While we are not qualified to give legal advice to landlords or tenants, we did  come across the verdict in a recent case, which decided that the landlord was not responsible for bed bugs after having done his due diligence in reporting past infestations and allowing the buyer to inspect the apartment before signing. To read more about this case, please visit http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=8341f9cd-8907-4959-a65c-b0880722866a.

Sleep Tight!

How disturbing it must be to return back from a relaxing vacation to find bed bugs in your dorm room. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has been working hard to contain the bed bugs and the bed bug related drama, which quickly spread across the campus. They have already hired bed bug sniffing dogs and are prepared for the possible expensive task of bed bug eradication on the campus. Bed bug mattress covers have been recommended to students as an affordable way to prevent bed bugs in dorm rooms.

Anchorage, Alaska has also seen an increase in bed bug infestations over the past few years. The University of Alaska Anchorage recently published an article about a student complaining of itching from bed bug bites. They have taken measures there to contain the infestations, preventing the spread of bed bugs to other student’s. They also discussed their frustration with some of the governmental initiatives against bedbugs.

Read more..

• Click here to read more about bed bug prevention in your area
• Buy bed bug encasements for your dorm room

Bed bugs are known to travel on clothing, so one of the best ways that homeless shelters can prevent re-infestation is by washing the clothing of any new members who are admitted and looking into bed bug mattress covers for their beds.

Many shelters have had to look to government funds and even request extra donations to control their bed bug infestations.

But this is the first case I’ve heard of where a lawyer brought bed bugs into a court room to prevent his client from being evicted from his Detroit apartment. And apparently, it worked! His client, Frank Manion withheld rent until the bedbugs were eliminated. Despite past attempts by the landlord to get rid of the bed bugs, Manions landlord was forced to persist and hire a new exterminator to kill the bed bugs in the apartment building. Hope the landlord has enough foresight to encase those mattresses!

How far would you go to have your landlord get rid of bed bugs in your apartment?

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Trust me, finding a bed bug free apartment in Manhattan is no easy feat. However, hope is not lost if you are willing to put a bit of bed bug prevention effort into your apartment search.

Top Bedbug Search Tips:

1. Look at bedbugregistry.com and make sure there have been no bed bug sitings in the apartment building you’re considering moving into.
2. If there have been bed bugs in your apartment building, look into how your landlord dealt with the infestation.
3. Ask your landlord before signing the lease. By law, landlords must provide you with a bed bug disclosure statement about any bed bug infestations in the past year.
4. Be nosy! You’re landlords may have something to hide, but chances are that neighbors in your building will be knowledgeable and forthcoming about recent bed bug infestations.
5. Look into purchasing entomologist tested bed bug proof encasement products to prevent bed bugs from infesting your mattresses and box springs.

Links you may also be interested in:

• Bed bug tips when moving into a new apartment
• How to prevent bed bugs in your home
• Bed bug prevention products

We are thrilled to hear that bed bug information is being distributed to parents in a preventative manner. Our mission at Bedbug.com is to prevent bed bugs from entering your home by providing entomologist tested bed bug mattress and luggage encasement products, specifically for children and families. We highly recommend that you encourage your child school administration to host similar bedbug forums to help reduce infestations in your neighborhood!

Saratoga Springs, December 2011. A recent bed bug infestation at a Saratoga Springs public housing building terrifies residents. One resident speaks out about her experience with bed bugs.

Teresa Grocki, a resident of Stonequist Apartments has been cleaning her mattress, clothing and self to try to get rid of bed bugs in her own apartment. Until recently, when she took her bed bug problem to the City Council. She urged leaders to help her elimiate bed bugs for all the tennants of the building.

One Tennant Speaks Out About Bed Bugs

While she was initially embarrased to speak out due to the psychological and sanitary factors associated with bed bugs, she ultimatelly felt empowered to take it to City Council. Grocki was supported by other residents, who signed statements supporting her plea. While there is a stigma associated with bed bug infestations, reporting bed bugs seems to be the best way to enact large scale changes.

This difficulty is exaserbated in low-income residences, where tennants often cannot afford the cost of bed bug eradication and may be unable to move. Mayor Scott Johnson said Wednesday that his office had sent a code enforcement officer to the high rise after recently being contacted about the problem.

It is unclear how the bed bugs got there. However, some people believe they may have arrived with visitors from other cities. What is clear is that removing bed bugs from large apartment buildings is a large and expensive project, because all surrounding rooms must be checked and treated for bed bugs. Estimates suggest that getting rid of the bedbugs in Stonequist Apartments would cost about $25,000. We hope that the tennants at Stonequist, as well as across the globe are able to once again sleep tight and eliminate bed bugs.

Bed Bug Information For You

• Inspect Your Home for Bed Bugs
• Report Bed Bugs in Your Neighborhood
• What does my state have to say about bed bugs?
• Prevent Bed Bugs Now!

Researchers have gone so far as to suggest that preventing bed bug and other insect bites are the reason why we have arm hair. While this theory may sound extreme, it is plausible considering that the thin hair covering our arms and legs is not quite long enough to protect us from the elements, as it does for other mammals.

Read more about bed bug prevention at our Bed Bug Knowledge Center.

This past week on the “I’m a Celebrity” show, the blue team won the horrific “Beat the Bugs Challenge”, also known as the Bed Bug Challenge. Imagining your warm bed at home infested with bed bugs is bad enough, but these participants had to spend the night in beds within Perspex boxes with all kinds of jungle critters crawling around.

Each team got to choose which “bed bugs” went into the other teams boxes – snakes, rats, cockroaches and crabs are just a few of their options. The team that spent the most time in the bed bug infested beds won the challenge. The blue team won with 35 hours and 56 minutes, while the orange team only had a total of 29 hours and 22 minutes. Maybe if the  orange team had bed bug protection, they could have stood a chance against the blue team.

This challenge kept many of the participants up all night and had many of them in tears. But then again who could sleep with so many bugs in bed? After watching that episode of the TV show, its not easy crawling into bed while hoping nothing else is crawling in. Sleep better with a bed bug mattress encasement that can keep the bed bugs out.