Bed Bug Bites and Infestations in Hotel Room – What Should I Do – Steps to Take

Home » Bed Bug Bites and Infestations in Hotel Room – What Should I Do – Steps to Take

Bed Bug Bites and Infestations in Hotel Room - What Should I Do - Steps to Take

When Can a Hotel or Landlord Be Sued for Bedbugs?

You can file claims against landlords and hotel owners if you were bitten by bed bugs while staying at the locations and if it can be shown that the party was liable and responsible. If you brought the bed bugs in, for example, you would not be able to sue anyone. However, if bed bugs were present in your motel when you stayed, or if they were hidden in your apartment when you moved in, you could take legal action.

How Can You File a Bed Bug Lawsuit?

You can file a bed bug lawsuit by showing that you were the victim of negligence. As a tenant, whether temporary or permanent, you are owed a duty of care by the responsible party and if that duty is breached and physical injuries result from the incident, you can sue for bed bugs. There may be a breach of the warranty of habitability, for which you can file a premises liability lawsuit. You should take the following steps to sue someone for bed bugs and learn more information.

Talk with an attorney to determine how to file a bed bug lawsuit or how to sue for bed bugs.
bed bug lawsuit

Bed Bug Bites and Infestations in Hotel Room – What Should I Do – Steps to Take

Bedbug infestations have become a major issue facing hotel and motel room guests across the country. Every month our law firm receives calls and emails from hundreds of hotel guests who have suffered severe bites due to bed bug infestations in their hotel rooms. There are certain steps to take to sue for bed bugs and bed bug bites, but many victims will not follow the steps due to lack of knowledge or simple errors.

Below we have proved a comprehensive list of steps that should be taken following a bed bug bite incident in a hotel room or motel room. The best way to protect your rights is to contact a bed bug lawyer experienced in bed bug lawsuits.

  1. Step One: There are various things you need to do to sue someone for bed bugs, but first and foremost, you should preserve any and all evidence of bed bug infestations in your hotel room. Places to search for bed bugs would be beneath fitted sheets, edges of mattresses, box springs (including the underside of the box spring), behind electrical outlets and picture frames, underneath upholstery, inside couch cushions, beneath carpets, and more. If you find bed bugs, take pictures. Having evidence of bed bugs is important if you wish to file a lawsuit for bed bug bites against hotel management.
  2. Step Two: Contact the hotel management and file an injury report. Get all pertinent information including the name and contact information of the hotel manager, when the room was last inspected and cleaned, and names of the cleaning staff. Contact the county health and sanitation department. For a list of county health departments in your area, see here. The hotel likely did not take proper steps to prevent an infestation.
  3. Step Three: Seek medical attention. Bed bug bites often require immediate medical attention. Victims of severe bed bug infestation suffer allergic reactions from the incident. Seeking medical attention as soon as possible can only bolster your claim against the hotel operators.
  4. Step Four: Contact an experienced personal injury attorney and seek legal advice. Legal representation will likely serve to increase any potential settlement or verdict in your case. Your bed bug lawyer should have plenty of prior experience handling bed bug lawsuits. We can help you recover damages for bedbug bites and receive fair compensation for your bed bug bites.

One of the key mistakes that patrons make while at a hotel is accepting some form of compensation as a temporary reprieve. For example, many hotel owners will offer free rooms or extended stays at no cost if you have been forced to leave an infested room. If you accept anything, the hotel can claim that you were already compensated and a lawsuit is excessive. Your best bet to filing a bed bug lawsuit against a hotel is to contact a lawyer for more help.

Bed Bug Lawsuit Against an Apartment Building

Landlords must provide safe and sanitary living conditions for all tenants. Bed bugs are considered serious pests and a violation of public health, so landlords must always ensure that the bugs are not present in the units they rent out. The bed bugs can be brought into apartments in a number of ways.

For one, they could be left behind by previous tenants, and the landlord may not have properly cleaned or inspected the unit before listing it for rent. Because of how sneaky bed bugs are and how long they can lie dormant without feasting, it may be difficult to locate them. Regardless, a landlord should always diligently search for any possible pests.

