Apartment is infested with bed bugs and landlord will not allow me out of the lease

By Brett Senters

I live in River Retreat Aparments in Madison, Tn. I have been living there since September 1, 2011. At the beggining of January I discovered that my sons room was infested with bed bugs. I called Ray the apartment manager the next day and he told me that they couldn’t get a exterminator out until February 6th. That was over a months away and is not acceptable so I called the health dept. He came out and talked to my apartment manager but he still refused to hire a exterminator he wants me to wait until his regular bug guy comes the following month. So I called Parthenon Properties (who own the apartment complex) in an attempt to get some one out to my unit sooner. I called every other day for 2 weeks until I finally got a answer. They said there would be someone out on January 31st to take care of the problem. They also said that Ray had told them that the health dept. guy said that he didn’t think that we had bed bugs. So I was shocked that he said that because the health dept guy didn’t even inspect my apartment he said he didn’t care to see them that he would take my word for it and he gave me some advice on what to do until the bug guy came out. So I took off of work so that I could be there to make sure they treated everything correctly. I waited around until about 1:00 and I decided to call the apartment office to see what was going on and they said that there was no one coming and they would be there February 6th. I was furious so I called Parthenon Properties back and they said that they would call the apartment office and see what they could do. I told them to call me back and let me know whats going on. I also told them that by now my whole apartment is infested and to contact the president Henry Carter to see if he can help me to get out of my lease. About a hour later I decided to go to the store real quick to cash a check that I had. I never received a call from anyone but when I returned to my apartment there was a exterminator parked at the office. He had already been in my apartment and said that I didn’t have bed bugs that they were carpet beetles and that he talked to my neighbor they told him where I had the bugs stored in a container in the freezer and he had already gone into my freezer and taken out the container. He refused to give them back so I asked him if he had a minute to come to my apartment so I could show him that I do have bed bugs. He said sure so we went back into my apartment and I showed him my sons sheets that were covered in bed bugs that I had wrapped in plastic and put on the outside deck as the health dept told me to do. He confirmed that I had bed bugs and gave me a list of things that I needed to do so that they could properly treat my unit. He also said that I need to throw away my beds and couches to avoid being reinfested otherwise if they come back then it’ll be on me. I then found out from the neighbors that the bug guy was Rays friend. I then called the health dept guy that came to my unit and he informed me that he never said that I didn’t have an infestation and if I need him to come out that he would. So I called Parthenon Properties and they said thay Ray told them that it was treated on January 31. I told them that was a lie and I’m now past the point of treating the problem I want out of my lease and I’m not paying rent for February. I only asked for 30 days so that I could find another spot. At this point my whole apartment in infested and I’m not going to buy new furniture and put it in an infested apartment and I’m not going to leave my furniture there so that when they do come back it will be on me. I have a responsibilty as a father to get my son out of this situation and thats what I’m going to do even if I have to break my lease. So i called the next day and talked to Henry Carter who is the president of Parthenon Properties.  He basically went over the treatment process and I told him that I’m past that I want out of my lease. He told me he would see what he can do. So I called today Feb. 3rd and I talked to a secretary and she said that I needed to talk to Henry so she put me on hold. When she came back she basically said that Henry isn’t going to come to the phone like a coward and that I need to talk to Ray about getting out of the lease. So now I don’t know what to do Ray isn’t going to let me out of the lease. I called legal aid and they said they will call me in a week. I need help!!!!!

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