Apartment and kitchen infested with mice and roaches..renter rights? Help!?
I moved into my apartment on November 19th. Signed a one year lease, and moved in to find dozens of roaches crawling all over the kitchen, and bathroom. Every time you turned on a light, you could see them scurrying across the floor to get away. It was awful. Now, about a month ago, I discovered mice as well. At first I thought there was just one, but then I set a trap and caught four at once. In the same trap. It was disgusting. I can’t keep any cardboard or plastic packaging in the cabinets or the mice will chew through it.
Since I moved in, the management has been promising a roach extermination, but as of yet I haven’t seen any progress towards it. When I told them about the mice, they told me to go to home depot and buy some poison, and then they would reimburse me. I think this is just ridiculous. I haven’t been able to use my kitchen because of this. Is this legal? Is there anything I can do about this? I feel that it’s not fair for me to be paying rent for a kitchen that is not functional.
April 27th, 2011 at 5:33 am
You must have some local agency to help you with your problem.
I studied about roaches.
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April 27th, 2011 at 6:33 am
Have you considered putting your rent payments in escrow?
Escrow is what you use when the owner of the property isn’t fulfilling their end of the bargain. Once they complete extermination, the $ you’ve paid in escrow will be given to them.
Send the owner of the property a CERTIFiED LETTER (save a copy for yourself) saying that if extermination is not completed with in 30 days, your next rental payment will be put in escrow until the repairs have been completed.
I studied about roaches.
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April 27th, 2011 at 7:33 am
File a complaint with your local health department. Insist that they come out and inspect the property for vermin and infestation,
They should send a notice to the landlord/management to get the premise cleaned up or face a fine and red tag the premises. You have a serious health problem and I would also tell the management that you will be vacating the property if they don’t get the situation resolved within 7 days due to the “uninhabitable” condition in your apartment. And that you will be suing them for maximum amount that small claims court allows in your state for your moving expenses, exposure, and inconvenience.
I sure wouldn’t give them 30 days to fix the problem. Living in an unhealthy environment any longer could have dire health consequences to you.
If you are have a problem with vermin and infestation so are most of the other units in your building.
I studied about roaches.
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April 27th, 2011 at 8:33 am
Follow “Ring0Rosie”s advice, and you will find yourself evicted. You cannot do this without a court order.
You can definitely call your local health department, who will determine the landlord’s responsibilities. If they do deem the apartment “uninhabitable,” you will be released from your lease.
The mice problem is not a big deal; all you can do is continue to set traps until you catch all of them. It is very common for them to invade your nice, toasty home in the cold months. Just keep putting the traps out. In no way does having mice limit your ability to live in the house.
Roaches are a very different problem, and usually require several and ongoing treatments to eradicate. This is the only area you might have recourse. Again, call your health department and they will guide you further.
I studied about roaches.
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