After reading yesterdayâÄôs article about Dinkytown Rentals and their attempts to absolve themselves of responsibility, I would like to bring to light an issue that my roommates and I have had with them that would have also caused us to move into one of their properties later than Sept. 1. We were told by the current tenants of the property, which we planned to move into, that there was a bed bug infestation. It was so bad that no one was living in the house at the time of the contact. We informed Dinkytown Rentals in early July of the problem and requested they make the house habitable by Sept. 1. Unfortunately, the problem was not taken care of in time which left us scrambling for alternative housing. The extermination receipts provided by Dinkytown Rentals reported bed bug activity as late as Aug. 27 and we were told that the exterminator would also spray on Aug. 31. An article by Stephen Kells, an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota specializing in bed bugs, says it takes approximately two weeks before an inspector is able to verify that all bed bugs are exterminated. That timeline would put our move-in day at Sept. 15. We then received conflicting stories on the extermination, which reduced our confidence in the situation and our future landlords. The property manager told us that only two sprayings had been done, while the owners recounted four sprayings. One current occupant told us later that they were unaware of any sprayings in July and early August and were never given the lawful 24-hour notice that there would be an exterminator entering the house. We gave Dinkytown Rentals adequate time, but they failed to make our house habitable by Sept. 1 as per the lease. With the help of Student Legal Services, we got out of the lease and our deposit was returned, but not before Dinkytown Rentals threatened to take us to court. Prospective renters should contact Student Legal Services and the City of Minneapolis to hear more about previous incidents involving Dinkytown Rentals. Kevin Hynes University undergraduate student