Daily Archives: October 10, 2014

CHRIS and her boyfriend no longer have to suffer with bedbugs.

For a year, the bugs came and went from her Pine Street apartment, depending on when the landlord or more often her roommates sprayed the apartment. Sometimes they used pesticides, sometimes foul-smelling cleaning chemicals such as Pine-Sol or bleach.

That changed six weeks ago. Chris, her boyfriend and their high-energy pit bull now live in a tent near the Fisher Cats stadium.

Her boyfriend suffered more from bedbugs than Chris. He would scratch the bites until they bled, and then take a hot shower, which would finally end the itch.

He got bitten all the time, said Chris, who asked that her full name not be used.

The reason for her partial identity is obvious. Tenants fear if potential landlords connect them to bedbugs, theyll be sleeping outside no matter what the weather.

Bedbugs are no doubt an issue in Manchester, especially for poor people like Chris.

I take at least one telephone call a month from a tenant frustrated over bedbugs. The city inspectors office gets three to five calls a week, according to the chief inspector, David Albin.

And the calamity of 405 Manchester St. a building that city inspectors first deemed unsafe but then determined OK for habitation includes a bedbug infestation.

Soon, Alderman Pat Long plans to propose a change in city ordinances to align city codes with the states new bedbug law. But a more significant action may be found 45 miles to the north.

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Tenants, landlords trumped by persistent bedbugs