Bed Bug Issue, please helppp

[Modesta Lopez]

Hello BP,

My husband and I purchased our first investment his past June which was a 2 unit. It has been a disaster. We noticed a couple days after moving in that we had bites all over our bodies. We never experienced this so we had no idea what was going on. We hired inspectors who confirmed that we had bed bugs. I was completely devastated. I know it happens but it was still really hard to accept it. Anyway, we got both apartments fumigated and they just completed their 2nd round this past Tuesday. (Side note, neither my tenant nor I slept in our apartments until the final fumigation so it's been 3 weeks. If anyone has ever experienced bed bugs, you know how mentally affected you can become. You feel like they are every where.) Well, long and behold I received a text this morning from my tenant stating that her son has bites all over his body (all happened last night which was her first night sleeping there since). I tried calling the inspectors but their closed on weekends. I'm not really sure what to do.  She has been staying at her mothers house but I'm not sure if I am legally obligated to do anything else. At this point in time, I'm thinking that the best thing to do is maybe give her back her security deposit and tell her she has the option to leave? This way we have time to figure this all out. What are you're opinions?

Btw, I did not get a bug inspection prior to purchasing the house. This ws my first mistake. I had a great realtor who was astonished to know we had bed bugs because he would have definitely had it fixed. Also, I found out a couple of weeks ago that the prior owner knew but never disclosed. However, there isn't any legit proof he knew so I don't think I can hold him accountable. 

Thanks in advance. 

[Dawn Anastasi]

A dog will come out and sniff out bedbugs. These are trained dogs.

Regarding 2 treatments, I've found that 3 treatments seems to work best. But this all depends on if the tenant helps out and doesn't bring more bedbugs back into the unit.

The idea behind the chemical treatments is that the first will kill the adults, but not the eggs. The eggs hatch and you have them come out 2 weeks after the first treatment to do the second.  Then the second will kill any adults that hatched. But if there are any remaining adults or eggs after the 2nd, the 3rd will take them out.

It's much easier and effective to treat an empty unit versus one with people (and a food source in them).