Judge Bedford's Decision on the Bedbug Case

CIVIL COURT OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF NEW YORK : HOUSING PART T
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LUDLOW PROPERTIES, LLC,

Petitioner-Landlord, INDEX NO.
L&T 097059/2003
against

PETER H. YOUNG,
165 Ludlow Street, Apartment # 3-C,
New York, New York 10002,

Respondent-Tenant,

HENRY YOUNG,

Respondent-Undertenant.
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DECISION AFTER TRIAL

Present:

Cyril K. Bedford, Judge, Housing Part

Appearances:

HEIBERGER & ASSOCIATES, PC
Robert Erlich, Esq., Of Counsel
Attorneys for Petitioner,
205 Lexington Avenue, 19th Floor
New York, New York 10017
212.532.0500
rcerlich@heibergerpcandassociates.com

LAW OFFICE OF STEVEN DE CASTRO
Steven De Castro, Esq., Of Counsel
Attorneys for Respondent,
305 Broadway, 9th Floor
New York, New York 10016
212.964.5364
Acquit@manhattanfirm.com

___________________________________

Petitioner, Ludlow Properties, LLC. ("Petitioner"), commenced this holdover proceeding against respondent, Peter H. Young ("Respondent") seeking unpaid rents for 165 Ludlow Street, Apartment # 3-C, New York, New York 10002 ("Premises"). Respondent interposed a breach of warranty of habitability defense stemming largely from the presence of bedbugs in the Premises.

The trial was held on April 22, 2004 (Tape # 67959, Counter # 2625 to End; Tape # 67960, Counter # 0 to 276). After considering the credible evidence and testimony at trial, the Court makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law:

The parties stipulated to most of Petitioner's prima facie case. Petitioner is the owner and landlord of the Premises which is a rent stabilized apartment in a multiple dwelling, duly registered in both respects. Respondent is in possession of the Premises pursuant to a written lease commencing April 1, 2003 and the monthly rent is currently $ 1,025.00. As stipulated by the parties, the sum of $ 6,550.00 is unpaid through April 30, 2004.
The Premises is a studio apartment with a sleeping loft raised on the brick wall on one side of the studio room with bathroom facilities within the Premises on the other. Respondent slept in the loft bed until he realized the Premises was infested with bedbugs when in the end of June 2003 he saw a posting (Respondent Exhibit "B-1") in the lobby of the building which read:
"ATTENTION TENANTS please be advised that the exterminator will be in the building on Saturday August 2nd between 9AM and 2PM for a special service for the bed bugs. Please remove all sheets and pillowcases from your beds. Place all dirty clothing in bags to have it cleaned. Pull all bookshelves and other fixtures away from the walls for better access to those areas..."

Upon reading this posting, Respondent realized the cause of the hundreds of bite marks he had noticed on his body since mid-June 2003 and why he was often startled awake many nights during this period–bed bugs.
Over the next few months Respondent employed four methods to attempt a restful night of sleep--none of which proved effective. First he threw out his bed and all his bedding and slept on the floor after placing towels on the floor. He quickly realized this method was useless as he was still bitten hundreds of times. Next he put plastic sheeting on the floor in the sleeping area he prepared. This method proved just as useless. In the third week of August, he bought an inflatable mattress to sleep upon. Besides the mattress requiring re-inflation at least once during the night, the mattress was unacceptable as bedbugs still preyed upon his skin. Finally, since mid-September 2004, Respondent has been sleeping on a metal cot with a wire mesh covering (Respondent Exhibit "D"). This appeared to stop the biting of the bedbugs, but as demonstrated in the court room no real comfort was possible in this less than six foot metal cot.
For the period July 2003 through December 2003 Respondent saw bed bugs on a regular basis. Respondent found bedbugs on his couch as late as December 2003. Respondent testified that he threw out a couch containing bed bug nests, an armoire, a shelf, books, drapes, towels, linens and clothes. Respondent testified that threw out everything except family heirlooms.
Respondent related a story about his Christmas holiday in December 2003 at his family's home in Massachusetts. He had to enter the family home through the basement, take off all his clothes and place them in a plastic bag and then seal the bag with duct tape. He then took a hot shower for a half hour and was required to wear his father's clothes all weekend to make sure he did not bring any of the nymphs into his parents' home.
Petitioner had notice of the bedbug infestation since June 2003, according to Mr. Cruze of the building's management. Petitioner's then exterminator established an attack plan to combat the bedbugs (See: Respondent Exhibit "A"). It was in essence:
All sheets, quilts, comforters and pillowcases to be removed from the beds and washed using hot water and detergent. All night stands, bureaus, dressers and closets to be emptied and all furniture and stored items to be moved away from the walls. Once this criteria was met, the exterminators could begin treatment.
The treatment entailed spraying the mattresses, box springs and bedframes with products labeled for that application to target the bedbugs. Walls in the bedroom and living rooms were to be drilled and dust injected in the void areas. Baseboards, crack and crevices throughout the apartment were to be injected with aerosol products to flush out the bedbugs. The exterminator was to check outlets, picture frames, dressers and all furniture.

