A biting nuisance

[xtr2054]

Hi all, I haven't posted here before but I have an experience to share which I hope no-one else ever has to. It just exemplifies how frustrating being a tenant can be and how little recourse you have for help if something goes wrong.

 

I chose to rent for as I moved out of work-provided accommodation and had 1 year left on my contract. Private renting seemed best and I opted to rent alone so I'd have a go at proper independence in a nice part of the town (university doesn't really prepare you for fully independent living).

 

The property in question is a 2 bedroom furnished.

 

Keys were collected on a Monday but I was doing night shifts so I didn't actually sleep in the property. I stayed at the work-provided accommodation for the night shifts and moved a few belongings in. My last night shift was on Tuesday night and my mother arrived on Wednesday evening to help me unpack. I moved more things across and met my mother that evening. We slept at 11pm, her in room 1and me in room 2. She wakes me at ~02.00 saying something is wrong, she'd been itching for the past 3 hours. I go into room 1 and see a small army of small black-red creepy crawlies about the size of a small spider running all over the sheets. One drops from her and runs around on the floor; it is stepped on and smears blood. I took some photos and a video.

 

I'd never seen such things before so we both ran to the living room and locked the bedroom doors. I'd heard of something called a bed bug probably from primary school or something so i searched for that on my phone's internet and the pictures were identical to what we'd seen. We couldn't sleep and sat up all night exhausted (me more-so since my sleep had already been ravaged by successive night shifts). I had a plan - tell the agents in the morning and get them to fix it (wasn't entirely sure how they do that). I tried calling a pest control company in the night, but realising the exorbitant costs they were going to charge and seeing that if I paid for such a treatment, I may never get a penny back, I thought I'd just stick with the agents. I'd also get some advise from whoever knew how to deal with such things e.g. council. The few things I'd read off a google search said replacing the bed(s) and mattresses is usually necessary and fumigation is the best way to ensure eradication.

 

Armed with those bits and pieces and utterly shattered, I aimed to leave the house in good time to get some coffee before visiting the agents. I went to the bathroom in the flat to get ready. On trying to get out, the door handle's rod fell through when I grabbed the handle. It's difficult to describe but there's a rod between two handles; when i grabbed the handle from the inside, it seemed loose and pushed the rod out on the outside. The handle on the inside no longer worked. This bathroom has no windows and my phone was on a sliver of battery as I'd been up all night searching for 'bugs'. I was stuck! Thankfully my mother was there and I escaped. I was now very concerned and quite angry.

 

I got my coffee and we went to explain, with our video and pictures on my camera. To cut the next bit short, essentially they said they would 'sort it out'. The first thing I asked was if they had somewhere else for me to stay as I don't like infestations. They said they cannot/will not help with that. I explained my concerns and I'd discussed things with my dad who said it is important they change all beds and mattresses that could be affected to prevent recurrence. I explained all this to them, but I was told they will 'sort it' and I should leave and come back at the end of the day when it would have been sorted. I asked what they would do and they wouldn't say. Later I was called to say they would send someone to assess things and spray the mattresses and bring in 1 new bed and 1 new mattress the next week. I expressed concern about the other bed where I had been as I was now become paranoid about the creepy crawlies.

 

The assessment person came and we joined for the assessment - they pointed out that all their sheets (including duvet cover, pillow cases, etc) had black stains consistent with an infestation and I asked if these stains were things they thought should be noticed in the inventory/checking process - they said yes. They also said they (the pest people) didn't think the sheets had been looked at or cleaned properly - at least a cleaner should have noticed the stains imply an infestation of bed bugs. The pest people looked at room 1 and pointed the myriad of bugs running loose on the mattress, with some tucked into the sides, to all those stains (and a large yellow (urine-like) stain on the sheet under the mattress) - they said the bed and mattress there would need replacing. They felt the bugs had certainly arisen from the previous tenants who had been migrants. They looked at room 2 and could not see an infestation, but the sheets had the same characteristic stains so they said they would only insist the sheets, duvet and pillows are changed here. Both beds would be sprayed and both mattresses and that was all. Bed 1 and mattress 1 would be moved later (not that day). Room 2 would apparently be habitable that night; new bedding for room 2 was provided; no other rooms in the property would be treated. My luggage (much of which was in room 1 with half my clothes), would also not be treated. I was concerned about these omissions.

 

I expressed my concerns to the agents and said I hoped they could address those things (my luggage, the second bedroom properly, the rest of the flat) properly so that I would be reassured and the problem would not recurr. I was told there is nothing they can do or wish to do in addition (unless the landlord agrees), that I could not speak to the landlord but they will let me know about those things later.

