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-   -   Legal action against leasing office (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showthread.php?t=231770)

  • Jun 28, 2008, 02:29 PM
    mit1982
    Legal action against leasing office
    I have bed bugs problem in my apartment ,I reported this issue to leasing office of my apartment. They had been very rude and forced me to do pest control on my apartment from my pocket. They advised me a pest control company and I did that through them. Even after the next day I am suffering with same problem. Now Leasing office says that they are not responsible.
    I can not live in that apartment because of that , and leasing office says that I have to complete my remaining 6 months of my lease. And if I leave before that I have to pay them lease breakage amount.(which is huge for me)

    Please advice can I take legal action against them ?
  • Jun 28, 2008, 03:03 PM
    JAMIET
    You could always call your local health dept and have them inspect the property and see if it's a violation... they could certainly force the issue to be resolved without having to go to court.
  • Jun 28, 2008, 03:05 PM
    progunr
    Did the leasing company or apartment provide you the bed you are sleeping in or is it yours?

    That will be the deciding issue here.
  • Jun 28, 2008, 03:35 PM
    JudyKayTee
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by progunr
    Did the leasing company or apartment provide you the bed you are sleeping in or is it yours?

    That will be the deciding issue here.



    Beat me to it! (Hate when that happens!) :D

    As you say, it will depend on when the problem started and where the furniture came from.
  • Jun 28, 2008, 05:17 PM
    Fr_Chuck
    Yes, if this is your furniture I am not sure it is the apartments fault, and it may take several trips to exterminate,and sometimes having to get rid of certain pieces of furniture
  • Jun 29, 2008, 07:35 AM
    twinkiedooter
    Also something to consider. Did you travel anywhere and stay in a motel or hotel just prior to the bed bug infestation? If you did, you could possibly have brought the pesky critters home with you in your luggge. There have been reported outbreaks of bed bug infestation in even the best of hotels/motels recently.

    Getting rid of bedbugs is expensive and must be dealt with systematically to get totally rid of them. You have to have your apt treated and wash everything clothing and bedding wise that you own all at the same time. There have been horror stories on the net about people taking months to totally get rid of the problem successfully.
  • Jun 29, 2008, 05:14 PM
    mit1982
    Thanks for Reply.

    All the furniture in my apartment is my own not provided by leasing office. I also thought in same way that this has happened because of my furniture ,bed and cloths and hence I got my apartment and furniture treated by experts and washed all the cloths.

    Still I got bed bugs in my apartment after all the treatments. I am not sure if its because of my stuff.
    Even after reporting this issue to my leasing office ,they don't take any responsibility,neither they try to inspect the root cause. My worry is

    1) How many time will I pay this expensive treatment from my pocket if problem gets repeated ?
    2) Leasing office is not allowing me to vacant the apartment because lease gets over.
  • Jun 29, 2008, 08:02 PM
    JudyKayTee
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mit1982
    Thanks for Reply.

    All the furniture in my appartment is my own not provided by leasing office. I also thought in same way that this has happened because of my furniture ,bed and cloths and hence I got my apartment and furniture treated by experts and washed all the cloths.

    Still I got bed bugs in my appartment after all the treatments. I am not sure if its because of my stuff.
    Even after reporting this issue to my leasing office ,they dont take any responsibility,neither they try to inspect the root cause. My worry is

    1) How many time will I pay this expensive treatment from my pocket if problem gets repeated ?
    2) Leasing office is not allowing me to vacant the appartment because lease gets over.


    How long did you live there before you had the problem?

    You could try writing management a letter, return receipt, telling them that the apartment is uninhabitable, that you cannot live there. I don't think they'll let you out of the lease and will - if you leave without their consent - pursue you for the balance of the rent. In almost every State (Florida is one exception) the have to do their best to then re-rent the apartment and you don't have to pay for the months when someone else lives there.

    Of course, they will have to exterminate and they will attempt to get that money from you.

    Did the exterminator guarantee the treatment would work?

    Have you talked to the previous tenants, other people in the building? You may not be alone and it would be important to find out when the problem started - hopefully before you moved in.

    At this point you are probably going to come out ahead - depending on rent and the cost of the exterminator - if you pay for another treatment rather than leaving.

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