The exterminator's report indicates that bed bugs are tenacious and adapt very well to their environment and can go a whole year without feeding. They can migrate to other apartments quickly through the walls on the interior and exterior. Bed bugs can go from endemic to epidemic if not handled properly (See: Respondent Exhibit "A"). The exterminator had anticipated two extermination treatments along with sealing of the cracks in each apartment, to control the bedbug outbreak in the building which affected nearly nine of the sixty apartments in the building. The infestation seemed to be clustered in a specific area of the building. Each extermination was expected to last two to three months.
Petitioner chose to adopt the methodology in the report to combat the bedbugs as suggested by his exterminators (Respondent Exhibit "A"). However, the exterminators in attempting to eradicate the bed bug infestation in the Premises ended up exterminating in the Premises on five occasions in the year 2003 starting in June 2003.
In addition to the bedbugs Respondent also complained to Petitioner concerning the condition of the shower stall and the kitchen unit shortly after he moved into the Premises. For three weeks in January 2004, three of Petitioner's workers labored in the Premises to correct the conditions. Petitioner's workers removed the old shower stall unit and installed a bathtub (Respondent Exhibit "E-3") which leaked after installation and caused damage to the studio room floor (Respondent Exhibit "E-4"). To date, there is a maze of piping from the kitchen area to the newly installed bathtub.
The Court finds the condition of bedbugs in the building generally was known to Petitioner early in June 2003 and with respect to the Premises particularly in late June 2003 when Respondent informed Petitioner. An abatement based upon the implied warranty of habitability pursuant to Real Property Law § 235-b protects only against conditions that materially affect the health and safety of tenants or deficiencies that in the eyes of a reasonable person deprive the tenant of those essential functions which a residence is expected to provide. (Sollow v Wellner, 86 NY2d 582 quoting Park W. Mgt. Corp. v Mitchell, 47 NY2d 316). Respondent showed through his graphic testimony that the bed bug infestation impacted or affected his health, safety and welfare and use of the Premises. There can be no doubt that the presence of the bed bugs in the Premises satisfies the above criteria for an abatement under these set of facts.
It is now for the Court, in an apparent case of first impression involving warranty of habitability due to bed bugs to determine the diminution in value of the Premises. Although bedbugs are classified as vermin, they are unlike the more common situation of vermin such as mice and roaches which although offensive do not have the effect on one's life as bed bugs do, feeding upon one's blood in hoards nightly turning what is supposed to be bed rest or sleep into a hellish experience. Therefore, the cases involving abatements for "vermin" (i.e. mice and roaches) are of limited precedential value for the Court in fashioning an appropriate abatement.
The only reported cases involving bedbugs which the Court was able to find come from the early 1900's and predate warranty of habitability. These early cases revolve around whether the presence of the bedbugs constituted a constructive eviction. The cases turn on the severity of the infestation.
The Court is mindful that with time the prevalence of cases in which bedbugs are involved is sure to increase to an epidemic as the foothold the bed bugs have obtained in the urban setting of City of New York grows ever larger. However, in fixing what is a proper abatement the Court is also mindful that the condition may not be attributable to a landlord, and that the landlord may attempt multiple exterminations to little or no avail due the resiliency of bedbugs from eradication.
In this case the bed bugs did not constitute mere annoyance, but constituted an intolerable condition, notwithstanding the landlord's efforts to exterminate them. Respondent however did not vacate the Premises or raise the defense of constructive eviction. In circumstances as in this case where a landlord has tried repeatedly to exterminate but the infestation is so overwhelming that although the tenant may have been relieved of his obligation to pay rent had he vacated, as he did not equity requires the court take into account the purposes for which the Premises was still being utilized by Respondent. Stated differently, the Court looks to what essential functions or uses Respondent still used the Premises notwithstanding the bed bugs.
Clearly one essential function of a residence is a place to sleep, but it is not the only function. Respondent continued to use the Premises for shelter, eating, bathing and for work purposes which are other essential functions, or activities a premises is utilized. This in no way diminishes what Respondent went through, however whatever benefit was still being derived by Respondent from the Premises is fair to take into consideration in determining the abatement.
Based upon the small size of the Premises, the severity of the bedbug infestation, the effect the infestation had on Respondent, the lack of showing Petitioner's efforts to eradicate the bed bugs on a building-wide scale, Petitioner's diligent efforts to eradicate the bed bugs and the use Respondent continued to make of the Premises, the Court finds an abatement of 45 % commencing July 1, 2003 (date rent first sought in the petition) through December 31, 2003 to be appropriate [6 x $1,025.00 less 45%= $ 2,767.50]. Respondent is granted an additional abatement in the sum of $ 150.00 for the other conditions complained of.
There was no testimony that any bedbugs were seen or present after December 2003. Presumably the multiple exterminations have finally turned the tide, and hopefully rendered the Premises bed bug free. Although Respondent continues to curtail his full use of the Premises by sleeping on the metal cot rather than buy another bed for fear of re-infestation, there was no showing or testimony by a qualified expert that this is a potential risk due to a latency period before one can determine whether the eradication is successful, this precaution adopted by Respondent on his own cannot serve for the Court to grant a continuing abatement after December 31, 2003.

