I have to set up the circumstances, as it's complicated. I am disabled and need a care-giver who helps with errands and cleaning. I'm certified to have one, and Medicaid pays for the service. I just can't do the cleaning, etc. But I am not allowed to have a caregiver until the bugs are gone. It's considered hazardous. So, I am doing without the necessary services, and my apartment is a mess.
The apartment complex is made up of a large two-story building with twenty-some apartments and a separate wing behind where there are three apartments which open directly to the parking lot.
The situation started two and a half years ago. Several apartments in the main building were infested with bed bugs, so the manager told the tenants to put their infested bedding into plastic garbage bags and sit it outside while the apartments were sprayed. So, the tenants set their bedding outside my neighbor's and my apartments. Of course they did, what could happen, right? Well, you guessed it, the bugs found their way into my apartment. My neighbor got lucky.
So it really was the manager's fault. I did not bring the bugs in.
They hired an exterminator to spray my apartment and I was given a list of what I need to do to prep which includes putting infested bedding and clothes into plastic bags, cleaning the apartment and pulling furniture out from the walls. My caregiver at the time did all of it except for pulling furniture out. The exterminator said he would do it and promised to put everything back where it goes. My apartment is quite small so if it's not put back, you literally can't walk through.
My Section 8 housing inspection was scheduled for a Tuesday, and the exterminator came on the Thursday before. My caregiver had asked for the weekend off, so when the exterminator arrived, the apartment was inspection-ready. It was almost pristine. When I got home that evening (you have to be away for at least five hours), I couldn't get in with my mobility scooter. I had to leave it outside. When I turned on the light and saw my apartment, I literally sat down (in a sopping-wet chair) and cried. I couldn't even speak. He had totally trashed my apartment. I had to move things just to get to the bathroom, which I really needed after being gone all day.
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| Kitchen, with couch cushions and living room furniture |
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| Bedroom with bed standing upright in front of the window |
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| Bedroom again |
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| Bedroom again |
I'll finish this later, I need to try to get some sleep!
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