored, or if you’re not ignored you’ll probably get a significant low-ball offer, maybe a couple hundred, maybe a few thousand dollars, depending on the facts of the case.

Whitney, LLP Represents Hotel Guests in Bed Bug Claims

If you have more questions about the topic, I found bed bugs in my hotel now what?, or want to know what is your case worth or some other issue, we’ve got videos addressing some of those questions, so please feel free to watch. And of course we offer free consultations. We handle cases primarily in Maryland. So please feel free to give us a call.

Who is liable for bed bugs in a hotel?

As such, hotels have a liability for bed bugs in their hotel room and victims of these bites have the right to file personal injury lawsuits in the court of law against all at fault (liable) parties, which may include hotel owners, managers, staff and their insurance carriers.

How to get compensation for bed bugs?

Seek legal advice from a law firm that has a well established reputation of litigation against hotels for bed bug infestations. Our bed bug lawyers specialize in this field and can help you get compensation from the hotel for bed bugs .

What evidence should be accumulated for bed bugs?

Accumulate evidence of the infestation: Evidence that should be accumulated can include pictures of bed bugs in the mattress of the bed, furniture, carpeting and walls. You should also take pictures of the bite marks you have experienced. These bites will show up as zigzag markings that are red and raised, but do not overly itch.

What to do if hotel room has bed bugs?

What to do if your hotel room has bed bugs depends on the amount of time you stayed in the room. For example, if you checked into the room that day and immediately searched for bed bugs and discovered them, you should go to the hotel manager at once to alert him to the situation and either receive a refund or change rooms. If you entered the room for a few minutes, it is not likely that you would be bitten or have them latch onto your luggage.

What are bed bugs?

Bed bugs are small insects that feast on human blood. They are reddish brown in color and can be identified by their body types: flat and round. When they are filled with a meal, they swell and become engorged. Many people confuse them with fleas, but there are key differences between the two.

Can you get bitten by bed bugs in a hotel room?

If you entered the room for a few minutes, it is not likely that you would be bitten or have them latch onto your luggage. However, if you slept overnight or for a few nights in the room and discovered that there were bed bugs, you could suffer from injuries and possibly even bring the bugs home with you.

Can you sue a hotel for bed bug bites?

Hotel renters can sue a hotel for bed bug injuries if the owner’s actions fit any of the above bills. Contact our law firm to sue the hotel owner as well as the hotel manager for bed bug bites. You could receive over $100,000 if you were injured in the incident.

What to do if you see a bed bug in your apartment?

If you think you see a bed bug in your apartment try and capture it in a sealed container. Take the container to your landlord or apartment manager to help confirm it’s indeed a bed bug. If you cannot capture one of these insects you can look for signs of an infestation….

What are bed bugs?

Bed bugs are small insects that feed on blood from humans.

How long do bed bugs last?

Pay attention to the bite pattern, level of irritation, and shape of the bite. Flea bites can be much itchier in the short term while bed bugs typically last longer on the skin. Bites can show up instantaneously or sometimes not until days after the incident occurred.

How to tell if a bed bug is a bug?

Bed bugs can be identified by their musty, unsatisfying smell, where droppings or bed bug shells have been left behind. Typically, these insects are a dark brown color and have flat bodies, however when they feast…. They tend to SWELL and become more rounded. After a feeding, bed bugs can balloon up to….

Where are bed bugs more common?

Bed bug infestations are becoming more common in apartment complexes and multi family buildings. More than ever it’s extremely crucial for both tenants (potential victims) and landlords to understand these creatures. and…. What needs to be done to prevent or eliminate an infestation.

Can a landlord sue a tenant for bed bugs?

Most lawsuits involving bed bugs occur when the tenant sues the landlord over an infestation. There are cases however…. Where the landlord can sue a tenant, who brings bed bugs into their property. Tenants have a legal duty in many states to keep the premises they rent clean.

Can you sue your landlord for bed bug infestation?

The answer is yes. If the situation is right and the proper evidence is gathered you can sue your landlord for a bed bug infestation. The base case scenario is if the landlord has showed negligence. Meaning the landlord was aware of the bed bug problem but failed to properly deal with the infestation. In this case you can sue your landlord ...

How much money can you sue for bed bugs?

Bed bug lawsuits vary significantly from claim to claim, as the lawsuit amount can range from either thousands, or in some cases, millions of dollars. The dollar value of the claim depends on the amount of losses you experienced as a result of the infestation. Let’s look at a few examples below:

How to report a hotel infestation?

Report the Infestation – Contact hotel management and staff to ensure they’re aware of the infestation. Document the conversation if you can.

Is a bed bug bite serious?

Post published: February 25, 2019. Written by Robert Brown Updated: February 3, 2021. Bed bug bites are potentially serious and can cause a combination of mental, physical, and emotional distress…. Along with financial problems resulting from medical expenses and lost income. Subsequently, bed bug injuries can warrant a lawsuit….

