Bed bugs are extremely frustrating creatures to encounter, whether you are at an AirBNB, at home, or at a hotel. They are tricky to deal with and can evade any attempts of eradication, and they are generally adept at hiding – you may not even know there is an infestation. Many times, individuals only notice that they have been bitten much later. As a result, it can be difficult to have the correct timeline for the incident, especially if you stayed at various locations. Our team of attorneys at the Bed Bug Legal Group can provide you with a bed bug lawyer in Pennsylvania so you can take legal action against the responsible party. Whether you need to sue your landlord in Pennsylvania for bed bugs or sue a motel or hotel for bed bugs in Pennsylvania, we can help.
Bed Bugs: Details And Information
Bed Bugs are small insects whose diet consists of human blood. They are one of many bloodsucking bugs but they got their name due to their usual habitat of beds and bedrooms. People may confuse them with fleas, but the key differences including their movements (fleas jump quickly and cover long distances, while bed bugs can only crawl to move around) and their preferred hosts (fleas tend to stay near animal beds and in the fur of animals, while bed bugs primarily feast on humans). Bed bugs are also commonly confused with ticks, but ticks are arachnids and have eight legs, while fleas have six.
To easily spot bed bugs, look for small, reddish-brown creatures that are flat-bodied and oval-shaped. If they just had a meal of blood, they will be engorged and darker. You can also search for signs of them – cream-colored, oval eggs may be present where the nests are, while exoskeletons, droppings in mound form, and blood stains may be elsewhere.
Bed bugs are nocturnal and tend to feast on exposed parts of the skin that are not hidden by pajamas or clothing. They emerge from their nests and bite their victims. They have an anesthetic in their saliva that prevents pain from the bite, and they can freely drink blood for minutes at a time thanks to an anti-coagulant present in the saliva as well. They can move to other areas to continue drinking; the defining characteristic of bed bug bites lies in the pattern, which is often a zigzag and not a random collection of bites.
Although bed bugs are not known to transmit diseases, they can still cause people to have allergic reactions to the bites. The bites themselves may be itchy and appear as raised welts; if you scratch them, they tear and open, turning into festering sores. They take a few hours or days to appear after you were bitten.
If you feel that you need a Pennsylvania bed bug attorney, call our firm today. We’ll give you more information about the creatures and can help you take legal action.
Can I File A Lawsuit For Bed Bug Bites in Pennsylvania?
Yes, you can file a lawsuit for bed bug bites. You will need to have been bitten and suffered injuries, and you will also have to prove that another party was responsible for the infestation. As a tenant or customer, you are given a duty of care that you will not be exposed to contamination or possible damages throughout your stay, within reason. A bed bug infestation is a clear violation of this duty.
For help, call an attorney for bed bug infestations in Pennsylvania and cities like Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Reading.
Can You Sue Your Landlord For Bed Bugs? Can I Sue My Landlord For Bed Bugs In Pennsylvania If I Was Bitten?
Yes, you can sue your landlord for bed bugs if you can prove that he was negligent in his duty as a landlord. He must provide you with a safe living quarters, but he cannot be held responsible for certain incidents that happen once you’ve moved in. For example, if you brought bed bugs home after a year in the apartment, you would not be able to sue him for any damages because he played no part in the incident. On the other hand, if you found bed bugs there when you full y moved in, or if he pre-furnished the apartment with furniture that was infested with the creatures, he would be held responsible.
Essentially, you must be able to show that he was either aware of the infestation and did nothing about it, caused the infestation, or should have reasonably been aware of it had he been paying close enough attention with due diligence.
Your landlord will likely claim that you brought the bed bugs in, and if you did not notice any during your routine inspection of the house, he could not be held responsible.
Contact a bed bug lawyer for apartment bed bug infestations in Pennsylvania if you wish to file a claim. Your apartment bed bug infestation lawsuit for apartment buildings in Allentown, Erie, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Reading can be handled by one of our expert attorneys.
Can You Sue A Hotel In Pennsylvania For Bed Bugs? Can I Sue A Hotel Owner If I Got Bed Bugs While Staying At A Hotel?
Yes, you can sue a hotel if you were bitten by bed bugs while staying there. Hotels must provide clean and sanitary locations for their guests; if they do not, there can be injuries. This is a form of premises liability, and as an invitee, you are owed the highest duty of care.
One of the biggest issues with hotels and bed bugs is that it can be hard to remove them or even notice that they are spreading. There are hundreds of rooms in a hotel, and an infestation can spread rapidly.
If you wish to file a lawsuit against a hotel you must have ample evidence of the bed bugs. As soon as you were bitten, though, you should go to the hospital to get checked for any infections or to see how bad the injuries are. If you do not get medical bills and receipts showing that you were harmed, you will have trouble filing a personal injury claim. You must have been bitten in order to sue the hotel, and going to the doctor as quickly as possible is crucial for your case. If you wait too long, the hotel can claim that you were bitten elsewhere. You should also take photographs of your injuries to show that you were bitten.
You should search for nests so that you can take pictures of the bed bugs in action. The nests can be underneath cushions, in drawers, below baseboards and carpeting, behind electrical outlets and picture frames or paintings, in the folds of mattresses, inside the linens, in crevices of box springs and bed frames, and more.
When you have gotten your evidence, you should ask for the hotel manager so you can file an incident report with the business. Do not do this until after you have gathered evidence; if you do, the hotel can bar you from the room while they clean it and refuse to let you back in. It is also important that you accept no compensation of any kind from the hotel, such as free rooms or discounted stays, gift cards, promotions, and more.
Talk to a bed bug lawsuit attorney in Pennsylvania for bed bug bites in a hotel for more help. We have handled dozens of cases against hospitality establishments and know the best methods to winning your case. We have had lawsuits against the following locations:
- 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
Don’t hesitate if you were bitten – call a lawyer for bed bugs in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Reading.
Compensation from a Bed Bug Lawsuit
A bed bug lawsuit can net you various types of compensation that will cover expenses related to the incident. You may have needed to throw away various belongings, such as luggage and suitcases, clothing, furniture, and more. This can be reimbursed in property damage. You can have your medical bills taken care of and the money and wages you missed out on at work because of absent days can be given back to you. You may also receive pain and suffering damages, which cover the emotional suffering of the ordeal.
The average value of a bed bug lawsuit case depends on the extent of your injuries and how much you suffered in damaged property. The settlement amount for a bed bug lawsuit claim against your landlord or a hotel can be well over $250,000 if circumstances permit it, such as an allergic reaction to the bites and fumigation and extermination of your home and car.
Our Firm’s Role
The Bed Bug Legal Group can provide you with a team of expert bed bug attorneys in Pittsburgh, Reading, Allentown, Erie, Philadelphia. We have years of experience specializing in such cases and know the best tactics to win your case. We have negotiated millions of dollars for our clients and will not stop pursuing your deserved restitution from a hotel owner or landlord, no matter what. You should be treated properly and fairly, and if the responsible party refuses to pay out your earnings, we will take your case to court.
Call us today to set up a free legal consultation with a qualified lawyer. You can ask us anything you want about the case and we will answer you. We are available around the clock and will always help, regardless of your need. We will also give you our zero fee guarantee if you hire us, which promises that you will pay nothing throughout the case – our fees are covered only if we win, and if we lose, we earn nothing.
To file a bed bug lawsuit in Pennsylvania, call the Bed Bug Legal Group at once.