Comments on: The New Jersey Assembly bed bug bill

By: Renee Corea

Renee Corea — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 03:29:15 +0000

Please consult the health department in your town or county, Hector. Or try getting a reputable pest management professional referral — there are good ones who can do a thorough inspection and treat safely, plus save you money in the long run. They will not be inexpensive in the short term. Slowing-down this process will not be helpful. Bedbugs quickly get worse.

By: Hector

Hector — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:20:38 +0000

I have a two family house in paterson, NJ , both unit are rented. One of the unit is rented to a very problematic tenant. Recently she told me that there is bed bug in the apartment, however, I have plenty reason to believe that she is using that as an excuse to refused to move (because she does not want to bring bed bug to another apartment). I understand that I am obligated to call for an exterminator, however, no exterminator will say that there is no bed bug, even there isn’t any, they will always says there are because they do not want to do the inspection for free. I want to know if there is any public department that will go and do the inspection free.

By: Renee Corea

Renee Corea — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 14:43:31 +0000

Jean, you should consult a housing advocate or a legal aid clinic in your city. Assuming you live in New Jersey, you can get help and read online resources at LSNJ-LAW.

By: Jean

Jean — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 10:40:57 +0000

I have a question. I rented an apartment in private home with absentee landlord. Apt. required no security, and came with air conditioning, frig, and leather couch. After receiving my rent check, landlord informed me I couldn’t have the apartment for at least six weeks due to repairs, raised my rent $50 monthly before I even got a key, and offered me apartment in a multiple dwelling where I lived years ago – at the time it was bug free. This apt. is $100 higher than apt. in the private home, and no A.C., Frig, or leather couch were supplied. After landlord renegged on promises of new floor, toilet, and stove, I discovered 4 apartments were exterminated for bedbugs 2 weeks ago – on a Sunday! . I was not there, and was not notified prior to, or after “building inspection.” I have not been living there due to toilet, stove, and floor, and finally had new living room furniture delivered 3 days after extermination, not knowing there were any bedbugs in the building. I was told by another tenant several days ago. When I called landlord, she stated no bedbugs were present in my apartment. My bedroom and kitchen furniture have been in apt. since July 25th, although I haven’t been living there. I asked her how she knew no bugs are present in my apartment. To my knowledge, the 4 infested apartments are on my side of the building. She stated the exterminator had looked. I don’t even know if he was really there as I was never notified.
I do not want to live in this building now, and don’t want to take anything with me when I find another apartment. I slept there one night, and napped there twice – I am disabled. Can I sue landlord based on “bait and switch” tactic? I want my rent/security back, and reimbursement for all of my furniture which I am abandoning due to bedbugs.

By: Renee Corea

Renee Corea — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 19:52:18 +0000

You should verify your rights and responsibilities yourself with your local housing or public health authorities.

By: Cathy

Cathy — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:42:09 +0000

We lost the electric in our apartment and the electrician that came in to fix it brought bed bugs with him. I called my apartment manager and she told me they don’t do bed bugs, and extermination was my responsibility.

Exterminators are very expensive and all the ancillary cleaning and laundrymat time has been a bit insane.

I wonder if i should consider consulting an attorny about their non-involvment policy.

By: Donna Rolando

Donna Rolando — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:41:46 +0000

Hi-
I’m writing an article for The Record of New Jersey on bed bugs and would like to speak to someone from your organization. Please contact me at the above e-mail or 973-283-5618.

Thanks

Donna Rolando

By: Renee Corea

Renee Corea — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 21:21:59 +0000

Hi Jose, You need to consult a lawyer or a tenant advocate in your city or town. Are you in NYC? In NYC, I have not heard of people getting reimbursed for ancillary bed bug-related expenses except under a negotiated agreement with their landlords. If you are in NJ, then you should contact a tenant organization or a legal services organization.

By: Jose B

Jose B — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:27:08 +0000

I wanted to ask a question,, I have recently about the weekend of the 18th of April find out that what was biting me was bed bugs. I asked other tenants the same question to see if anyone had experience the same problem. I come to find out last week that another tenants apartment was infested and was treated but it was never brought up to others. when i ask last week another tenant said yes that they also had bugs when i found out what they were I spoke to landlord and told him. it took several days before they got some exterminator to give quoits for the building to be worked on… during this time i was not able to stay in my apartment because the situation was to bad to live in so I rented a room for me n my partner n dogs to stay the night until i was able to figure or what we can do. we find a place to stay but the dogs where not allowed at the time so i had to put them in a boarding. I also had to remove my cloth and bag them n get them washed. All of this cost me and i had to use money that was going toward the rent. My question is would i be able to deduct it from the rent without the landlord going after me for it, due to these conditions?