Accordingly, final judgment of possession in Petitioner's favor in the sum of $ 3,632.50 [$ 6,550.00, less abatements of $ 2,767.50 and $ 150.00] representing unpaid rents less abatement through April 30, 2003. Issuance of warrant is stayed five days.

This constitutes the decision and order of the court.

Dated: New York, New York
June 10, 2004

__________________________
Cyril K. Bedford
Judge, Housing Part

http://manhattanfirm.com/newsite/fact_sheets/bedbug%20case.htm

The Bedbug Chronicles

The Bedbug Chronicles: Part 1
Day 1

Obviously we are embarrassed. There is no other appropriate attitude to have, though our embarrassment loses it's genuine quality through endless repetition. I declare our plight to anyone with a passing interest like an alcoholic seeking forgiveness.

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The Bedbug Chronicles: Part 2
Day 7
What is shocking about bedbug veterans is the sense of inevitable defeat they have. I have now spoken with three people who had bedbugs at some point. The first said: "don't listen to anything but fumigation. There is no solution but to poison everything." The second: "I...
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The Bedbug Chronicles: Volume 3
Day 13
Quarantine is a frustrating experience for anyone. And, obviously, much more so for people who have some awful disease that will probably kill off most of humanity. I don't have one of those diseases, so it's probably not fair to complain. Still, it would have been nice...
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The Bedbug Chronicles: Volume 4
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Read More: Bed Bugs, Bedbugs, Dealing With Bed Bugs, Facts About Bedbugs, How To Get Rid Of Bedbugs, Living With Bedbugs

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Bedbug Chronicles 5
Day 27
The score so far is 0-0. The bedbugs have not forced us out, but I am pretty sure they too are still here.

