Bed Bugs – Grounds for terminating a lease ?

By Tenant

I moved into an apartment in Boston one month ago.  About a week and a half ago, I found a bed bug after experiencing several bites all over my body.  I contacted our onsite management contact, and he told me that the two apartments below us have had a bed bug problem for several months.  They treated our apartment once (they claim they did this preventatively) before we moved in, and we have obtained a document proving this treatment.  However, even though Boston Housing dictates that they should be treating all adjacent units to the effected united, the management company has not been doing so all along.  I did NOT have bed bugs/have never had them before nor had I been traveling – I’m positive I got them in this building.  I have had to spend several hundred dollars on mattress covers, a new vacuum (mine didn’t have a bag, but you need a vacuum with a bag to treat bed bugs), dry cleaning, laundry, etc.  I am covered in bites, cannot sleep, have nightmares when I’m sleeping elsewhere.  They have exterminated once, and I’m trying to cooperate with the management but they are not returning my calls.  The people in the other units say, despite extermination every few weeks, they still have bites everywhere.  Because this was known to be an issue before I signed the lease (and I have proof) and it’s effecting my health, can I terminating a lease ?  Is this a form of constructive eviction? Any advice would be wonderful  – I am dying to get out of this living situation.

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