Bedbug Lawsuits Swarm Landlords

Bedbugs spread a lot of things -- fear, disgust and now, lawsuits. The Real Deal reports on a spate of cases being brought against landlords in New York, the city with the worst bedbug problem in the country. But the Big Apple isn't the only place that the bloodsuckers find tasty. According to statistics from the National Pest Management Association, bedbug complaints nationwide are up 81 percent since 2000, with most of those calls coming from apartments and condos. If New York's bedbug strategy spreads to the rest of the country, eliminating the pests will become a two-step process: first, call the exterminator; then, call your lawyer.

As bedbugs continue to pop up at locations in the city -- most recently at the Manhattan district attorney's offices, at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and at a Brooklyn public school -- tenants are increasingly looking to the legal system for help.