SEATTLE, Wash. -- Bed bugs are eating their way into more and more apartment buildings these days, including one in downtown Seattle where tenants say they are being forced to fend for themselves.
Wally Wise walks into his home that has become a battlefield. The enemy: bed bugs.
"The bugs were crawling along there and up here to get at me," he said.
Wally fought in the Battle of the Bulge during World War II. That, he said, was nothing compared to the battle of the bugs.
"Hell. Literally hell, because you didn't know where they were coming from and you didn't know what would kill them," he said.
About 300 other tenants share the same apartment building in downtown Seattle, which they now also share with bed bugs. And Wally isn't just fighting bed bugs...he's fighting management.
"They've done nothing," he said. "Either in compensating in some way or making our life a little more bearable."
Wally is not alone. Another tenant, along with her attorney, delivered a letter to management Tuesday saying they had failed in their obligation to provide a clean place to live.
KING 5 News tried talking to management too. Their response - no comment.
Wally Wise hopes the bugs are gone for good but he also does not want to wait to find out.
"I'm worn out being uncomfortable. The last two days I've just been dragging myself around. I'm 87 and this is not the way to live," he said.
Tenants say management not only ignored their complaints but also failed to notify other tenants of the bed bug problem.
