After months of spraying and cleaning and sealing cracks our roach problem is under control. Now I find out that other units are infested with bed bugs.
If anyone has advice on how to break my lease or how I can possibly even AFFORD to move out then please, let me know.
In my mind they should be giving me my rent back for the past few months so I can relocate, buy a new mattress and pay the down payments on a new place.
Ughhhhhhhhhhhh. —Safe so far
This article appears in Jul 29 – Aug 4, 2010.
just run.
legally breaking the lease likely takes a couple months worth of rent unless you can find someone to take it over for you… or sublet or something.
Make an Application to Director citing health/cleanliness reasons.
gross gross gross. Buildings that constantly have pest issues shouldn’t be allowed to rent to people!
ah yes, another happy camper on bumswick street. call the health board, that is what they are there for. a few reports and look out. them little buggers get into everything, and you damn near have to destroy all your belongings to make sure they don’t go to your new digs with you. don’t forget, these things have been around for over a million years, and they aren’t about to go extinct overnight.
It’s states in the Tenancy Act that you can get out of the lease if your living conditions are causing health problems (and bed bugs are a major mental health concern)/
I lived in Ghetto Towers (you know the ones.. the ugly purple buildings) and I moved out the day after I found out we had bed bugs. Here’s we did:
-Informed the landlord immediately (in writing) that we were vacating as of the next calendar month due to bed bug infestation. You could even note in the letter that you will not accept any pest control/fumigation
-Went to the tenancy board to get medical forms and advice
-Took the forms to the doctor (or the walk in clinic if you don’t have a dr) and have them fill out the forms.
Most doctors know about the bed bug problem and how it causes stress and makes it impossible to sleep.
I had to pay $30 to have the walk-in clinic doctor fill them out.. but it’s a lot better than
We also went to the Dal Legal Aid office and they helped us out a lot. You probably won’t get compensated for your lost furniture and moving expenses. We didn’t.. we just didn’t have to pay the last month’s rent.
It’s a lot of work if you take it to the tenancy board for hearing. You’ll have to write affidavits with the legal aid and do lot of homework on it.
It’s too bad they are still allowed to operate when almost everyone knows that the buildings are infested..
I wish you good luck! I went through this a little over a year ago and it was a nightmare but you’ll feel better once you’re out of there. And remember, only take the belongings that you can clean absolutely to be sure that you aren’t taking any bed bugs to your new place.
I take it things haven’t improved since TG beat it out of town, contracting out all their building operation needs to another Halifax-based property management firm. Hopefully their front line people are more personable than the ones hired by Leonard Drimmer’s slumlord outfit.
OP you must follow these instructions to the letter if you want to live . . . . . . free of bedbugs.
First, examine your mattress. This is where they hide during daylight hours. Like vampires, they don’t like to roam in full sunlight. If you have them already in your mattress, you will find them in the folds and crevices of the fabric. You will notice small dark spots in these areas, too, or you may even notice small blood stains on your bedsheets. If your mattress has bed bugs I’m afraid it will have to go into the trash, although we did manage to rid our $1500 mattress of bedbugs by wrapping it in plastic and leaving it outside all winter in freezing temperatures. Currently you don’t have that option.
While you are making plans to exit the premises you should immediately go to a Dollar Store and buy four small glass bowls and place the legs of your bed in them. Bed bugs roam throughout buildings at night and hunt the scent of sleeping humans. They climb walls and furniture in their quest for blood. Since they can’t climb glass the bowls will thwart their assault on your mattress and your resting corpus.
Move your bed away from the wall and ensure that blankets and sheets are not ever left hanging down onto the floor. This will take discipline and precludes anymore wild, thrashing sex in that bed. Save that for the shower.
Think of your bed as some kind of decontaminated zone and use strict protocols for entering and leaving the bed. Don’t move articles from the floor onto the bed even for a few moments. In fact, don’t lay on the bed with your clothes on. Bed bugs are clever (in a hive mind kind of way) and will hitch a ride on your suitcase, gym bag or even your sock.
We successfully battled a bedbug outbreak in our home without the use of chemicals, but the same methods will not work in your situation. Bed bugs will continue to travel into your living space from other parts of the building.
You must begin making preparations to move and I’m afraid that those of your possessions that won’t survive a hot journey through the wash cycle will have to be abandoned. After all, that is how they ended up in your building – hitching a ride in on someone else’s stuff.
Remember these important facts: Bed bugs suck your blood. Bed bugs are hard to kill. They roam in search of a blood meal that will allow them to breed their young. As in the case of a zombie outbreak, sometimes the best course of action is to flee!!!
Good luck!!!
The glass bowl idea is a good one but don’t forget that bedbugs can walk across the ceilling and fall down onto the mattress.
These critters originate from somewhere, so who is bringing them in as pets?
Hate to point at a certain group but in the Towers its often newcomers to Canada who see a perfectly good sofa, mattress or other piece of furniture in or near the dumpster and drag it back inside, not knowing it was put out there because of bedbugs. I feel bad cause often they simply can’t afford to furnish their place otherwise.
One of my landlords had a BB problem in another building and made sure the super went out with a can of spray tar and painted a big X on everything that was out for pickup so that people wouldn’t bring it back into his buildings or someone else’s.
You don’t necessarily need to throw out your mattress unless it has a SEVERE infestation; in fact doing so is only likely to perpetuate further spread of them to other people. A good-quality mattress/boxspring/pillow enclosure will do the job provided it’s been designed as a bedbug barrier – you’ll need to leave it on for two years or something ridiculous like that though, the fuckers can last for ages without feeding. At the very least it’ll help isolate your bed itself from infestation as a precautionary measure.