Whitney, LLP: Landlords feel the financial pain of Bed Bug bites

BALTIMORE, May 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In September 2019, Jessica Moore and Van Carroll Jr signed a lease on a second-floor apartment on East Pratt Street in Baltimore, Maryland. Soon, Jessica Moore experienced itchy swollen skin lesions. In December 2019 while receiving treatment at St. Agnes Hospital, she was told to look for bed bugs. Two days later she found them. The apartment manager sprayed the apartment, then hired a pest control company, but the infestation persisted.   Moore and Carroll Jr moved out and filed a lawsuit in the Baltimore Circuit Court against the landlord S&J Holding, LLC and the apartment manager.

In February 2021, the case settled for $135,000. "Landlords in Maryland are required to provide infestation free apartments, including free of bed bugs, at the beginning of the lease" said Daniel Whitney, Jr. of Whitney, LLP, attorney for Moore and Carroll Jr. "Before the lease was signed, the landlord self-treated with heat and chemicals, and our clients alleged that the history of self-treatment and infestation in the apartment and adjacent units was not disclosed to them prior to the lease being signed."

Bed bugs are a common occurrence in rental properties, and are notorious for being difficult to treat unless addressed by licensed pest control company.

Bed bugs, though tiny at approximately 3/16^th of inch, are a big problem in Baltimore. According to Orkin's 2021 Bed Bug City List, Baltimore is the second most infested city after Chicago. Ben Hottel, an Orkin entomologist noted that "their nature of hiding in difficult-to-find cracks and crevices once introduced into a room can make them hard to control."

"Many consumers do not know they have legal remedies to protect them from bed bugs and can recover significant compensation in bed bug claims" said Daniel Whitney, Jr. "Tenants do not have to endure unsafe, unhealthy environments putting themselves and their loved ones at risk."

The law firm of Whitney, LLP has recovered approximately $14,000,000 in verdicts and settlement for victims of bed bugs, primarily involving infestations in hotels, apartments and vacation rentals in Maryland.

Daniel W. Whitney, Jr.
Whitney, LLP
Suite 750
409 Washington Avenue
Towson, Maryland 21204
(410) 583-8010
Fax: (800) 893-1239
[email protected]

SOURCE Whitney, LLP

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