Legal news for Iowa premises liability attorneys. Des Moines apartment tenants say bedbugs are affecting them.
Premises liability lawyer alert- Tenants of two apartment buildings filed a class-action lawsuit over bedbug infestation.
Des Moines, IA– A massive infestation of bed bugs, which has affected the resident’s health, scarred their bodies, and isolated them in their homes with a dwindling amount of furniture, has caused the residents of two apartment buildings to file a lawsuit. A class-action lawsuit filed in the Polk County District Court are the first cases filed under Iowa’s new instated consumer protection law, as reported by the Des Moines Register.
Over 250 Ligutti Tower and Elsie Mason Manor residents allege that they have suffered “unconscionable and substandard living conditions.” The affected residents contend that the apartment complex’s management has done only the bare minimum to kill the bugs, which obviously hasn’t worked. The lawsuit names not only the apartment buildings, but also the management company, American Baptist Homes of the Midwest, as the defendants. The tenants reportedly have endured the infestation of bedbugs, cockroaches or rodents since 2007.
The lawsuit is seeking immediate fumigation of both apartment buildings, including a ban on renting the future apartments without telling future tenants about the bug problem. The plaintiffs are seeking $7.4 million, which doesn’t include attorney fees, for reimbursement of pain and suffering, rent overcharges and the replacement of infested personal belongings.
Legal News Reporter: Nicole Howley-Legal news for Iowa premises liability lawyers.
