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?

[Jerry W.]

@Lee Warren , thank you for posting the followup on this story. A lot of people who post on here are trying to help, but really are just guessing on what you need to do, and the advice could cost someone a lot of money and anguish. If you have a heart attack you go see a Dr. even if you don't like them. If you have a legal problem go to a lawyer. If you don't like the advice of the lawyer, by all means get a second opinion. For a person to be sued and lose there are generally 4 things needed.

First you must have a duty to do or not do something.

Then you must breach the duty you had.

Then a person must be harmed.

Then the evidence must show the harm was forseeably caused by your failure to do your duty.

There are several exceptions to this like certain laws that make certain acts illegal or require strict liability, but the that is the general rule.

You had a duty to provide a clean pest free rental. You did not bring the bugs in, but once you knew they were there you took steps you had a duty to do in order to make the rental habitable. If you were not the one who caused the bedbugs you did not cause her injury, if you had not fixed the problem that would have been a breach of your duty. Very good job. I think you also proved your point in going through with the eviction and not doing cash for keys and make people think you were a pushover, that is like painting a bullseye on your back. There are times when it is appropriate but this was not one of them. You acted quickly, fairly and with integrity. You do credit to our profession, thanks.