Entire Boston condo complex on notice after 100,000 bed bugs found in unit occupied by hoarder: ‘It's disturbing'

Independent

2 days ago

Residents in a Boston -area condo complex are frustrated and horrified after learning that more than 100,000 bed bugs had infested their neighbor's home, and were spreading to theirs.
Some residents of the Brookline, Massachusetts condo community have taken to cleaning out their units and throwing away anything that is or might be contaminated by bed bugs.
One resident, Richard Rubin, told NBC 10 that the entire thing is "disturbing."
According to the management at Concorde Condominiums, one of Rubin's neighbors has approximately 100,000 bed bugs in her apartment alone.
Brookline's department of health said that the unit is occupied by an elderly woman with mental health and hoarding issues. The department told NBC 10 that the infestation in her unit is one of the worst it has ever seen.
In May, inspectors saw the woman's condo and condemned it. The town determined that the unit was "unfit for human habitation."
During their search, inspectors found bed bugs living on the woman's doors, walls, ceilings, hallways, and floors.
On top of the bugs, the kitchen and bathroom were not even accessible to the woman due to the amount of trash piled up inside.
"The danger to the life or health of any occupants is so immediate that immediate condemnation is ordered," the town wrote about the unit.
Experts from Dewey Pest and Wildlife were called in to assist in the inspection and called the condo "deplorable."
'Conditions are best described as deplorable,' an entomologist with the service wrote, according to Brookline News. 'Most inspectable surfaces and items in the unit have been heavily contaminated by bedbugs and their feces.'
Despite the order, the property management company still had to fight to get control of the unit from the woman.
A judge ultimately sided with the property management at the condo and the woman who owns the unit was given a two week deadline to clean up her condo. She failed to clean the condo by the deadline, which gives the property management company permission to go in a clean it themselves.
Property management told NBC 10 it plans to go into the unit next week, and it expects that practically everything inside will have to be thrown away.
It is unclear what will happen to the condo owner after that, but property management at the complex hopes local government officials will be able to assist her.
It's been two months since the situation came to light at the condos, and that's been enough time for the bed bugs to spread. According to the property management, the insects have spread to at least seven other units in the building.
Rubin told NBC 10 that two residents have completely moved out over the issue.
"It's very frustrating to a lot of tenants, and it causes a lot of aggravation," Rubin said.
Rubin previously attended a Brookline Select Board meeting where he expressed his frustration at what he believed to be a lack of action on the part of local officials.
'As a building, we cannot get social services to go in and do anything. We don't have the power. We don't have the clout. You guys do. But nobody will exercise that power. Nobody will send somebody in,' he said.
Town Administrator Charles Carey said the town couldn't have gone in any earlier without first obtaining a court order, and that now that the judge's deadline was passed, it could move to assist the residents.
Another resident reportedly had a bed bug bite that became infected. Though that bite has since healed, the individual reportedly still have around 40 bites on his body, according to Brookline News.
The resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said it was difficult to sleep knowing that overnight he'd be feasted on by insects.
'Just sleeping at night knowing you're getting eaten alive is unsettling,' he told the paper.
Bed begs can cause swollen, red, itchy bites, can infest beds, couches, chairs, and clothing, and are notoriously difficult to fully exterminate from a home or apartment unit.