Terminating my lease early due to mice (Lubbock, Howe: apartments, house)

[Vbcunningham]

we have had a mouse problem for the last six months. In the beginning, the office sent traps for us to set up (only two poison boxes) and a worker came and patched a hole under our sink where we found the mice were getting in. I told him that I also needed the dishwasher pulled out because I suspected an additional hole. He said he would have to put in a new work order but it never got done. Fast forward six months later, we have started catching mice almost every day. There are clearly holes in the walls and in the building.

The biggest issue is that we have two dogs and the apartments are pet friendly, but we got them after we moved in and never paid a pet fee after the fact. I'm not sure I can break out lease due to a breach in contract because we also breached the contract.

What do I do???

[TexasRedneck]

You'd best read your lease carefully - sometimes, rodents/insects are the responsibility of the tenant, NOT the landlord.

[High_Plains_Retired]

House mice are a definite problem on the South Plains especially where they are poorly controlled. The mice will usually move from pastures and open areas into buildings in the fall as the outside temperatures begin dropping. Many times, if there isn't easy access into a building, the mice will make one by chewing an opening.

We have a an old rural home north of Lubbock that is surrounded by thousands of acres of cropland and grassland. Every year has been a battle with mice and rabbits invading the house as the weather cools in the fall. The mice that enter the house will chew into any food that is not kept in a glass or metal canisters and the rabbits dig out around the foundations of the house as well as the storm celler.

I've found that the best traps for mice are the smaller Victor electronic trap (model # BM240PROMO) since it kills even very young and small mice. However, these electronic traps are expensive and seem to have very limited lifespans seemingly due to an owner's inablity to clean them thoroughly after several mice have been caught. The old standard Victor mouse snap trap (with a metal treadle) is what we now use (model # BM154). The snap traps with the metal treadles seem to work better than the ones with plastic treadles.