I’ve written about bed bugs and hotels in previous blogs… yes, it is a gross topic, but unfortunately these nasty creatures do exist and can wreck havoc on anyone. Just ask “Saturday Night Live” star, Maya Rudolph.
When she and her family moved into their new pricey New York City apartment they thought it was vacant. But, according to media outlets, which recently retained a $450,000 lawsuit filed by Rudolph, the apartment was not as empty as it first appeared. The papers state that shortly after Rudolph, movie director Paul Anderson, and their baby moved into the third-floor condominium loft apartment they were renting in SoHo last month, something began chewing on them at night.
“The plaintiffs were bitten over portions of their bodies by bedbugs,” the court papers say. “Apparently unbeknown to plaintiffs, the premises were infested with bedbugs.”
I know… EEWWW! But there’s more, in the court papers Rudolph states that prior to moving in she was told the apartment was “perfect” and was in a “first-class luxury” building. Given that she thought she was moving into a “great place,” Rudolph says so she and Anderson signed a $13,500-a-month lease, and shelled out two months rent, in addition to a security deposit and a month’s rent as a broker’s commission. Then disaster struck.
Rudolph says she and Armstrong, as well as their new baby, suffered numerous bites from a then unknown source. The couple says they complained to management and then called an exterminator who told them the bedbug infestation was so bad that they “should leave the apartment for a few weeks, for the sake of their infant.” To add insult to injury, according to court papers, the couple was unable to flee the infestation in a timely manner because for at least six of their first 11 days in the building the elevator was out of order. According to court documents, once the elevator was repaired Rudolph and her family left and never returned.
Which just goes to prove that a lot of money and star status doesn’t make you immune to life’s annoying pests. (P.S. I do feel sorry for the actress… and especially for her baby.)
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