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The Bedbug Chronicles: Part 6
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I have moved from denial, to anger, to depression (I skipped bargaining), to acceptance, and then back to anger. The five stages of tragedy may not account adequately for my anger.

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The Bedbug Chronicles: Part 7
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Sprayings four and five have come and gone and we are still plagued by bugs. They haunt our furniture like guerillas, waiting for nightfall before conducting feeding raids that leave me squirming and sleep deprived. Our apartment, like our government, is plagued by insurgents.

My bedroom/office...
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The Cost of Bedbugs

By Kerry Miller
Miller is a reporter with BusinessWeek.com in New York .

Hotels and rental housing are hit by a resurgence in bedbug infestation—and lawsuits are proving it's not a problem that can be swept under the rug

Rosemary Salinas is a property supervisor for five apartment buildings in San Francisco. The first time she saw a bedbug was in 2004, when one of the tenants in a trendy Marina District building complained about itchy bites from tiny bugs that looked like ticks. Salinas hired a pest control company to treat the unit, the tenant moved out, and that was that—or so she thought.

Only months later did she find out that the primary infestation was actually in the apartment next door and that the bedbugs had spread into the walls, the hallways, and four other apartments in the 28-unit building. Salinas estimates the cleanup cost upwards of $40,000 all told, including a $9,000 payout to one tenant who threatened to sue.

"It was a nightmare," she says. And it's an increasingly common one. Although the bloodsucking parasites all but disappeared from the U.S. in the 1950s, thanks largely to the now-banned pesticide DDT, pest control companies say bedbug infestations have escalated dramatically over the past decade. Pest control professionals say they've found bedbugs in hospital waiting rooms, movie theaters, schools, on public buses, airplanes, and ships. So far, hotels, nursing homes, and apartment buildings have been among the businesses hardest hit by the nationwide bedbug resurgence.

Bedbugs are more of a nuisance than a health risk. While everyone shudders at the thought of bloodsucking parasites feeding on them at night, bedbugs don't carry any known diseases, and some people don't even react to bedbug bites at all. But because the pests are difficult to get rid of, an infestation can exact a real toll.
Not a Sanitation Issue

Salinas now issues regular notices in every building she supervises reminding tenants to call management immediately if they suspect a bedbug infestation. Still, the property owners she has talked to haven't been eager to do the same. "They don't want anybody to suspect that they have them, or to think that they could have them," she says.

Rental property owners aren't the only ones with that attitude. In a statement on its Web site, the American Hotel & Lodging Assn.—an industry group that co-hosted an international bedbug symposium last fall—says the resurgence of bedbugs in the U.S. has "had a minimal impact on the vast majority of hotels, which maintain state-of-the-art sanitation and adhere to strict standards of cleanliness," adding, for good measure: "Bedbugs are brought into hotels by guests; it is not a hotel sanitation issue."

It's true that bedbugs aren't a hygiene or sanitation issue, per se. Unlike roaches or rats, bedbugs thrive even in the cleanest five-star hotels. But the AHLA's definition of "minimal impact" is open to interpretation. A study by the Steritech Group, a commercial and institutional pest management company, found that nearly 25% of the 700 hotels it tracked over a three-and-a-half year period between November, 2002, and April, 2006, required treatment for bedbugs, though of the 76,000 hotel rooms in the study, fewer than 1% were found to be infested. But the public stigma that bedbugs carry makes the line between discretion and transparency a delicate one to tread.

"The hotel industry, property managers, universities—nobody wants to talk about bedbugs," says Michael Potter, a University of Kentucky entomologist and bedbug authority. But some have been taking steps to address the problem quietly.

