Bed bugs are small, reddish brown creatures that feast on human blood. They can be found anywhere in hotels, motels, apartments, AirBNB locations, trains, buses, and more. They have the ability to bite you without you feeling it and can drink your blood for minutes at a time. Once they have finished, they can retreat to their nests where they won’t be seen for some weeks or months. Of course, this nature makes it hard to detect bed bugs if they are in between feeding sessions.
They are sometimes confused with fleas, but fleas primarily feast on animals and stay near beds where animals sleep. Further, fleas can jump, but bed bugs can only crawl. Bed bugs are also nocturnal and tend to stay in certain damp, dark places, such as behind baseboards, underneath cushions, behind couches, behind electrical outlets and picture frames, in the folds of mattresses, in dresser drawers, below carpets, and more.
If you are in Indiana and you were afflicted by bed bug bites in an infested location, contact our law firm, the Bed Bug Legal Group. We can help you receive the compensation you deserve and will gladly file a claim on your behalf against the responsible entity.
Can I File A Lawsuit For Bed Bug Bites?
Yes, you can file a lawsuit for bed bug bites, which can net you various types of compensation. You must be able to show that you were hurt by the bites and you needed medical treatment, as well as that you suffered some kind of monetary damages.
An expert attorney for bed bug infestations in Indiana and cities like South Bend, Carmel Indianapolis can help you handle your case.
Can You Sue Your Landlord For Bed Bugs in Indiana?
Yes, you can sue your landlord for bed bugs, but only if you can prove that the bed bugs were present in the apartment prior to your moving in.
Apartments may have bed bugs because the previous tenants brought them back but did nothing to eradicate them. In turn, the landlord did not take any action to remove the bed bugs when he began renting the property out again. The issue with attempting to sue your landlord in Indiana for bed bugs is that it can be difficult to prove that the bed bugs were there before you moved in. The landlord can claim that they were, and if you didn’t notice anything prior to moving in, your lawsuit could be challenging.
Clients often ask us, “Can you help me sue my landlord for bed bugs in Indiana?” and we tell them yes, we can help. Our firm specializes in bed bug cases and we will not stop fighting your landlord until you secure the compensation you deserve. Call us to speak with a bed bug lawyer for apartment bed bug infestations in Indiana.
Responsibility Of Landlords
Landlords need to provide safe and sanitary living quarters to all their tenants. They need to properly inspect and clean any units prior to move in. Some landlords know that tenants won’t sign a lease for a long duration and will neglect to clean as thoroughly as they should. As a result, bed bug infestations may run rampant and never be fully eradicated.
Laws dictate that landlords must not have any hazards in properties and the units should be free from contamination. If you find a bed bug infestation upon moving into your apartment, you should take legal action. Contact an Indiana bed bug attorney to file an apartment bed bug infestation lawsuit for apartment buildings in Indianapolis, Evansville, South Bend, Fort Wayne, Carmel.
Can I Sue A Hotel In Indiana For Bed Bugs?
Yes, you can sue a hotel in Indiana for bed bugs if you sustained injuries from the incident. A bed bug lawsuit attorney in Indiana for bed bug bites in a hotel can help handle your claim.
Hotel owners need to provide rooms that are free from contamination and infestation. If there are pests or vermin in the room, such as rats, roaches, termites, and more, you could alert the health department and have an inspector come check out the room. If you were hurt from the pests, you could sue the hotel.
Some of the hotels that have been listed with bed bug infestations include:
- Courtyard Marriott
- Days Inn
- Fairfield Inn
- Hilton Hotel
- Holiday Inn
- Marriott Hotel
- Motel 6
- Quality Inn
- Red Roof Inn
- Super 8
- Best Western
- Choice Hotels
- Extended Stay America
- Hampton Inn
- La Quinta Inn
- MGM
- Howard Johnson
- Red Lion Hotel
You can also sue an Airbnb owner if there were bed bugs that caused your injuries. Contact a skilled lawyer if you wish to sue a motel or hotel for bed bugs in Indiana.
