@Tricia3030 I'm not sure why you thought you needed to throw your stuff away. There are all kinds of ways of eliminating bedbugs and other human parasites, like scabies and lice, from items, from throwing clothes in a hot dryer, to just putting items in a plastic bag, tied up tight and leaving it sit for awhile. When the bugs have nothing to feed on for some time, they will expire. I can't imagine why you'd need to throw away art supplies, like paint brushes.
As far as litigation goes, I know that Americas are sue-happy, but honestly, I doubt the host has allowed bedbugs to proliferate in his rental simply because he didn't care, unless you booked the cheapest flop-house type listing you could find. If it were me, I'd be happy to get a refund of my stay and chalk it up to the fact that life's not always perfect and sometimes crummy things happen.