The owners of a vacation rental property in Hollywood Hills have been ordered to pay $375,000 to a British vacationer who was bit hundreds of times by bedbugs while staying at the property in 2015.
Meshak Moore had planned on staying at a property on the 2300 block of Vasanta Way from Aug. 24, 2015 through Oct. 22, 2015, but left after four weeks after repeatedly being bitten across the entirety of his body by bedbugs that had infested the property, according to court documents provided by his lawyer.
He initially believed mosquitos were responsible, but after several sleepless nights and painful bites, he tore apart the bed and found a large infestation of bedbugs on the mattress, headboard and bed frame.
Moore suffered hundreds of bites on his back, arms, neck and groin, causing him serious discomfort, permanent scarring and emotional distress, the complaint alleged.
The owners of the property, identified in the arbitration settlement as Henry Huang and Robert Norris of Bamboo Retreats, LLC., were apparently not informed about Moore’s bites until after he had decided “enough was enough” and left the property. Both Norris and Huang lived on the same property and had regular encounters with Moore, the court found.
Despite this, in the end, the owners were found both negligent and liable for Moore’s injuries caused by the bedbug infestation.
According to the arbitration decision, the owners of the property failed to keep it habitable in direct violation of California civil code. The court documents state that the owners should have discovered the infestation — which was believed to be several months old — prior to Moore’s arrival.
The judge in the case awarded Moore $500,000 for his past pain and suffering, but reduced the overall award to $375,000, faulting Moore for not disclosing the bites to the property owners, despite ample opportunity to do so.
Still, the massive payout is historic, according to Moore’s lawyer, Brian Virag.
Virag, an Encino attorney specializing in bedbug-related cases, said it was the largest award ever recorded against a vacation rental property over a bedbug infestation.
Virag previously represented a woman who received a $100,000 settlement from Disney for a bedbug infestation in her hotel room in 2018.
He has previously said that bedbugs “don’t discriminate” and can be found in hotels and rental properties across the globe, adding that bedbug infestations are an epidemic and cleaning protocols have suffered due to a lack of staffing at hotels and other rental accommodations.