You can suffer the effects of a bed bug infestation from numerous sources. You may have been traveling, only to find that your hotel was infested; or you may have just returned from a trip and found the creatures on your luggage, which could have been due to dirty transportation. There is even a chance that you purchased a piece of furniture and discovered the existence of the pests. No matter what the circumstances, you should look into taking legal action against the responsible party. You may be able to have your expenses related to the incident covered. A bed bug attorney in Ventura County / Oxnard / Thousand Oaks / Simi Valley / Santa Barbara can help you sort through your evidence and build your case. Our team of lawyers at the Bed Bug Legal Group is the perfect fit to represent you and handle your claim.
Bed Bugs: Facts and Errors
Suffering through bed bugs can be frustrating, so it is important that you learn as much as you can about the creatures so you are not met with any surprises. The more you know, the better prepared you will be. To find bed bugs, you should look in damp, dark spaces that are not usually visible or trod on. This means that you will need to do some exploring if you are staying in a new location or if you cannot find the source of the bugs. When you find them, they will appear as very small (1.5mm to 5mm in size) insects that are flat-bodied and round in shape, unless they have just feasted, in which case they will be engorged and more elongated. You may be motivated to search for bed bugs after waking up and finding bites on your body, especially if the bite pattern is in a zigzag formation.
There are many stories and lots of misinformation about bed bugs, so here are some truths and errors that we have stumbled across over the years.
- FACT: Their saliva has anesthetic and anticoagulant properties. When they bite you, you do not feel it due to the numbing agent, and once your blood starts flowing, it won’t stop. The bugs can thus feed for ten minutes at a time before needing to move elsewhere.
- FACT: They can survive for months without feeding. Bed bugs are incredibly hardy creatures and have been known to lay dormant in some places when no hosts are available. Once they finally detect a fresh victim, they emerge from their nests. They can be perfectly fine in abandoned homes for a long time.
- ERROR: They’re only in beds. Bed bugs can be found on any piece of furniture, such as sofas and chairs, and they can also make their nests behind electrical outlets, picture frames, baseboards, molding, loose carpeting, and more.
- ERROR: They jump on you. Bed bugs can only crawl from spot to spot. Fleas, on the other hand, can jump; many people confuse the two due to the fact that both bite, but fleas are almost always near animals or animal beds.
- ERROR: They are located in dirty places. Even the most upscale hotels, resorts, and lodges could have bed bug infestations. All it takes is one customer to bring luggage in that has the creatures on it. However, these locations usually have the funds and reputation to fix the problem immediately and not let it affect other customers.
- ERROR: They transmit diseases. Bed bugs do not carry or transmit any diseases that may be blood-based, such as hepatitis. Bites generally only leave itching sensation, and although they can cause keloid scarring, there are not usually lasting detrimental effects. Fleas can transmit diseases, however.
If you have any questions about bed bugs, you can assuage your concerns by calling a bed bug attorney in Ventura County / Oxnard / Thousand Oaks / Simi Valley / Santa Barbara.
What to Do after Receiving Bites
If you were bitten in a hotel or resort, you should immediately find the nests of the bed bugs and any evidence that they were present. You have to take photographs of the room and your injuries to show that you were harmed because of the pests. You also should make sure that you retain all documents showing that you were renting a room, such as a receipt or credit card statement. It is very important that you do not contact the manager until after you have acquired your evidence; if you do so beforehand, he will move you to another room and clean the area, leaving you unable to get photos and such. You will also not be allowed back. For repayment, he’ll probably offer you a free room or an extended stay at some point in the future; do not accept these offers or you will find it very difficult to win legal compensation. He can say that the situation was resolved at the hotel once you accepted the offer.
You may not have stayed at a resort of any kind; instead, you may have purchased a piece of used furniture from a store. Not every furniture store properly cleans their merchandise, so bed bugs could be present and spread with ease. If you discover that your home has been infested by bed bugs because they came in from the used piece of furniture you bought, you should gather evidence ad avoid getting rid of the piece of furniture To do so would greatly harm your claim, as there would be no proof that the bed bugs came from that specific item. Your bill of sale will be good proof, but without the affected piece, it will be much more difficult to win. You should not return, refund, or exchange the item, either.
It is crucial that you contact a bed bug attorney in Ventura County / Oxnard / Thousand Oaks / Simi Valley / Santa Barbara as soon as possible so you can learn exactly what your next step should be.
Legal Notes
You can file a lawsuit that will cover a breach of warranty or contract, health code violation, or negligence. An attorney at our law firm will file all necessary documents for you and negotiate a fair settlement offer with the insurance agency. For personal injury lawsuits, you must prove that you were owed a duty of care that was breached by the responsible entity which led to an incident resulting in physical harm.
Your lawyer will be able to take care of all of the leg work for you, as well as ensure that your claim is filed within the necessary statute of limitations. There is a deadline by which you must file your claim or you will not be able to receive any compensation. Personal injury lawsuits have a deadline of two years from the date of the injury, but there are some exceptions, such as the departure of the defendant from the state (the statute will be suspended while he is gone and return once he is back in the state).
You should not try to handle a bed bug lawsuit without the help of a bed bug attorney in Ventura County / Oxnard / Thousand Oaks / Simi Valley / Santa Barbara. You may not have the experience needed to win your claim. Our lawyers can handle your case while you’re busy trying to recover from your bites and put your life back on track.
Restitution from a Lawsuit
You should not be expected to pay your expenses if a negligent party were the cause of your bed bug damages. The responsible entity had a duty to you, and by breaching that duty, should cover your damages. We can help you receive various types of compensation for your lawsuit, including:
- Medical expenses
- Lost wages from missed days of work and future absences
- Damaged property
- Extermination and fumigation costs
- Pain and suffering (PTSD, anxiety, fear, psychological stress, etc)
A bed bug attorney in Ventura County / Oxnard / Thousand Oaks / Simi Valley / Santa Barbara can negotiate the maximum compensation available under the law.
Our Law Firm: The Best Choice Around
The Bed Bug Legal Group has handled bed bug lawsuits for decades. We are extremely familiar with these cases and have become specialists in the area; as a result, we believe there is no better choice when you need help regarding a bed bug infestation. We will aggressively hunt for a satisfactory offer and if the insurance agency will not budge, we will take your case to court.
Call us today to receive a free legal consultation with an expert attorney. All of our legal consultations are confidential, so none of your private details will be shared anywhere. We’ll gladly look over your case and tell you what we believe it is worth, and you are invited to ask us any questions you want. If you choose us to represent you, you’ll also be privy to our zero fee guarantee, which promises that you will not have to pay any out of pocket expenses for our services. We’ll only get paid if we win. If we lose, you owe us no money at all.
To speak with a skilled bed bug attorney in Ventura County / Oxnard / Thousand Oaks / Simi Valley / Santa Barbara, get in touch with our law group today.