Bed Bugs Bite

Bed Bugs Bite

Bed bugs are real. They are not a figment of a nursery rhyme. They bite and in some people leave horrible scars.

Bed bugs are parasites. They need a host to supply blood. Typical hosts are bats, rats, mice and humans. They can infest an entire building using these hosts for blood and travel. They hide in crevices. The female can lay over 200 eggs. These eggs are not easy to find. They are white, smaller than the size of a BB, and usually tucked away in hard-to-see locations.

These sinister creatures come out of their hiding places at night, inject an anesthetic into the skin, then suck the blood. Many people don't feel anything during this process. But in the morning, it itches. Many of our clients suffered tormenting itching. They tried everything to soothe the pain. And they scratched, which led to scars, often raised scars. Some of our clients have suffered permanent scars in prominent places, such as the face and neck.

An excellent fact sheet by the Michigan Department of Community Health contains excellent pictures of these creatures in various stages of development. http://www.michigan.gov/documents/MDCH_Bedbugs_Factsheet_165671_7.pdf

The damages in these cases are considerable and include:

Permanent scarring, often on the face, neck, chest and arms.
Loss of furniture. Most junk the furniture so they don't drag the infestation to their new residence.
Loss of income.
Humiliation and embarrassment.
Inability to find new quarters. Other apartments ban former tenants of infested apartments.
Medical bills.

If you think this has happened to you, check for blood marks, very tiny ones, along the pleating of your mattress, on linens, and elsewhere. They defecate blood. Often while sucking a new meal. So look for tiny, dark red stains.

The law in Michigan says the owner of the property must make sure the property is free of bed bugs and other vermin. Click here to see the statute. In our professional opinion, the law is clear and the owner's duty is absolute. If the owner knows or should know of the vermin on his or her premises, he must remove it. This statute can be used in conjunction with legal theories under the common law, including negligence, gross negligence, nuisance, and fraud. All of these theories can be used to defend claims for unpaid rent by the landlord.

If you are living in an infested apartment right now but are concerned about leaving before the lease expires, there is a legal doctrine in Michigan that may help you: Constructive Eviction. It means that you can quit the premises without liability because the landlord evicted you by making the premises unfit for occupancy. See the DeBruyn Brothers case.

We have found owners that don't care or don't know how to eradicate these bugs. They use a flawed strategy. Some treat the eggs with a chemical. That won't work. Eggs are impervious to the chemical. Others use a chemical that would work, but it degrades too quickly. These bugs can go for days and weeks without a meal. By the time they come out of their hiding spot, the chemical is ineffective.

If you have been bitten, preserve the evidence. Take photos of the bites, scars, the bed bugs if you happen to see them, and the telltale blood marks. If you have an actual bug, collect it in a vial and save it.

Southfield injury lawyer

02/24/09.