Can you bring bed bugs with you?

The short answer is yes…. You can bring bed bugs home with you. These insects are excellent hitchhikers, and will attach themselves to your belongings, clothes, or your body. Here are a few tips to ensure you don’t bring bed bugs home: Keep Suitcases off the Floor: Keep your suitcase away from the bedroom.

Can you sue a hotel for bed bugs?

Yes. You can absolutely sue a hotel for a bed bug infestation. Depending on the situation and the degree of losses suffered you may be able to sue for damages. The amount of compensation you receive will depend on a variety of factors.

Do pests in hotels spread quickly?

This does not mean that these pests don’t infest 5 star luxury hotels, but nicer, well organized hotels are usually more responsive so the infestation doesn’t spread quickly.

Do you need to build evidence for a bed bug lawsuit?

It’s essential that you build evidence in order to have a successful claim. For more information on the average value of a bed bug lawsuit you can view the below resources:

What to do if you find bed bugs in your rental?

If you find bed bugs in your rental, your lease or local law likely requires you to take certain actions, including notifying your landlord.

How long does it take to report bed bugs?

Some laws require tenants to report suspected infestations within a certain time—often 24-48 hours —after discovering a potential infestation.

What are the options for a tenant to consult with a lawyer?

Depending on state law, tenants have options that can include: personally hiring an exterminator. withholding rent. suing the landlord so a judge forces the landlord to exterminate. reporting the landlord or infestation to a local health or safety board.

Can bed bugs be spread?

Bed bugs travel so easily and spread so quickly that an infestation can happen almost anywhere. Recognizing the problem bed bugs pose in rentals, some states and cities have bed bug laws requiring landlords and tenants to take certain measures to prevent bed bug infestations. Even if there are no applicable bed bug laws where you live, ...

Do bed bugs mean dirty?

Simply put, bed bugs are gross. But tenants shouldn’t feel ashamed about bed bugs—these pests are a problem nearly everywhere in the United States, and having a bed bug infestation does not necessarily mean your house is dirty or you have poor hygiene. Bed bugs travel so easily and spread so quickly that an infestation can happen almost anywhere.

Do landlords have to pay for bed bugs?

Many laws require landlords to pay for all kinds of pest control, whether the issue is bed bugs, mice, or other pests. Some laws specify that landlords must pay for bed bug extermination.

Do tenants have to report infestations?

Some tenants hesitate to report infestations, especially when state law doesn’t require them to. Tenants might fear that they will have to pay for extermination, or that a landlord angry about others learning of the problem or the cost of extermination might retaliate against them for reporting the infestation.

Who is Doug Heddings?

Doug Heddings, president of The Heddings Property Group had a positive outcome even after one of his clients discovered bed bugs while their apartment was on the market.

Do you have to disclose bed bugs in your building?

Under a state law that was intended to apply only to landlords but interpreted to apply more broadly to co-ops,any bed bug infestation in your building that occurred within the past year must be disclosed, says co-op and condo attorney Dean Roberts of Norris McLaughlin & Marcus.

Why do you file a bed bug lawsuit?

It is important that you file an apartment bed bug lawsuit to ensure that you are not denied any compensation you deserve. If your landlord winds up withholding rent and security deposits despite the fact that you signed a lease, he could be in major trouble. You should see to it that the landlord goes about deducting the costs from your rent. Bed bugs in your rental are a serious problem.

What happened to the tenant in the bed bug infestation?

The infestation resulted in injury to the tenant evidenced through bed bug bites.

What happens if a landlord breaches his duty of care?

The landlord breached his or her duty of care – this can be proved by a failure on the part of the property owner to provide for proper extermination of bed bugs. The breach of the duty resulted in the infestation of the unit. The infestation resulted in injury to the tenant evidenced through bed bug bites.

How long does it take for a bed bug bite to show up?

Bed bug bites show up a few hours or days after the incident. They are raised red welts that may itch, but if you scratch them, you could turn them into festering sores. Some people have allergic reactions to the bites. If you are curious if the bites are from bed bugs or fleas, pay attention to the pattern and the discomfort level. Flea bites are much itchier while bed bug bites are generally in a zigzag pattern.

How much is a bed bug case worth?

All damages incurred due to a bed bug infestation are compensable under the law. Some bed bug cases are worth over $200,000, especially if there were various medical expenses and physical injuries. A full replacement of an apartment’s furnishing can also increase the worth of a case.

How long do bed bugs drink blood?

Bed bug bites show up a few hours or days after the incident .

What are bed bugs?

Bed Bug Details. Bed bugs are small insects that feast on human blood. They are nocturnal and can only move by crawling. They tend to make their nests near where their victims sleep, primarily choosing to inhabit damp, dark spots that do not get examined or exposed too often.