Mum's the Word

Two years ago, James Bell found that hoteliers weren't interested in Protect-a-Bed's bedbug-proof mattress encasement, until the product was rebranded as "allergy-free (BusinessWeek.com, 8/13/07)". Now, Allerzip's "BugLock" enclosure is mentioned on packaging but doesn't appear anywhere on the label that guests might see. (Allerzip is a Protect-a-Bed brand.) "No one wants to check into a hotel that advertises bedbugs," Bell says.

K-9 Bedbug Detection Services does a brisk business using trained beagles to sniff out bedbugs in around 100 of New York and New Jersey's toniest hotels, nursing homes, and apartment buildings on a quarterly basis, at a cost of $900 to $1,500 per inspection. Although at least one downtown hotel displays its "bedbug alert free" certification in the lobby, Vice-President Jeffrey Kazen says the public's anxiety about bedbugs means that most of K-9's clients don't wish to publicize that they use the company's services. When inspecting hotels, handlers typically tell hotel guests the dogs are checking for mold. At nursing homes, they blend in with the pets present for animal therapy. "You don't want people to know what you're looking for, because then every rash, every itch becomes bedbugs," he says. "You keep it quiet, you take care of the problem, and hopefully that'll be the end of it."

When word of a bedbug infestation does spread, the threat of a lawsuit can make a difficult situation much, much worse. Carl Morello, assistant vice-president for loss control at Sequoia Insurance in Monterey, Calif., says he first started seeing bedbug-related claims from property owners two years ago. He says a likely factor is the increased publicity, such as a widely reported $20 million lawsuit filed against a hotel in the Catskills.

Then there are other costs: the negative publicity, erosion in brand value, and drop in business that can result from a poorly handled infestation. Damage control (BusinessWeek.com, 10/17/07) is tricky since unhappy bedbug victims can easily spread word of infestations online via blogs or user-submitted travel review sites such as TripAdvisor (EXPE). "How many people hear about a hotel that had bedbugs and don't stay there because of it? You just don't know," Morello says. Last year an Australian study estimated that bedbugs cost the Australian tourism industry $75 million annually. (No such estimates are available for the U.S.)
Out-of-Court Settlements

To avoid the hassle of a lawsuit, many property owners prefer to settle bedbug claims out of court. Although settlements are typically maintained under a confidentiality agreement, attorneys say the average bedbug settlement is much less than the ones that make headlines, such as the reported $150,000 that Helmsley Enterprises paid a guest in 2004. But the mental anguish bedbugs inspire can also lead victims to seek claims well above the cost of replacing a suitcase or paying a doctor's bill. "If I'm trying to settle a case, I might be offering $8,000, $10,000, and the person wants millions," says Christian Hardigree, a lawyer and professor of hospitality law at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. "They feel violated."

Morello says most hotel guests who encounter bedbugs will be satisfied with an apology, a clean room, and maybe a refund. But getting rid of bedbugs is still pricey. Since DDT was banned, pest control professionals don't have many effective chemicals to kill bedbugs, which feed only on blood and aren't attracted to baits or traps. That makes finding and destroying the tiny bugs and their eggs meticulous, time-consuming work that typically requires repeat visits.

To treat infested units in her San Francisco building, Salinas hired a company to empty each apartment and freeze the contents for 48 hours. (Extreme temperatures are one of the few reliable ways to kill bedbugs.) The cost: about $2,000 per unit.

Hardigree says some hotels she has consulted for have spent more than $50,000 to $60,000 to treat full-blown bedbug infestations. Most exterminators use a class of chemicals called pyrethroids in combination with nonchemical methods (heat, cold, vacuuming, steaming). But the costs that pest control companies charge and the practices they use can vary widely. "If a hotel room is infested, in theory, we should be treating all the adjoining rooms," says Douglas Stern, owner of Secaucus (N.J.) pest control company Stern Environmental Group, meaning the rooms above and below and well as on either side. "But a lot of hotels don't want to spend the money." And even without cutting corners, no amount of money can guarantee that a building is truly "bed-bug free."
No Guarantees

Bedbugs can survive for up to a year without a blood meal, entomologists say, so taking a hotel room out of service for a few days or even a few months after it has been treated won't necessarily help. "I can say with 99% certainty that they're gone, but the reality is we don't know until somebody sleeps there," says Stern. Even a clean sweep by a bedbug-sniffing dog is no assurance that a few bedbugs haven't hunkered down somewhere, just waiting for the next warm-blooded host to come along—or that some new bedbugs won't hitchhike their way in tomorrow.