 

We went back to the flat that night and tried to sleep in bed 2. Since I was now of course a little apprehensive, I kept my eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. Unfortunately for one, the stained sheets for room 2 which should have been disposed of, were left on the mattress. We put on new sheets and tried to sleep. I noticed the headboard was littered with numerous long dark hairs (my hair is short), from the previous tenants. I was worried, so we slept upside down (feet towards headboard).

 

I was working the next day. I arrived back to find another one of these creatures had been spotted in room 2 and squished with a blood stain. I went to try and speak to the agents, but they had closed. We tried to sleep on the sofas in the living room but were not succeeding so went to a hotel at 1AM to avoid becoming sleep-deprived once more.

 

Things were getting ridiculous. 1 night of zero sleep, my leave (supposed to be for unpacking) was getting wasted. It was now approaching Saturday and not only had I had no response to my concerns, finding a funny looking headboard and another bug was too much. If there was to be no effective solution, rather than be an experiment as to the cheapest way to eradicate bedbugs, I wanted out. I had discussed with appropriate people and though not absolute, I had reasonable grounds to request to terminate the contract and start again. This I did. I emailed and then went in person. I was told I could not legally cancel; I corrected them and said that I wanted things sorted and a half-hearted solution left me no option but to leave and if not paid back to claim the remainder through the courts if necessary. Negotiation ensued throughout the day and I insisted the cleaning of the property be revisited given the omissions which lead to the problem. Cleaning was refused and they suggested the whole thing would be cancelled if I insisted. I said I would arrange and pay for the cleaning myself on the condition I cannot be expected to return the property to any better a condition that I found it, implying I would not hire professional cleaners at the end. They reluctantly agreed (did not terminate the contract).

 

Then the next day (Sunday) they said they would now change both beds and both mattresses on Monday. They would also re-treat the property.

 

I arranged a cleaner to arrive on Tuesday. On Tuesday I was called by the agents to ask me why I had arranged a cleaner. They said they were going to clean the property's floors again which surprised me since they had said categorically no cleaning would happen. They were annoyed because they had called the same cleaner I had. Their cleaner cleaned on the Tuesday and I moved back in.

 

A few other trivialities ensued, but in all I stayed 4 nights in a hotel, have all my clothes washed again, I lost a week of time which I had reserved as leave to unpack (which did not happen). I had lost a lot. I had pointed out the accommodation problem to them earlier to which they said they have zero responsibility for that and no duty to help me as the contract does not specifically cover the condition of what happens if I cannot stay at the property. I told them they were mistaken as they have duties nonetheless irrespective of the contract.

 

So, so far I have incurred more than £340 of losses from the hotels and rewashing all clothes in the property, excluding of course losing all my holidays to pointless discussions on the phone that served mostly to infuriate. There is no simple course for recouping these losses. In fact, as above, apparently no-one owes me anything.

 

I find it all a sad reflection of the pitfalls of modern day tenancy and it has all been extremely draining. Amusingly the broken bathroom door lock which I mentioned earlier has yet to be fixed, a whole month later (and I've reported it to them in my conversation, an email and their inventory).

 

X

[MrShed]

Pest infestations are tenants issue to sort out.

 

Sorry that you have had such a torrid time of it but the landlord/agent have actually done more than legally obliged.

[xtr2054]

Yes I'm glad they sorted it out really and finally restored a bit of faith.

 

Oh dear, you mean even if a place comes with pests, be it bees, wasps, bedbugs, ants, larvae or whatever, it's the tenants job to sort it out?!? I was told that since bed bugs are a nuisance (they significantly disturb sleep), the landlord has a duty to ensure they're dealt with (if they're not the council has to do it, or at least make sure it doesn't spread to other properties). I don't know, but your explanation explains their reluctance to help fully initially - that must be their understanding.

 

Anyways, perhaps my it's because I'd never seen such things before and the whole blood-sucking thing didn't agree with me, so I insisted I didn't want to take risks with eradication.

[MrShed]

Who told you that out of interest?

[xtr2054]

I spoke to a few people in my sleep-deprived and paranoid state the day after the fateful night. I believe that was a law firm specialising in tenancy issues which a friend (a solicitor working in an unrelated area) sought advise from on my behalf. It might also have been the organisation SHELTER, though I can't be sure unless I dig up some emails. I remember the term "statutory nuisance" being used.