HOUSTON – A woman is suing after she said furniture she rented from Rent-A-Center was infested with bed bugs.
Leah Angle said she was just trying to provide a comfortable home for her family when she rented furniture from a Rent-A-Center in the 6100 block of Scott Street.
She said the same day she got the two couches home, something disturbing happened.
"My boyfriend complained about sitting on the furniture, and he said he was itching," said Angle.
At first, Angle said she thought it was an allergic reaction to something her boyfriend ate, but two days later, Angle said she and her 4-year-old son were experiencing painful symptoms too.
"Blisters started popping up everywhere," she said.
After a trip to the hospital, Angle said her fears were confirmed. She said her entire family was suffering from bed bug bites.
Angle said she captured some of the bugs on her camera phone. She said her boyfriend, Hardy Moore, got the brunt of the bites and the resulting scaring.
"It's really horrendous because even after the process of taking the medicine, you still go through stages of 30 to 45 days of pain," said Moore.
Angle said her son has nightmares about the experience and is scared to go to sleep. What's worse, she said, she believes the bed bugs came from the Rent-A-Center furniture.
Local 2 contacted Rent-A-Center. A spokesman, Xavier Dominicis, refused to speak on the specific case, but said each piece of furniture is sanitized and inspected.
Local 2 asked if the company had any past complaints of bed bugs at the Scott Street store. Again, Dominicis would not comment. He did say as a policy, if it is proven that bed bugs came from Rent-A-Center furniture, they will replace it, exterminate and possibly pay damages.
Angle said since the company isn't admitting any fault, she hired a lawyer. "We just want to see some kind of redressability acknowledging the toll on this family," said Angle's attorney, Rodney Glover.
Angle said what she believes happened to her, she doesn't want to happen to anyone else.
"I feel bad for the next person," Angle said.