Hamilton tenant living with 'disgusting' bed bugs for months says city bylaw system not working

After living with bed bugs for months, Esther Stam says it's not only the persistent bites and sleepless nights that are "horrendous" but also how difficult it is to get help.

The Hamilton tenant has tried everything she can think of to rid her apartment on West Avenue of the tiny, "disgusting" pests she first noticed on Aug. 20, 2023, she said.

She said she notified her property manager at Blackbird Property Group right away, as recommended by the city, and provided photo and video evidence of the bugs and bites, according to emails seen by CBC Hamilton. 

She also has been in regular contact with a bylaw officer dedicated to pest control — hopeful he would compel her landlord to effectively treat not only her unit, but the entire three-storey building as she's heard other tenants were also impacted, she said.

As of this week, the bugs were still there, she said.

Stam's experience raises questions about how effective the city is at responding to tenant pest complaints and if landlords are being held accountable. 

Throughout the fall, Stam said her living conditions and "mental anguish" felt unbearable, as the bed bugs multiplied by a "ridiculous" amount. Bed bugs crawled across her desk as she worked from home, and in her bathtub, she said. 

"We all just want to live in our beloved homes and have our property standards met," she wrote to the bylaw officer in an email Oct. 2.

She no longer had people over, avoided seeing family, and put her clothes on her balcony to keep them free of bed bugs, only to have them all stolen, Stam said. 

It took over three months for a pest control company hired by Blackbird Property Group to spray her apartment twice in November. 

Stam stayed with a friend for a couple of months following the treatments, and returned a few weeks ago. After her first night back, she said she woke up with three bed bug bites on her leg and is again trying to compel her landlord to spray the building.

"I am beside myself that the building infestation continues to grow," she wrote to the landlord on Jan. 23.

"Excuses aside, you still have not treated the building as you should, not once and it's about time you do because forcing people to live like this is beyond humane." 

Over a week later, and after CBC Hamilton contacted the landlord for the story, the property manager scheduled an inspection of Stam's unit on Thursday that confirmed there were bed bugs, Stam said.