Bed Bug Problem Persistent in Section Eight Housing
Section Eight subsidized housing is also known as government funded low income housing. And at a particular section eight housing unit: Leadville’s Mt. Massive Manor there has been a persistent bed bug problem causing problems for residents as management continues to take care of the issue. The first infestation was discovered in July 2008 but was not fully taken care of to the likes of the residents at Mt. Massive Manor. The complex has 3 floors with 24 units total and only a few of those units are vacant. Bed bugs thrive on densely populated areas.
Orkin Inc. (a pest control company out of Leadville) sprayed a few units and hallways in late July after sightings of bed bugs and followed up on August 8. Right after the second inspecting the managers of the apartment building received more sightings of bed bugs, but in different units. The management had those units sprayed on August 13 and followed up on August 22.
Finally after inviting Lake County Health Department to inspect the building the management decided to spray the entire complex on October 7th. Mark Schulman, the managing director for the property management group Urban Inc. had to bring in a different pest control company due to scheduling conflicts with Orkin Inc. On October 9 the management of Urban Inc. and other agencies that were related to the issue were supposed to have a meeting to discuss the bed bug problem. The health department, Board of County Commissioners as well as management from Urban Inc. never showed up.
Dina Romero, a property manager in the Denver metro area has her grandmother living in Mt. Massive Manor who has been bitten by bed bugs are suffered severe reactions to the bites like dizziness and nausea. Even though many of the bites are gone, they are still scarring. After the incident Romero moved her grandmother out of the apartments and into a hotel room with herself in Leadville. Romero attended the meeting on October 9 and claims that, “The situation has not been rectified yet…[The management company and board of directors] have been waiting for someone else to tell them what to do, rather than find out themselves…”
Since then the County Commissioner Ken Olsen said that BOCC had recently met with the local health department and that the situation is being addressed. Olsen agrees that the people in the community have a right to be concerned. Other apartment complexes and hotels have had the same issues throughout Denver.
A few quotes from the article:
“We’re not excited about it, but we’re not trying to avoid this issue,” said Shulman. He confirmed that no residents have been forced to leave their units for the treatments and said, “We have not had anybody displaced.”
Romero pointed out that “some people have no other place to go…they are on fixed incomes, and many of them are seniors.”
Bed bugs are becoming more and more of a problem that needs to be taken care of. Have you had a similar experience? Share your story with us below!
Full story found here:
http://www.title=Bed%20bug%20problem%20being%20managed%20at%20Leadville’s%20Mt.%20Massive%20Manor
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I have a bed bug problem also. My landlord wants to move me to another unit because i have to much stuff for them to properly treat them, but where she wants to move me, the three apartments above are also infested.
I am on section 8 so this makes it difficult to just move to another unit without an inspection, i want to get rid of belongings, she says no, she can destroy them. I’m sacred that I don’t have a guarantee that there won’t be a reinfestation.
I and several others have asked to break lease, they say no, because they are going to get rid of them. We had an infestation last year about the same time. Also, lots of plumbing issues, they must dig 8-9ft. below to fix the problem, as well as issues inside apartments, do you feel they could be digging them up?
Can i sue them for my couches, bedding and etc that i must throw out. she has offered to give me money to my laundry, but also fear that i may have infested my family members by having them over or going to their home.
What do i do? have contacted landlord tenant act, housing not getting very far at this point, she wants to say that i am not keeping my house clean, how do you explain others getting them, we live 5-10ft apart. Charlotte in Arizona
I’m the on site guy for a small older bldg, and we have had bedbugs. As a result, I’ve educated myself on this situation, and I see how it’’s developed into a “them against us” attitude, meaning tenants vs. management. It should be “us against them”, meaning tenants AND management against the bugs. And the only way this will happen is through education.
I have a ton of information posted on our laundry room bulletin board. We have taken a PRO-ACTIVE stance and “treat” the entire building once a month, whether or not we have received any bedbug activity reports.
And when we do get a report, we jump on the reporting unit, PLUS the units to either side, above and below, with a special in depth treatment applied by a professional exterminating company.
We have decided to continue doing this, until the folks in the labs come up with a sure fire cure, It seems this grief is ongoing until then. But take heart, we have frontal lobes AND opposing thumbs, and the bugs don’t, so we should be victorious in the end!