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Family Evicted After Complaining About Bedbugs

Motel Officials Say They 'Followed Protocol'

POSTED: 8:24 am CDT October 16, 2008
UPDATED: 7:15 pm CDT October 16, 2008

A family new to the area said they complained about what was crawling in their sheets at a Kansas City motel and then found themselves evicted.

Jackie Trotter and her two daughters were staying at the Value Place Hotel off Highway 71, when she said she noticed red bumps on her 13-year-old daughter, KCTV5 News reported.

"It scared me at first thought because she's allergic to all kinds of stuff," said Trotter.

Trotter said she thought her daughter was having an allergic reaction across her arms an legs, but when the same bumps appeared on her other daughter she did some investigating and discovered bed bugs.

"When we shake the bed little black things rise up," said Trotter.

After she alerted the front desk, Trotter said she thought they were going to move her to another room. But when she insisted the hotel also clean all of their clothes she said they kicked them out.

"First I was stunned and just looked and asked, 'Wait, my child got bed bugs from your hotel and you are putting me out?' and she said that's procedure," Trotter said.

Trotter said she and her daughters just moved to town. She said they paid the motel for two weeks in advance and now they have no money to move elsewhere.

A spokesman for Value Place responded in writing to KCTV5 News, saying, "Bedbugs are the single biggest issue the lodging industry faces today. These situations are brought into hotels by people."

He added, "The best way that a property can deal with that matter is to isolate and eradicate that source from the property to protect the entire property. We followed the appropriate protocol."

The Trotters said they are staying with friends until they can raise enough money to get another hotel room.

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