OMAHA, Neb. — A class-action lawsuit filed Monday alleges the Omaha Housing Authority ignored and failed to eliminate bed bug infestations at high-rise apartments for low-income residents.

The new lawsuit, brought by a pioneering firm in bed bug litigation, comes after a challenging year for OHA in which the federally funded agency faced a flurry of court cases, new government regulations and mounting public pressure over maintenance issues.

The 15 current and former tenants named in the complaint claim the mostly unchecked biting insects have caused skin irritation, sleepless nights and mental anguish over several years.

The tenants, who represent 10 different OHA buildings with more than 1,000 apartments in total, are asking for monetary damages and a rigorous inspection and bed bug treatment program for the agency’s housing units.

Bed bug litigation specialist Jeff Lipman, an attorney for the residents, said the infestations in OHA are uniquely problematic because of how many buildings they afflict.

“I have not seen a situation where literally every tower in the (housing authority) has got an intense, sustained and this insidious of an infestation,” Lipman said Monday. “This is as bad as I’ve seen it.”

OHA CEO Joanie Balk said the agency takes seriously the treatment and elimination of bed bugs, noting that it employs a recently expanded pest control team and contracts with outside firms.

“Our pest control personnel use the same commercial grade chemicals used by commercial organizations in the community,” Balk said in an emailed statement. “We employ best practices designed for multifamily housing which is endorsed by Housing and Urban Development, the Douglas County Health Department, and the experts with the Nebraska Extension Office.”

The Douglas County Health Department rejected a Flatwater Free Press request for records tied to health officials’ inspections of OHA towers, citing a law that allows investigative agencies to withhold records.

For more than a year, tenants and community activists have publicly raised concerns about the living conditions at central Omaha’s Underwood Tower and other OHA apartment complexes. The sustained outcry generated more than a dozen local news stories last year about alleged pest infestations and mold issues within the buildings.

The agency has long grappled with the challenge of maintaining its aging public housing on a tight budget. Many of its apartment complexes and houses require costly upgrades over the next several years, according to previous Flatwater Free Press reporting.

The Nebraska Legislature passed a bill earlier this year requiring OHA to reform its eviction practices and the makeup of its board after lawmakers criticized the agency’s treatment of vulnerable tenants.

In June, a separate class-action lawsuit alleged OHA had for years illegally overcharged tenants for rent, denied them the right to contest rent hikes and sought to boot them when they could not pay.

That lawsuit, which is ongoing, came after a 2023 Flatwater investigation found that OHA filed to evict several tenants who were eligible for rent exemptions and failed to inform residents of their right to appeal rent increases.

Tenants and their relatives also sued OHA more than a half dozen times last year, alleging poor living conditions and mistreatment by the agency. Most of those lawsuits have been dismissed.

A still-pending 2023 lawsuit alleges OHA’s negligence led to the deaths of two young boys in a South Omaha apartment fire. OHA denied the allegations, according to court records.

For much of the last year, Paul Feilmann and his big green yard sign calling for better living conditions at OHA were part of the scenery at the corner of Underwood Avenue and 49th Street.

Until recently, the activist’s “office” was a patch of grass under the shade of a maple tree.

“My office hours are every day, and the door’s always open,” Feilmann joked during a September interview.

It’s here where Feilmann, a former therapist living in Yutan, built rapport with public housing tenants who now make up the first plaintiffs recruited to join the bed bugs lawsuit.