BED BUGS!! Need Advice for a friend

Her daughter was just moved into her college apartment late last week. She started itching after a couple of days. You know where this is going. She ended up with bug bites. Turns out! The Big BB! It's a student housing property in the San Antonio area. Indie Owner. The owner didn't want to admit fault. Then the mom called the health dept and suddenly her daughter was told to get all of her things out in 24 hours for treatment. Is this standard procedure when dealing with Bed Bugs? What is your procedure when treating?

24 hours is a little crazy. Also she does not need to remove her items for treatment. There is prep but they would want to treat her items too since they could potentially carry some bed bugs.

24 hours is not long enough to prepare for BBs. They literally have to pack up all their stuff and live out of bags until the treatment process is over. We have our residents come in the office, watch a video about BBs and how to prepare for treatment, give them a brochure to take with them with the steps listed, then ask them how soon they think they can be prepared bc if not, there’s a non-prep fee. After they give us a date that works for them, we schedule 2 treatments 2 weeks apart from each other and schedule an inspection after it’s complete

I would ask for a heat treatment as that is the most effective. It depends on the city though, like in Chicago landlords have to cover the cost of treatment even if you can prove fault from the tenants end. Anyway, chemical treatment will take longer and she definitely should not remove her items from apartment as she could infest other places this way (hallways, car, etc.)

The prep work is a pain but she really shouldn't need to remove her things. Wash everything that can be washed in hot water and run through a hot dryer- they can't withstand the heat and will die. She does need to follow the prep instructions to the letter. There should be a 2 week follow up.
Normally we would bill the resident for treatment but in a situation like this where it's right after move in, I'd definitely discuss with my regional manager first. We have a bedbug addendum that states that they will inspect the unit for bedbugs upon move in.

How long do you want them to wait to fix the problem?

She literally moved from her room at her mom's house to that Apartment. Her mom doesn't have BBs. She was in that Apartment a couple of days before she started scratching. Now they give her 24 hours to get everything out. It's furnished and they are only wanting to treat the mattress. Mom called the health department and they finally agreed to replace it

’d recommend before paying for anything, ask for a copy of the lease, ask for a copy of the inspection report & ask for your surrounding apartments to be inspected to be sure it’s not at a neighboring apartment. If they have an infestation and she gets this treatment, it will only continue to come back.

I’ve always been told don’t remove anything everything needs to be treated with heat.

Her things should be treated within the unit. There are specific BB procedures all pest control companies follow in Texas. (Polices and Procedures is what I do for multi family) if they remove her things and then bring them back the issue will not be resolved. Typically SH leases do not have BB addendums like a normal TAA lease. They have them but not as stringent. Ultimately if it’s university SH then reach out to the University directly. They hire the companies to run the housing. Otherwise get a copy of the lease and review the BB policy/addendum.

No because she will end up taking them with her!

We check all apartments on properties where it’s applicable as soon as they are ready and prior to move in and get exterminator to give us in writing that it is bed bug free. We give that to residents upon move in with bed bug addendum. Then should it come up after move in , we can support that it was bed bug free prior to occupancy.

Move.

DO NOT remove anything until the apartment is treated and cleared, she will take them with her! She needs to wash, dry and bag every piece of clothing and all linens. She needs to live out of bags until the apartment is cleared. Clean washed items in one bag and used unwashed items in another bag. Keep the bags closed up

Nothing should be removed or she will continue to move the problem. They can do a heat treatment and she can prep properly to take care of the issue. Bag up all of linens, comforters, stuffed animals, after heat treating them in the dryer. Curious if she signed the BB addendum?

Leave items in the apartment and heat treatments are more effective. Wash everything in hot water and dry in high heat.

I agree that she needs to get the apt treated before she moves her stuff but there are rules to follow when treatment is done. Need bed bug mattress cover for one and might have to get rid of couches/chairs

They need to treat her stuff as well

We always gave the tenants a preparation sheet with instructions from the pest control company. Never ever do we say "take your things and get out," but we were an apartment community not and dorm so I'm not sure what their obligation is or type of procedure they are doing. Some treatments will require the tenant to leave but we don't say "get out."

Her area and "Indie owners" isn't relative to anything at all. TAA has a bb addendum. Did she sign one? It's pretty clear what both sides are responsible for.

You have to get all cloth items out ...wash them and put them in bags remove everything from the floors don't have to move furniture...of course every company is different

We have had to do treatments for different tenants...you do not have to get rid of furniture

Owners/managers will never admit fault when it comes to bed bugs. Buildings don’t have bed bugs, they are brought in by a host. Clothing, furniture, etc. I’m not assigning blame. People don’t always know they’ve been exposed. Every property management company I have ever worked for takes this matter very seriously, and treatment is swift and thorough. Thanks.

Her items will need to be treated because if she takes 1 of those little buggers with her the infestation will reoccur. BBC's can go several months without a meal. No bueno!

Our residents get paperwork telling them how to prepare, and they are given more than 24 hours. I would love to get a copy of the video you show your residents. We have a flyer but some of our residents can't read.

Oh how I hate those critter.
some quick facts to help:
A) bedbugs start to die at the temp of 147 F
bedbugs can hide anywhere
C) the CO2 traps are great for discovery but not for resolution
D) bedbugs can walk up to 80 ft from condo door to condo door.

how to get rid of bedbugs that might work ( because every place is different )

A) have the tenant pack everything that is clothing with white tie up bags. Note that that it's hotest water wash possible with hot gas dryer drying. anything that can't be washed get's disposed of.

if you are not hot air drying the place ( they use those space heaters made of propane gas and bring the unit to 160F to kill everything )

now that all clothing is gone. put on a tyvek hazmat outfit ( with shoe coverings ), Tyvek the matress and the box spring. that's going to direct to disposal.

C) Couch out with the mattress

D) tear apart the bed, and in those crevices blast steam

any an all cloth must get hot water wash and dried the high heat. No exceptions.

I had a client that got bedbugs, she had a 250K collection of purses, all insured by Chubb ( I love those guys ).

The insurance company is the one that brought in the team for high heat air blowing at a cost of 4500 ( of which, 2000 was for the fire department to be on standby for the afternoon ). I don't know what everything else cost.

they carefully treated each bag and the entire place in 14 hours. My client was amazingly happy ( rich people don't like bedbugs )

since then, the last time I saw her, each purse is in a special little bag and box with a photo outside LOL