Being a college student is not easy-between balancing a social life with academics, professors who think you are taking only their class and dealing with friends and family, college is tough. So one would think that returning home would be a nice break from the stress. And it can be, if you do not live in Park Plaza.
Student residents in Park Plaza have more to worry about than the average college student. They are concerned about relentless pests that have been plaguing their homes for months. And the term pests do not just apply to bedbugs. The management is causing more problems than solutions. In this particular case, the management acted poorly, and its residents suffered.
Many Portland State students are upset about a recurring bedbug infestation in Park Plaza. And they have every right to be angry.
In August, tenants were notified of a pest inspection. After the supposed inspection had taken place in early September, many occupants noticed bitemarks on themselves.
It appears that Park Plaza experienced a common problem when ridding pests such as bedbugs: fumigation. Fumigation does not get rid of bedbugs as many people might think. It simply makes them spread out into other units and parts of the building.
In the case of Park Plaza, the owners only fumigated individual apartments based on complaints of bedbugs. The only way to completely be rid of the bedbugs would be to fumigate the entirety of the building.
However, bedbugs seem to be the least of these student residents’ worries. The bedbugs keep coming back and it appears to be due to poor management within Park Plaza.
‘From the time that I was living there it ruined my life. I had insomnia, nightmares, disrupted studies. I dropped a class and still don’t have my wardrobe back, it’s sitting at Park Plaza in plastic bags,’ said Melissa Ward, student and former Park Plaza resident.
Another PSU student was interviewed and the first thing that came out of Kris Thomason’s mouth was, ‘First off, I’m very happy to report that I moved over the weekend. I hope to never get within a 50-foot radius of Park Plaza ever again!’
The costs of damages have been detrimental. Thomason had to spend approximately $1,000 in moving and treating her stuff to escape the dreaded bugs.
Although management paid for the two treatments Thomason received during her residency, she still spent money kenneling her cat, renting a car and doing all the laundry in preparation for the treatment.
After the ineffectiveness of the treatment, Thomason told management she could not afford for the unit to be treated a third time, hoping that management would somehow help her out with the extra costs. Clearly, it was not her fault the treatment was ineffective after two tries.
What she received instead of reimbursement were the cruel words of the management, telling her that instead of removing her cat from the unit during treatment, she could leave her cat in a carrier in the living room while they sprayed the bedroom.
If suggesting to a tenant that leaving their cat in a 410-square-foot apartment while it was being sprayed does not show the total lack of respect and human decency management has toward residents, I am not sure what does.
Ward and Thomason escaped Park Plaza, but many tenants still remain and there are future residents who need to be aware of the problem.
As in any business, if customers are exposed to harm and damage that the business was aware of, that is unethical. So what can management at Park Plaza do?
Before anyone moves in or signs a lease, management needs to let them know of the risks and harm the infestation of bed bugs has caused.
Ultimately it appears that management took the cheap route by simply fumigating single units when they should have been working on the entire building. They need to put in some effort and research the best ways to get rid of these pests before they put more college students in debt and cause more harm.
Park Plaza should learn from this incident-if not, they may find their units empty.
‘