bed bug law firm in San Francisco

How to Avoid Getting Bed Bugs While Flying

December 7, 2018 | Gregory J. Brod

Over the summer, a 17-hour Air India flight from Newark, New Jersey to Mumbai, India was found to have bed bugs that bit a baby, a mother, and numerous children all over their bodies during the flight. Incidents like this have happened in the past and are completely unacceptable, as airlines have a duty to ensure that their aircrafts are clean and their passengers are safe. If you have experienced something as unfortunate and traumatic as getting stuck on a plane with bed bugs, contact the bed bug lawyers at Brod Law Firm today to have your rights represented in order to obtain the compensation you deserve for your injuries.

Can Bed Bugs Survive on Airplanes?

Despite the name bed bug, bed bugs can survive far beyond the limits of a bed. One common myth is that bed bugs can not survive at high altitude and therefore can not exist on planes. As evidenced by the cases mentioned above, bed bugs can and have been found on airplanes. While bed bugs are always a nuisance, it can feel like a much bigger pain when you are trapped on a long flight and are physically unable to get away from them.

Key California Bed Bug Laws to Know About

September 14, 2018 | Gregory J. Brod

Bed bugs are possibly the worst type of pest to find in your home and cause the most anxiety for residents. Luckily for California residents, as of January 2017, tighter laws are in place to protect tenants from bed bug infestations in their homes. If you are preparing to rent a new apartment in California, make sure you ask the landlord for bed bug disclosures, and if you currently have bed bugs in your home, make sure you familiarize yourself with the following laws so you know what your rights are and how to approach your landlord.

If you are currently looking for an apartment, make sure you familiarize yourself with the following laws:

Civil Code §1954.602: A landlord cannot show or rent a unit that he or she knows has a bed bug infestation. If the unit happens to have a bed bug infestation but it is not apparent, and the landlord does not know about it, then the landlord cannot be held responsible for showing a unit with bed bugs. If you have been shown a unit that very clearly has a bed bug infestation, contact our landlord-tenant attorneys immediately so we can help you seek the compensation you deserve for any damages you incurred from being in a bed bug infested apartment.

Bed Bugs – A Continuing Plague Impacting Northern California

September 30, 2015 | Gregory J. Brod

Just the name can make your skin crawl, but clients tell us the reality is far worse than they ever could have imagined. Bed bugs fall in and out of the headlines, but they remain a very real problem impacting Californians. The pests do not discriminate, attacking people of all ages, races, classes, and creeds. In fact, as a recent news report illustrates, they aren’t even confined to beds! As a bed bug law firm in San Francisco, Oakland, and Santa Rosa, The Brod Law Firm helps people who are afflicted with these pests because of someone else’s neglect, such as a tenant coping with repeated infestations because a landlord fails to act responsibly, ignoring the problem entirely or taking ineffective, limited action rather than the swift intervention needed to eradicate the bugs for good.

Bed Bugs Cause Temporary Closure of Palo Alto Library

Last week, per NBC Bay Area, Palo Alto temporarily shuttered one of its public libraries because of a problem more often associated with housing than libraries – bed bugs. In addition to closing the Mitchell Park Library to treat the pests after they were spotted on two chairs, the city sent bed bug-sniffing dogs to other branches of the library system. As NBC noted, libraries are actually not unusual spot for bed bugs to hide. The pests hitch a ride on a borrowed book, moving from one home to the library and potentially the home of another patron. Increased travel, pesticide resistance, and the use of ineffective pest control practices have all been implicated in the recent spike in infestations. Contra Costa Health Services denied a rumor blaming the homeless for the library infestation, noting there is no link between cleanliness and the pests although clutter does allow an infestation to grow.

The Mental and Emotional Toll of Bed Bugs

July 1, 2015 | Gregory J. Brod

Think about a paper cut caused by a thin edge, a shaving nick caused by the smallest imperfection in a blade, or a bite from a mosquito you barely see that may carry deadly diseases. These injuries prove that the neither the size of the wound nor the size of the culprit determines the impact. As a bed bug law firm in Oakland, San Francisco, and Santa Rosa, we have worked closely with the victims of bed bug infestations and know just how much these tiny creatures (despite not being linked to the spread of any diseases) can impact your life.

Study Points to Psychological Toll of Bed Bug Infestations

Last October, The Atlantic reported on the effects of a bed bug infestation. The story opens by sharing the writer’s experiences coping with the pests. She jokes about “bed bug PTSD” and then turns to actual research studies suggesting bed bugs leave people anxious, depressed, and paranoid.