But there are proactive steps property owners can take, such as installing bedbug-proof mattress covers, that can help create an "inhospitable environment" for the critters, making them easier to detect and contain quickly. At a Las Vegas hotel that is Hardigree's client, standard procedure for bedbugs now involves getting permission to dispose of and replace the guests' luggage with new suitcases purchased in bulk through the manufacturer. Before moving to a new room, guests are asked to take a shower and are provided with a track suit and slippers to wear while their clothes are being dry-cleaned.

Hardigree admits that for managers with an eye on the bottom line, such precautionary measures can be a hard sell until an actual bedbug problem arises to force the issue. Training the housekeeping staff to do routine bedbug checks sounds like a good idea, for example, but realistically, "How thorough can they be if they've got 20 minutes to clean an entire room?" she asks.

Still, given the litigious environment hoteliers face, Hardigree says every facility should have some kind of bedbug action plan in place, even if they have to raise their room rates to implement it. In a 2003 case, a Chicago jury awarded $382,000 in punitive and compensatory damages to two plaintiffs bitten by bedbugs in a motel room that they alleged management knew was infested but failed to treat. In 2004 a New York judge awarded a tenant a 45% rent abatement for a six-month period, ruling that the apartment's bedbug infestation constituted an "intolerable condition," notwithstanding the landlord's efforts to exterminate them. Insurance may not cover all the costs of litigation—punitive damages, for example, are typically not insurable—and many insurers won't pay claims if managers were clearly negligent in dealing with infestations on their properties, Sequoia Insurance's Morello says.
Proliferating Lawsuits

Bedbug-related lawsuits have also been filed against rental furniture companies, cruise lines, dry cleaners, laundromats, and universities—and not just over the bugs themselves. In a case pending against Wichita State University, the plaintiffs claim the pesticides sprayed to get rid of the bugs made them sick.

"It's a mess," says Timothy Wenk, an attorney who represents landlords and property owners in civil litigation suits in New York City. Wenk says he expects the number of bedbug-related lawsuits to increase as the infestation spreads, including more landlords suing pest control companies and more bedbug victims suing public municipalities.

Hardigree has fielded phone calls from property owners interested in putting an addendum to lease agreements holding tenants responsible for bedbug infestations. Others are interested in tweaking the language of contracts with pest-control companies so they can sue if the bedbugs return. (Her response to both: "You can put that language in, but I can't tell you it would be upheld by a court.") In any case, bedbugs aren't a problem that can be solved by the wave of a gavel.

Source : http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/nov2007/sb2007118_006807_page_2.htm

Report Bed bugs Exterminator : Smithereen Chicago

By S
Source : bedbugger.com

I am in the middle of fighting bedbugs right now, and I’ll post my story to that section later today, but I wanted to respond to this call for PCO (Pest Control Operator) recommendations.

We are using Smithereen, a PCO in Chicago, and I have both good and bad things to say. Mostly good.

Good: they gave us a very extensive “Bed Bug Protocol,” with about 12 steps for the tenant to do. They are strict, and say that if we don’t do these things prior to them arriving, they won’t treat. (This is motivating - you want them to treat, so you follow all their instructions!) The steps include things like washing and bagging your clothes, clearing clutter and vacuuming - no chemicals to spray or anything outrageous.

Good: they charge $125 an hour, or $75 an hour for us since our building is a customer. These prices seemed middle-of-the-road as compared to others.

Good: they recently began forming a ‘bed bug team,’ and have been getting new training and hiring new people.

