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Homeless shelter settles lawsuit filed over bedbugs

News

June 14th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Des Moines homeless shelter has settled a class action lawsuit filed for several dozen people over bedbugs that had infested the facility. A Polk County District Court judge preliminarily approved the settlement Tuesday and scheduled a settlement hearing Aug. 17 to hear any objections to it. The Des Moines Register reports that the people who stayed at Central Iowa Shelter & Services or in its transitional housing or apartments between November 2014 and December 2015 could receive as much as $400, depending on the length of their stays.

The lawsuit filed Dec. 28, 2015, listed 70 people as complainants, saying the infestation subjected them to substandard living conditions. Plaintiffs’ attorney Steve Wandro says the shelter had problems in the past but has brought them under control.