Bed bugs disrupt daily lives of Keene apartment residents

Apr. 29—Patty Anderson, 69, has lived at Cleveland Place, a Keene apartment complex for seniors of low income and people with disabilities, for about two years. She lives alone, though in recent months she said she's been sharing her apartment with dozens of unexpected roommates: bed bugs.

During her first year and a half at the Roxbury Plaza apartment complex, she said, she heard from her neighbors that these pests had been invading their apartments. But up until around six months ago, she said she had yet to encounter the insects herself.

"One day, I went downstairs to the laundry room to talk with the ladies," she said. "That night when I went to take a shower, I lifted my arm and noticed red marks. I had 14 bites on my body."

On Thursday, Anderson said she had seen bed bugs in her apartment as recently as three days earlier.

The Sentinel has spoken with three tenants, starting several months ago, about bed bugs in the building and the impact this has had on their lives. While a property manager for Cleveland Place said Thursday that bed bugs had not been seen there for some time, a city housing inspector said that same day that he was aware of at least four apartments being treated for the pests.

The city's website for citizen complaints about Keene properties and housing documents several about bed bugs at Cleveland Place stretching nearly two years.

Bed bugs are small insects that feed on blood and can cause itchy bites, but are not known to transmit any diseases, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, bed bugs are not a sign of poor hygiene or a dirty home; their spread is driven by their tendency to hide in furniture and other objects.

The New York State Department of Health's website states that the bugs can enter one's home by coming from other infested areas, hitching a ride on used furniture, luggage, handbags, backpacks or other items.

While they're difficult to get rid of, the EPA recommends regularly washing and heat-drying clothes and bedding as heat can be an effective method to kill them. Bed bugs can also be killed with pesticides, though the EPA advises caution when using chemicals.

'Going through hell'

When she first found bites on her body last fall, Anderson said she alerted building management immediately and was told they would send someone from a pest control company to her apartment.

However, concerned that letting a worker into her unit would help the problem spread, Anderson said she bought a pest control spray and a $200 steamer and tried to treat the issue herself.

According to the University of Minnesota, steam cleaners — which typically cost between $800 and $1,200 — are an effective, non-chemical method to kill bed bugs by reaching 160-180 degrees Fahrenheit.

At management's urging, Anderson said she eventually acquiesced to letting a pest control worker inside, and her apartment has been treated four times since then. During that time, she said she has found bed bugs all around her apartment, even in her underwear.

"I had brought out my steamer and put it on my bed frame right at a connection point; must've been 15 to 20 of all different sizes that came out," she said.

She said the experience has left her feeling trapped — that if she were to move, she might bring bugs with her.

"Unfortunately, I don't think other landlords would rent out to us," she said. "I couldn't in good conscience move into someone else's home with my furniture for fear of infesting them."

Her situation has also affected her family life, she noted.

"I haven't seen my family in two years," she said, explaining that even before she noticed bed bugs in her own apartment, her family was hesitant to visit due to the reports from her neighbors. "A lot of us are going through hell here. A lot of people don't seem to care because it's not their world. My grandson will be welcoming my first great-grandchild, and I can't see her because of the bugs."

A retired certified nursing assistant, Anderson said she also worries if she leaves her apartment to ride the bus or run errands, she might be transporting bed bugs as well. When she does go out, she said she takes extra precautions.

"Every time I leave the apartment, I spray my feet so that [the bed bugs] don't latch onto my shoes."

Two other tenants who spoke with The Sentinel described similar experiences with bed bugs. They wished to remain anonymous for fear of being evicted.

One of them said a case manager who'd helped her with her mental health stopped visiting for fear of coming in contact with bed bugs. And though she'd been on a Keene Housing waitlist for three years, she said she recently decided to take her name off it as she was concerned she might bring the pests with her to a new home.

Another tenant told The Sentinel last week that the night before, she'd found four bed bugs in her shower, and also saw one crawl across her pillow while she was getting ready for bed.

'We're too old to be afraid'

According to N.H. Legal Aid — a website that connects people with legal service agencies in the state — it is a landlord's obligation to investigate and take reasonable measures to remediate a unit with bed bugs within seven days of the problem being reported. Landlords are also expected to incur any related costs for treatment, unless a tenant is found responsible for the issue, as may happen if theirs is the sole apartment in a complex to have the insects.

John Rogers, Keene's code and inspections manager, said Thursday that Cleveland Place has followed standard procedure as it pertains to bed bugs.

"We've been in contact with building management and they had, under our ordinances, done the appropriate steps by bringing in professionals and having a plan in place to do follow-up inspections," he said.

In a phone interview with a reporter on April 7, Kathy Legere, a property manager for Cleveland Place, said she has spent "thousands and thousands" of dollars to treat the bed bugs, but that only two apartments had reported them. She said tenants are encouraged to call the building's office if they find any of the insects.

"If they don't report it, we don't know they have it," she said.

Legere said she didn't know when she was initially alerted to the problem, but that building management and the pest control company had faced difficulty treating the units due to some tenants' hesitancy to let pest workers in. Pest control workers had not found bed bugs in the apartments for some time, and lately they had been doing routine follow-up inspections, she said. She again said bed bugs had not been found recently at Cleveland Place when speaking to a reporter Thursday.

Keene Housing Inspector Ryan Lawliss said he's received bed bug complaints pertaining to Cleveland Place on and off for a while. According to the city's website for housing and property complaints, Cleveland Place generated five complaints between June 2021 and March 2023.

After the initial complaint, Lawliss said he followed up with Leslie Hanson, a Cleveland Place property manager, who assured him they were treating the apartments.

Hanson deferred questions from a reporter to Legere.

In September 2021, Lawliss said he received a call from a tenant who said she was dealing with her third infestation and that the bed bugs were not being taken care of. He wrote in the case file that property management notified him that seven units were being treated for bed bugs, and adjacent apartments were being checked.

An update in the case file in March 2022 indicates that "treatment appears to have resolved issues," and that inspections and preventative treatment would continue as needed.

But on Jan. 12 of this year, Lawliss said, he received an anonymous phone call from a resident reporting bed bugs in their apartment. He added that he reached out to property management and was told the pest control company was doing chemical treatment in the building two to three times per week and that these appointments would continue until the issue was resolved.

After another tenant reported bed bugs to him in March, Lawliss said he and Rogers, the city's code and inspections manager, went to Cleveland Place to conduct an inspection while the pest control company treated three apartments. Lawliss' report indicates that Rogers went into an apartment with pest control workers and found live bed bugs.

In a phone interview with The Sentinel on Thursday, Rogers confirmed Lawliss' report and noted that one of the other units being treated that day also showed evidence of bed bugs.

"I went with the treatment company into one of the units," he said. "There was certainly evidence of dead bed bugs and at the same time there were live ones."

He added that the apartment he went into had already been treated by the pest control company. He said workers told him the bugs that were still alive would likely soon be dead and that follow-up treatment would be scheduled for that unit to ensure this.

On Thursday, Lawliss said he knew of at least four apartments being treated for bed bugs.

Although frustrated with her living situation, Anderson said she doesn't blame anyone; she just wants the issue resolved.

"I just think people, especially the elderly, shouldn't have to live this way," she said. "I realize things happen ... but we're too old to be afraid. Bed bugs aren't a good thing to have; they spread isolation and depression because no one wants to come around."

Hunter Oberst can be reached at 355-8546, or hoberst@keenesentinel.com.

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