Good: the last guy who came spent 2 hours, pulled carpet up around the edges of the room, tore open the fabric on the underside of the box spring, turned furniture upside down, and generally did a very thorough job.

Bad: we have had 3 visits, from 3 different people from Smithereen. The last time I spoke to their main office, they admitted that the inconsistency wasn’t working out, and that they were going to start dedicating people to clients. I’m glad they’ve realized the problem. But it’s frustrating because it’s like the first two guys were a waste of time and money - we had to explain the whole story all over again, and they didn’t know the history. Plus they were probably repeating each other’s work. Now, though, we have a third guy, and we are hoping he stays dedicated for any future visits.

Unsure if good or bad: they give no guarantee. They had a 2-page ‘bed bug contract,’ where they detail the service they will provide, on an ongoing basis, until the bedbugs are gone. They specify the hourly rate and had us sign it. This seems responsible, to not guarantee anything, but I kinda wish they could inspire more confidence. So I’m willing to try a new Chicago PCO. Anyone in Chicago have recommendations? Or, does Smithereen sound like they are doing things right?

Help me escape my bed bug hell.

This Question & Answer From Ask MetaFilte
http://ask.metafilter.com/50161/Help-me-escape-my-bed-bug-hell
I hope it might have a good information for you.

Question
Help me escape my bed bug hell.

I have been dealing with a bed bug infestation for about a year and a half. It is a nightmare that has been going on for too long. Although it's a minor infestation, no matter how many times my place is treated/vacummed/sprayed etc. it doesn't go away...the bugs probably travel from apartment to apartment in my building. I've gotten to the point where I just want to move. However, I want to make sure I do it right.

THE PLAN: To rent a new apartment and put every single thing I own into storage. Since I live in the northeast, if I move during the dead of winter and store things in an unheated storage unit, I am expecting that the cold will kill the bugs and the eggs.

For the first month all I will bring to the new place will be a brand new bed and clothes that have been freshly washed in hot water. Then after an adequate amount of exposure to below-freezing temps, I will bring the rest of my stuff out of storage and into the new place. The question is—how long is adequate?

I cannot find any hard & fast information online about exactly how long it takes to freeze the bugs and their eggs to death. I am *terrified* to take these critters to a new apartment. The good thing is that since my apartment has been treated so often, if anything the infestation is very minor...so I'm hoping I only have to worry about a few bugs trying to hitch a ride to my new place. But if I don't do this right, I could bring them along. Has anyone who’s had this problem successfully moved to a new place without these critters along? What are your thoughts?

--------------------------------------------------------

Answer
by WCityMike

To clarify, your question is specifically how long does it take for exposure to cold to kill bed bugs? I think you would need to leave all belongings in below-freezing temperatures that were consistently below freezing for a number of days. I am not sure that is a situation you can easily do, although perhaps you can if you move during the worst of a northeast winter.

An exterminator sprayed my apartment, and told me the poisons would remain active for six to eight weeks. I moved within that timeframe and while I do not want to say that I got rid of them (it's become a superstitious thing with me), I will say that I have not seen any live bed bugs since my move. In my case, I tried my best to move long enough from the spray date that it had time enough to kill everything, but not far away that a fresh infestation had time to take hold.

By Sara Anne

I threw a lot of stuff away, particularly wooden furniture, as wood is the preferred egg-laying surface of bed bugs. Keep in mind that bed bugs can live for a whole year without a meal. I stored most things that I kept in an unheated garage for a year, and it seems to have worked.
If I were you I'd buy a new bed, and wash all your clothes and linens in the hottest possible water before allowing them in the new place.
Sorry you're going through this. I had a similar situation, and it made me feel crazy, verging on paranoid, like I'd never escape them.

