Bedbug infestations have been on the rise recently thanks to the uptick in shared spaces. More and more individuals are renting Airbnb’s and traveling via Uber, Lyft, and Turo, which means there are fewer locations that are responsible for keeping their premises safe. A hotel with bed bugs could be held responsible for damages, but it is harder to find Airbnb responsible if a home is infested, for example, New Orleans is a popular travel location, and as a result, people from all over have brought bed bugs to establishments in the city. If you are in search of a New Orleans bed bug law firm, look no further than the Bed Bug Legal Group. If you wish to file a bed bug injury lawsuit, our team of expert attorneys will assist you through the process and ensure that you receive top-quality representation.
Identifying Bed Bugs
Our New Orleans bed bug attorneys have witnessed a dramatic rise in bed bug infestations in New Orleans recently. Some people don’t even know that they have a bed bug infestation because they don’t know how to identify bed bugs. Bed bugs are some of the most frustrating insects to deal with during an infestation. You may not have the faintest idea of how to deal with them, especially when you consider that they may not even be visible for many weeks. The creatures are quite hardy and can least a long time without feeding on any blood; they simply wait for a meal to finally come by and then crawl out from their nests to bite.
They are generally easy to identify if you do get a visual of them, though. They are round and flat bodied, reddish brown in color, and cannot jump or fly. If they recently feasted on a meal of blood, they will become engorged. Seeing them can be problematic, though, because they are quite small.
A better indicator of bed bugs may be their bites, which show up in zigzag patterns on parts of the body that are generally exposed while you are asleep. The bites are generally raised red welts that are minimally itchy. They could fester and turn to open sores if they are excessively scratched and irritated. They do not show up until a few hours or days afterward, though.
The bugs have a unique property with their bite; in their saliva are two agents, an anticoagulant and an anesthetic. The anesthetic prevents the victim from feeling the bite when it happens, and the anticoagulant allows the bug to drink blood for up to ten minutes at a time. The blood will not clot like it otherwise would.
If you found bed bugs at a furniture store in New Orleans, hotel in New Orleans, or motel in New Orleans, and you need a New Orleans bed bug attorney, contact our law firm today.
Where Bed Bugs are Found
Bed bugs are able to nest anywhere, but they prefer damp, dark places that are near their victims’ sleeping spaces. They tend to make their nests in the following locations:
- Behind baseboards
- Behind headboards
- Underneath drawers in nightstands
- Underneath dressers
- Inside couch cushions and upholstery
- In mattress folds and creases
- Below chair cushions and seats
- In closets
- Underneath carpeting and rugs
- Behind electrical outlets and picture frames
Of course, you may also find bed bugs in furniture from a used furniture store. It is important to check every piece of furniture before you buy it. More often than not, though, you will see bed bugs present in hotels and motels. This is due to the large number of people who frequent these establishments. They may bring bed bugs with them from other places or they may not notice when there is an infestation. If it is in the middle of the trip, the traveler may be unable to pinpoint exactly where the damages came from. Further, hotel managers are likely to not let the word get out there were bed bugs at the resort.
In addition, you may encounter bed bugs at your recently-leased apartment or newly rented home. The tenants before you may have had an infestation and your landlord did not do an adequate job of cleaning the house. You must be able to show that the infestation was present prior to you moving in.
There are numerous locations you can suffer a bed bug infestation in New Orleans. To start a claim for bed bug bites in New Orleans, contact our legal group.
Bed Bug Laws in New Orleans
You may wish to sue a hotel for bed bugs at New Orleans, Louisiana or sue your landlord for bed bugs. No matter what, the property manager must provide all customers with a safe and healthy living quarters. One of the requirements is a lack of vermin and similarly dirty bugs.
To sue your landlord, you must prove that the infestation happened prior to you moving in. If you have photos from beforehand, you can show that there were spots that were suspect. Once you have moved in, however, it becomes increasingly more difficult to take action. Your landlord will eventually be able to say that the bed bugs obviously came in afterwards and he is not responsible for the infestation.
A hotel manager, on the other hand, would have a harder time showing that you brought them in, as an infestation could be widespread throughout the building.
Bed bug laws in New Orleans state that business owners must not harm their customers by direct or indirect action. Premises liability can be enacted if there are hazards present that could cause you damage. You may be able to take legal action against a hotel owner or a landlord or the responsible party caused the hazard, knew about the hazard and opted not to address it, or should have reasonably known about the hazard but failed to take notice.
Procedure after Discovering Bed Bugs or Bites
In the event that you discover bed bugs while you are still at the establishment, you should follow these steps to ensure that your claim will succeed. It can be hard to win if you do not have adequate evidence against the responsible party.
- First, you should find the locations of other bed bugs. You may have initially found that you were bitten, but you should look in all the above locations for other places they could be. Once you find them, take pictures and videos showing where they were present.
- Next, you should photograph your bites. After all, you will be filing a personal injury claim, and if there are no physical injuries, there is no case.
- After you have acquired such evidence, you should contact the hotel manager, landlord, furniture store owner, or other entity to file an incident report with the establishment. In the case of hotels, you should not let them know before you acquire your evidence. These workers will likely usher you out the room and give you a new one while cleaning the old one, thus preventing you from getting the evidence you need.
- Do not accept anything from the hotel, landlord, or other property manager. Do not take vouchers, free rooms, free meals, or reimbursements. If you do, they could claim that you were already compensated, and your claim would have a lower chance of succeeding.
- You should go to the hospital or visit the doctor to see the extent of your injuries. You may have been allergic or contracted an infection from the bed bugs. The sooner you go to the doctor, the better.
- You should take down any reports from eyewitnesses or additional guests to prove that there were bed bugs present.
- Any receipts, credit card statements, emails, or other proof that can be shown that you were a legal occupant of the establishment at the time of the infestation will come in handy.
- Lastly, seek out the assistance of an attorney for bed bug bites in New Orleans, Louisiana. You may find it difficult to take legal action by yourself, especially if you do not have any experience with the law or with negotiations. Our attorneys can handle your case for you and ensure that all your evidence is gathered in the demand package and sent to the responsible party’s insurance company.
Compensation from a Bed Bug Lawsuit
A bed bug injury attorney in New Orleans can help you receive the maximum settlement for your injuries stemming from a bed bug infestation. With our expertise, you may find yourself covered for:
- Medical expenses for any doctor’s visits and medical treatment
- Property damage for anything that was harmed or needed to be thrown away from an infestation
- Fumigation and extermination fees
- Lost wages from work if you were required to leave your home and could not make it to your job
- Pain and suffering for emotional trauma such as PTSD, anxiety, fear, and psychological stress
You deserve compensation if you were not at fault for a bed bug infestation. No matter where you stay, you are owed a duty of care from the property owners. If that duty of care is breached and you are harmed in an accident or incident, you have grounds for a personal injury or premises liability lawsuit against the establishment.
The Most Qualified Law Firm
The Bed Bug Legal Group can provide you with a bed bug attorney in New Orleans to help you through your lawsuit. We are aggressive and will not rest until you receive a satisfactory settlement offer from the insurance company. If none meet our standards, we are willing to go to court to defend your rights and prove to a judge and jury that you were in the right and you should be compensated.
Call our firm to schedule a free legal consultation with one of our expert lawyers. We will tell you what we believe we can win for your case and will answer any questions you have about bed bug lawsuits and the laws surrounding them. We will also tell you more about our zero fee guarantee, which states that we won’t get paid unless and until we win your claim; if we lose, you won’t owe us a single dollar.
Get in touch with the Bed Bug Legal Group today to speak with a New Orleans bed bug lawyer.
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