Nashville rental firm sued over bedbugs

NASHVILLE, July 21 (UPI) -- A Nashville woman is suing a furniture rental company over an alleged bedbug attack that she says sent her to the emergency room.

Evangela Cowan said in her $575,000 Davidson County lawsuit that she rented a mattress and box spring on Nov. 25 from Rent-a-Center and woke up Nov. 26 with blisters covering her body.

Two days later, she was suffering enough to go to the hospital.

"I was completely miserable, swollen and blistered, and I remember the doctor saying, 'It looks like something ate you up,'" Cowan told The (Nashville) Tennessean.

Cowan said an exterminator confirmed the doctor's opinion that bedbugs were the culprits. She also claimed that Rent-a-Center employees "just looked at me" when she complained.

The Tennessean said Tuesday that Rent-a-Center declined comment on the lawsuit but stated that company policy is to aggressively sanitize its merchandise in accordance with state regulations.