Evidence For A Bed Bug Lawsuit
If you discover that you were bitten by bed bugs, you should quickly get medical treatment to prevent any further damages. The bites could fester and become infected if you scratch at them, and there is no telling what kind of bacteria was on the bed bugs. Once you have ensured that you are safe, you should take the following steps to gathering evidence:
Search for nests by locating cream colored eggs, exoskeletons, brown mounds, dark blood droplets, and bugs themselves. They may be located in any damp, dark place. Take pictures of the nests you find.
Photograph your bites. It is important that you document your injuries and prove that you were actually bitten. The bites may not appear for a few hours or days, however, but it is still important that you photograph them as quickly as you notice them.
Keep any receipt from a hotel or a copy of your lease to show that you were a legal resident or boarder at the time of the infestation. You should also keep a copy of your medical bills.
File an incident report with the hotel, if you were at one. This should be done last, as the hotel staff may try to usher you from the room so that they can clean it. They may offer you another room in the meantime, but you should not take it; any compensation you accept could be used against you with your claim. It is important that you get all your evidence beforehand because you will likely not be allowed back in the room to start taking photos to use as evidence in a lawsuit.
If you went home and found that the infestation spread, you should start gathering receipts for any replacement furniture and personal belongings, as well as reimbursement of the costs of exterminators and fumigators.
Contact a bed bug lawyer in Indiana so you can have the best possible chance of winning your claim. We will gladly help you.
Average Value Of A Bed Bug Lawsuit Case
The settlement amount for a bed bug lawsuit claim against your landlord or a hotel varies depending on the extent of damages you suffered. For example, your case maybe worth over $100,000 if you found that you needed to completely replace all the furnishings in your home, or if you were unable to go to work because of certain costs. You may have also incurred numerous medical bills from allergic reactions to the bites, which could be wildly expensive. Some cases have been valued at over $250,000.
Statute Of Limitations On Bed Bug Lawsuits
In Indiana, you have two years from the date of the injury to file a personal injury claim against a landlord, hotel owner, property owner, or other responsible entity for your bed bug injuries. If you take too long to file a claim, you will be barred from receiving compensation for the damages in the future. These statutes are put in place to make sure that cases are handled quickly and do not sit around while evidence gets lost, memories fail, and treatments become irrelevant.
This two-year limit is not set in stone, though. There can be a temporary suspension of the statute if your case alls under certain parameters. For example, if you were under the age of 18 at the time of the incident, you would not have to adhere to the statute until you turned legal age. Further, if the defendant left the state to avoid a lawsuit, the deadline would be suspended until he returned.
If you are unsure of how much time you have left to file a claim, contact our firm for more assistance. We will ensure that your lawsuit is file well within the time limit and that you are never in danger of missing a deadline. Our bed bug attorneys in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, South Bend, Carmel, Evansville will be happy to help you.
How We Help You
Our law firm, the Bed Bug Legal Group, can provide you with an experienced lawyer for bed bugs in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Evansville, South Bend, Carmel, Fort Wayne, Evansville. We will pursue the maximum compensation available for your case in the form of medical bills, property damage, lost wages, pain and suffering, and more. Anything that we can reimburse for you, we will do our best to secure. We are aggressive and do not stop fighting for your worthwhile restitution until we are satisfied with the result.
Call us today for a free legal consultation with a qualified lawyer. You are encouraged to ask questions and queries, and we will give you more details about the legal process. Our attorneys are available around the clock, and all consultations are completely confidential.
We will also give you our zero fee guarantee if you sign up with us. This means that you won’t pay a single penny out of pocket for our services – we don’t get paid unless and until we win, so your savings are always untouched. Our fees will be paid from a portion of the settlement we bring you. If we lose, you owe us no money at all.
To file a bed bug lawsuit in Indiana, contact the Bed Bug Legal Group today.
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