Bed Bug Case

Judge Bedford's Decision on the Bedbug Case

"Besides the mattress requiring re-inflation at least once during the night, the mattress was unacceptable as bedbugs still preyed upon his skin. Finally, since mid-September 2004, Respondent has been sleeping on a metal cot with a wire mesh covering (Respondent Exhibit "D"). This appeared to stop the biting of the bedbugs, but as demonstrated in the court room no real comfort was possible in this less than six foot metal cot.
For the period July 2003 through December 2003 Respondent saw bed bugs on a regular basis. Respondent found bedbugs on his couch as late as December 2003. Respondent testified that he threw out a couch containing bed bug nests, an armoire, a shelf, books, drapes, towels, linens and clothes. Respondent testified that threw out everything except family heirlooms. "

Read More http://manhattanfirm.com/newsite/fact_sheets/bedbug%20case.htm

Bed bugs push resident to sleep outside

About bed bugs
Bed bugs are wing-less, red-brown, oval-shaped insects that feed off the blood of humans. They are seven millimetres long and live from four to 12 months. A female can lay between 200 and 400 pinhead-sized eggs during its lifetime. The eggs hatch in 10 days. They feed at night and by day live in cracks and crevasses of furniture. There is no evidence that they carry disease harmful to humans. Their itchy bites resemble those of mosquitos or fleas.
Source: Windsor-Essex County Health Unit

Bed bugs push resident to sleep outside

Doug Williamson, The Windsor Star
Published: Wednesday, September 19, 2007

For three weeks John Fontaine has been sleeping on his balcony but not because it's warm inside.

Fontaine's apartment at 920 Ouellette Ave. is infested with bed bugs, as are other apartments in the building owned by the Windsor-Essex County Housing Corporation.

"They've spread through the building," the 62-year-old cab driver said Wednesday. "I've been sleeping on my balcony - I've been bitten enough."

Kari Schofield, communications officer for the housing corporation, said Fontaine's apartment would have been sprayed immediately had they known he was sleeping on the balcony.

"If we heard somebody was sleeping on a balcony for three weeks we would definitely be there," Schofield said. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Fontaine said the problem surfaced several months ago when management posted a noticed advising tenants to stay out of the disposal room where refuse and old furniture is put handled. He said he started noticing the odd insect in his apartment six weeks ago, but didn't realize they were bed bugs until Labour Day weekend when he spoke to someone who told him they were in the building.

"That's when I put two and two together," Fontaine said. Besides himself, his eight-year-old daughter has also been bitten when she spends time with him, he said.

He said spraying has begun in the building, and his eighth-floor apartment is on the list. He also said he informed housing corporation staff of the bed bug problem the day after Labour Day, and on Sept. 13 he was notified his apartment was on the spray list.

"This is serious, man."

Bed bugs are a problem in several city apartment buildings, said Deb Bennett, director of health protection for the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit.

"We haven't seen it decrease for the last little while," she said, adding the health unit does not consider the local infestation to be an outbreak.

"Once they are established it's very difficult to remediate that."

Schofield said a presentation was made to tenants several weeks ago on bed bugs and cockroaches, but said it is a very difficult problem to get rid of. If a unit is sprayed and clean and someone with bed bugs walks into it, the problem re-occurs, she said. The corporation's Glengarry units are also experiencing the problem, which is compounded by the fact some tenants are old, disabled or have mental health issues and may not be able to keep their units clean enough, or prepare them properly for complete spraying.

"I can totally understand how these tenants are getting frustrated," Schofield said, adding that a task force has been formed to deal with the issue of infestation.

Fontaine said he works long days and was not aware that any such educational sessions were offered.

Besides spraying, Bennett said, people must wash bedding and thoroughly vacuum crevasses in furniture and mattresses where the blood-sucking bed bugs like to hide out. Although more of a nuisance than anything else, their itchy bites can result in infection if the skin is broken during scratching, she said.

"When you have a lot of people, everybody has to practice that ... or the problem does not go away."

Fontaine said he keeps his apartment clean and is waiting for the spraying to take place. He thinks he may be able to salvage his mattress but doesn't know about the box spring.

And in the meantime, he said: "I'll be on the balcony again."

dwilliamson@thestar.canwest.com or 519-255-5777, ext. 699

Source : The Windsor Star