Tenant suing for bed bug issues

[Lee Warren]

I have an apartment complex in which one of my tenants has apparently gotten bed bugs. She told my office manager two months ago. As soon as she told the office mgr, the office mgr called me. I immediately called my pest control company and had them come out and treat. According to him, she has had them for years. It was one of the worst cases of bed bugs he has seen. We treated the apartment multiple times and she wasn't washing the items as directed by the licensed pest mgmt. company. Now she is suing me for $10k in small claims court for damage caused by the bed bugs including $3k in hospital bills, mental anguish, new clothes, a new bed, comforter and sheet set, etc. Her lease was up on Sept 1, and she hasn't moved. This new judge scheduled her eviction for 9am, and her small claims case for 10am on the same day. Any thoughts here?

[Lee Warren]

Just an update for those that were following. I called my insurance company to see if this would be covered under my GL policy. Their inclination was that it was covered. They set me up with an attorney immediately. Basically they wanted to make sure that no precedence was set if she should have won the case thereby opening the flood gates for every tenant to sue for bed bugs. In the end it came down to nothing more than "did the property owner respond in a diligent manner to resolve the issue?" Not, "did the owner treat and get rid of the bed bugs" which I thought was interesting. Considering I had a licensed pest mgmt. company there within 24 hours of being notified by the tenant, and that I did not withhold the treatment for payment from the tenant, the judge felt that there was no question that I acted most diligently in resolving the issue. he even noted that I went above and beyond what was required in the best interest of that tenant and the others around her. She brought two witnesses. One that is a current tenant of mine who testified that he heard there were bed bugs but never had any himself. The second witness testified that there was a law that required me to not only notify each tenant in the apartment complex when any one reports bed bugs, but that I was also required to treat every unit in the building. When my attorney asked him where he found that law, he replied, "I read it on the internet." (ok, that was my favorite) Needless to say the attorney went to town on him for that one, as there is no such law. At least not in Texas.

I had my office manager and the licensed pest management company testify on my behalf. I think what sealed the deal was the pest management company and the pictures that he took prior to any treatment. The pictures proved that the bed bugs had been there for at least two years prior to her notifying us. I mention this specifically because I think this is really what sealed the deal for her. If you have a pest mgmt. company come to address a specific issue, have them take pictures and send them to you BEFORE treating the affected area.

On top of that, I also won the eviction and she didn't appeal either judgment. She finally moved out a couple of days ago.

I am happy and fortunate that this turned out well. Thank you to everyone that gave your feedback during all of this.