by Anne Yeager
January 20, 2010
PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland State senior Jeff Rudnicky is in a bad situation. He has no place to call home and no money in his wallet.
“It’s a difficult situation to say the least, ” said Rudnicky.
Last Halloween, he and his girlfriend moved into the Park Plaza right off campus. At first, he thought it was perfect. But his girlfriend soon found out it wasn’t.
“The next morning she woke up covered in red, nasty hives. So her doctor said go to the emergency room, ” said Rudnicky.
Turns out, she was allergic to bed bugs. It was so bad her doctors said she almost went into shock.
Jeff demanded their deposit back and even sought legal advice.
They say they didn’t get their deposit back and the company that owns Park Plaza locked them out of their apartment.
“They had to vacate their apartment and basically sleep on relatives’ couches, ” said Lissa Kaufman, PSU’s Student Legal Coordinator.
She represents several students just like Jeff, who claim the company that owns the apartment building was negligent.
Brenden Madden is moving out at the end of the month, because he too is sick of the bed bugs.
“It’s kind of a pain, it interrupts your life. It’s a mess,” said Madden.
We called Riverstone Residential Group, the company that owns Park Plaza and its Dallas marketing office and local attorney several times, but no one got back to us.
As for Jeff, he hasn’t gotten his deposit back and has to rely on family.
“We can’t afford a place to live.”
Information on Riverstone Residential knowingly exposing tenants to extreme amounts of mold toxins at Toxic Mold Infested Jefferson Lakes Apartments in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Toxic Mold Infested Jefferson Lakes Apartments managed by Riverstone Residential
Riverstone Residential Litigation
“Changes in construction methods have caused US buildings to become perfect petri dishes for mold and bacteria to flourish when water is added. Instead of warning the public and teaching physicians that the buildings were causing illness; in 2003 the US Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform, a think-tank, and a workers comp physician trade organization mass marketed an unscientific nonsequitor to the courts to disclaim the adverse health effects to stave off liability for financial stakeholders of moldy buildings. Although publicly exposed many times over the years, the deceit lingers in US courts to this very day.” Sharon Noonan Kramer
Katy's Exposure 
I used to be a resident of park plaza apartments and suffered from a bed bug infestation that the management was terrible about. I gave them months to resolve the problem and finally gave notice and left. Now, they have put the issue on my credit report, saying I owe them over a thousand dollars in fees. Basically, what I want to know is do these lawsuits have any hope? Do you have a right to leave an apartment if an infestation is untreated despite multiple complaints? The apartment was untenable and I gave them months to fix it. Does this have to ruin my credit history for the next 7 years?