Additionally, some landlords may advertise apartments that are pre-furnished. The landlord may go to used furniture stores and pick up furnishings to adorn the apartment. It is not uncommon for bed bugs to hide in curtains and couches, and if the landlord brought these infested items into the building, he would be held responsible for any ensuing damages.

You may be able to get an injunction to force the landlord to exterminate the bed bugs, even if you were partially responsible for bringing them in. In some states, the responsibility for extermination lies completely with the landlord. However, you should always double check the laws with an expert bed bug attorney.

How To Sue Someone for Bed Bugs

If you wish to file a premises liability against the responsible party for bed bugs, you must be able to show that the landlord or hotel owner acted negligently. You must show one of these three points:

  • The party caused the bed bug infestation in the first place
  • The party knew about the infestation and chose to do nothing to remedy the situation, whether by exterminating the bed bugs or providing ample warning to any customers or tenants
  • The party did not know about the infestation but should have if he had been reasonably diligent in his inspection and paid more careful attention to the sanitation of his building

It can be difficult to pursue a lawsuit by yourself. You may not have the legal experience by the insurance agent. It is not uncommon for many claims to be thrown out or else go unlitigated because a plaintiff was unable to handle the trouble by himself. By using a lawyer, you will have a better chance of success; you will not have to spend unnecessary time negotiating and you will not be additionally stressed from the lawsuit.

It is also very important that you take legal actoin within an appropriate amount of time. The statute of limitations to file a lawsuit for bed bugs is 2 years from the date of the injury. If you do not file a claim within this time period, you will be barred from pursuing compensation in the future. You may be able to have the statute temporarily suspended if you were underage at the time of the injury or if the defendant left the state.

Make sure to reach out to our legal team for more information. We can make sure your claim is filed on time and that you have the best chance of success with your lawsuit.
sue someone for bed bugs

Bed Bug Lawsuit

As a victim of a bed bug lawsuit, you can sue the landlord or hotel owner for coverage for your damages. It is crucial that you seek the maximum compensation available. In many instances, the insurance agency will make a very low offer and will try to bully you into accepting it. It is crucial that you pursue the maximum compensation available for you. We will strive to win you the following damages from either the landlord or the hotel owner:

  • Coverage of medical bills, surgery, hospitalization, medication and more
  • Costs of future medical procedures
  • Lost wages from work from the past and future
  • Extermination and fumigation costs
  • Property damage, replacement of broken or ruined furniture, vehicular cleaning
  • Pain and suffering damages, which are emotional damages such as PTSD, fear, anxiety, mental scarring, and more

You should take note that you can only file a personal injury lawsuit if you were actually hurt by the bed bugs. Bed bug bites may result in infection, keloid scarring, allergic reactions, and much more, but if you do not detect any bites on you and you were not injured, you will only be able to pursue coverage for specific damages.

How We Help

If you or a loved one have suffered multiple bed bug bites during your stay in a hotel room and have legal questions, feel free to contact our law firm. We have years of experience handling claims against hotel owners and landlords if there were any infestations that caused you damages. We have recovered millions of dollars for our clients and we know the best methods to ensuring that you receive everything you deserve. If we need to, we will take your case to cort to prove that you deserve compensation.

Call us today to set up a free legal consultation with one of our qualified lawyers. All confidential legal consultations with our attorneys are provided free of charge, and none of your personal details or private information will be shared elsewhere. We will let you know right away if you have a legitimate reason to file a lawsuit for your injuries, and we will answer all of your questions for you.

Further, we will give you our zero fee guarantee if you choose to hire us. This guarantee promises that you won’t have to spend a single dime of your own money on legal representation; we will cover the costs of the case ourselves, and our fees will only get paid if we win. The insurance company of the responsible party will pay off our expenses. If we lose, you won’t have to pay our firm anything at all, and you can walk away debt-free to us.

If you wish to file a lawsuit for bed bugs against a landlord or hotel or motel owner, don’t hesitate to get in touch with the Bed Bug Legal Group.

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