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Bedbugs bite back
Friday, June 30, 2006 - Updated: 02:03 AM EST

Residents of a group of apartment buildings in downtown Framingham are contending with an invasion of bedbugs, a once-rare problem that local health inspectors across MetroWest say is increasingly common.

"I’m not happy," said Gilbert Tiaya, whose apartment at 140 Union Ave. has become a home for the blood-feeding insects. "It’s very dangerous. I don’t know. It’s not good. It’s very bad."

Health directors in Framingham, Milford and Marlborough said yesterday their offices have had to juggle a rash of complaints about bedbugs in the last few years, mostly in apartment buildings and multifamily homes.

They pointed to overcrowded living conditions and an influx of immigrants as possible reasons.

"In the years I’ve been here, last summer was the first time I had actually seen or had to respond to a bedbug complaint," said Milford Board of Health Director Paul Mazzuchelli, who marks his 29th year in July.

Milford has seen six complaints this year, while Marlborough Health Director Robert Landry estimated juggling 30 to 40 cases last year.

"All of a sudden it was this surge of calls coming in," he said.

The management company for the Framingham properties posted notices this week explaining that it was beginning a biweekly inspection and treatment plan for all pests, including bedbugs. The buildings are at 140 and 142 Union Ave. and 12 Lexington St.

Kayleigh Lescarbeau, who lives at 140 Union Ave. but doesn’t have any bugs, said she first saw the notice yesterday.

"It’s kind of gross, really nasty," she said.

Bedbugs are not easy to get rid of and often require multiple treatments by a pest control company, said Ralph Godin, owner of APC Pest Control in Medfield. They can go months without food, hide under carpeting and tiny crevices and easily move between apartments.

"They just kind of run rampant," he said. "If you don’t (treat) the whole building, you might as well as not do it at all."’

Brian Skinner at 12 Lexington St. battled a rash of bedbugs that wouldn’t go away for months. The problem got so bad, he said, that he stopped paying his rent and now hopes to move out.

"They have no intention of really taking care of this problem," he said about the management company. "They’ll just throw a Band-Aid at it. I’ve had enough."

An official at the management company, Stonegate Group in Natick, could not be reached for comment. Framingham Health Director Bob Cooper said the notices are a sign the company is trying to fix the problem.

All three buildings are owned by Nivek Realty Trust, according to town records. They generate a few complaints each year about various health violations, said Cooper, whose office handles about 50 complaints annually about begbugs across town.

"What concerns us the most is getting complaints and have the owner not respond, and I’m not talking about these buildings specifically," he said. "For the most part, the landlords in town are cooperative with us, and when we send them a list of violations they correct them."