How Many Treatments Do Bed Bugs Need – Lawyer Explains
Watch the Video Below – How many treatments do bed bugs need is a question often asked by tenants who are living in an infested apartment. Renters across Maryland deal with problems including being moved into bug infested apartments and landlords that ignore complaints and do not treat for bed bugs.
Bed bugs infestations can often be dealt with using 2-3 chemical treatments that are properly performed by a licensed and experienced pest control contractor. Or, for more advanced and entrenched infestations, a properly performed heat treatment, along with a chemical perimeter treatment, will often take care of it. Both chemical treatments and heat treatment also require inspections of adjacent units to make sure the infestation will not just spread back into the target unit.
However, when tenants are left to fend for themselves due to a negligent landlord, tenants often try to self-treat, and want to know how many treatments are needed to kill bed bugs. If you are in Maryland, Whitney, LLP’s lawyer for tenants with bed bugs may be able to help, and force your landlord to begin to properly treated the infestation.
If you were moved into a bed bug infested apartment, or your landlord ignores your complaints or their treatments do not work, Whitney, LLP’s lawyers for bed bugs may be able to help.
Compensation for bed bug bites can be recovered for:
- bites,
- itching,
- scarring and disfigurement,
- emotional distress,
- medical bills and
- property damage.
Whitney, LLP’s attorneys for bed bugs specialize in Maryland bed bug cases and have recovered over $13,000,000 for our clients in bed bug claims cases, verdicts and settlements. Consultations are always free.
- Click here for more of Whitney, LLP’s prior bed bug settlements and verdicts;
- Click here to read more of Whitney, LLP’s blogs about bed bug legal issues.
What Is Your Case Worth? We offer Legal Consultations and our Clients in bed bug cases pay no out of pocket fees or expenses. Call us at 410 583 8000, or use our Quick Contact Form, to discuss your potential case. Here is our YouTube Channel for videos on bed bug infestations.
How Many Treatments Do Bed Bugs Need
Edited Transcript Below:
Hi, this is Dan Whitney with the Whitney Law Firm in Towson, Maryland. Today, we’re going to talk about how many treatments are needed for bedbugs. I’ve been a lawyer. For about 10 years, I have sued many hotels and apartment complexes in cases involving bedbug infestations. A lot of those cases arise is out of not enough treatments were done or the treatments were improperly applied. And a big question that comes up in these cases is how many treatments do you need for bedbugs?
Heat Treatment and Chemical Treatments
There’s two main types of treatments that get done. The first is the heat treatment. A heat treatment is much more expensive, can be thousands of dollars, but if it’s done correctly, you may only need one heat treatment. On the other hand, there are chemical treatments which is a much more common method of treatment, especially in apartment complexes.
And if that’s done correctly, it will usually take two to three chemical treatments over a period of between 10 to 14 days between each treatment. So first treatment then another, and then if necessary, another. Three should get it done. Regarding the types of chemicals used, the EPA’s website discusses pesticides most effective for treating bed bugs.
Now with the heat treatment, if one heat treatment is done correctly, that can also often fix or solve the infestation, but in connection with that heat treatment, what should be done is, a chemical barrier should be applied around the border of the apartment. So as the heat comes on and the bedbugs begin to flee, they go through that chemical barrier which will then either instantly on contact or over time kill the bugs. That would help get rid of the entire infestation, the ones that got burned to death, and also the ones that fled but then went through the chemicals.
Must Inspect for Bed Bugs in Adjacent Units
But what you’ve got to keep in mind is those chemical treatments need to be done in connection with the adjacent units being inspected for bedbugs. And if an infestation is found in those other units, that has to be properly treated as well. Now, what happens a lot is negligent landlords, especially in places like Baltimore City where there’s a lot of low-income housing and other areas like that, especially Section 8 housing sees a lot of these problems.
These landlords and more typically slumlords will hire the lowest bidder pest control company to come in and treat, except they don’t really treat the right way. They may come in, be present for a few minutes, spray some chemicals, walk out and call it a day without really doing a thorough inspection or inspecting the adjacent units for bedbugs.
Multiple Ineffective Treatments Not Working
What will often happen is the landlord will say to their tenant who keeps complaining, “Look, we’ve had so-and-so pest control company out here eight times. They say they don’t find any bedbugs and they’ve treated eight times.” Of course the problem is, those eight treatments are usually worthless because they’re not being done properly and often not being done with the adjacent inspections occurring at the same time which gives you the benefit of usually determining where that infestation may be coming from.
So in short, if chemical treatments are being done properly, you’re looking at two, maybe three that typically gets the infestation dealt with, unless it’s a particularly heavy or entrenched infestation which can happen especially when ineffective treatments are done that drive the bugs further into the cracks and crevices of an apartment.
Daniel W. Whitney, Sr. and Daniel W. Whitney, Jr. of Whitney, LLP
Lawyer to Help With Bed Bug Treatments
If you have a bed bug infestation problem or need help with bed bug treatments in Maryland, call Whitney, LLP’s lawyers for bed bugs to discuss holding the landlord responsible and recovering compensation.
We serve clients in bed bug cases across Maryland, including Baltimore, Pasadena, Cockeysville, Owings Mills, Temple Hills, Marlow Heights, Middle River, Germantown, Silver Spring, Frederick, Waldorf, Laurel, Glen Burnie, Gaithersburg, Rockville, Ellicott City and Salisbury.
What Is Your Case Worth? We offer Legal Consultations and our Clients in bed bug cases pay no out of pocket fees or expenses. Call us at 410 583 8000, or use our Quick Contact Form, to discuss your potential case.
