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I've been living in a 1 bedroom apartment in North Carolina for roughly 3 months now, and the place is literally infested with cockroaches. They have been there since I moved in. When I go in my kitchen at night and turn the lights on, I'll see 4 or 5 scurrying around. I kill them all and next time there's 4 or 5 more. I've tried numerous sprays and have had professional exterminators come, to no avail. I also keep my kitchen sparkling clean, I never leave food out and wash the dishes after every meal.
I've spoken to my landlady about it, and her response has been to keep sending exterminators over, which obviously hasn't been working. I understand that roaches are a problem in many apartments and sometimes there's simply nothing that can be done. But it just doesn't seem fair that I'm paying a large sum of rent each month (and have signed a binding 12 month lease) to live in a place that is absolutely crawling with roaches. It was obviously something I couldn't have foreseen prior to signing the lease.
I've come to terms with the fact that I've just gotten bad luck. I've tried getting rid of the roaches and failed, and I doubt I can use them as an excuse to terminate my lease or reduce my rent without getting into a headache of legal complications (wouldn't be worth it). My question is whether anyone has any advice on how I can avoid this problem in the future. Is there any way to determine how bad an insect problem is PRIOR to signing a lease? I suppose you can always just ask the landlord but they may not be entirely truthful.
The only thing I can think of would be to ask if the complex does routine pest control of all the buildings. If they don't do every apartment at once there's not much hope of getting rid of the problem, as you've experienced.
You might also check to make sure that switch plates, counter tops, baseboards, window frames, etc are all tightly sealed. If they have gaps away from the wall that can provide entry points for roaches.
I've been living in a 1 bedroom apartment in North Carolina for roughly 3 months now, and the place is literally infested with cockroaches. They have been there since I moved in. When I go in my kitchen at night and turn the lights on, I'll see 4 or 5 scurrying around. I kill them all and next time there's 4 or 5 more. I've tried numerous sprays and have had professional exterminators come, to no avail. I also keep my kitchen sparkling clean, I never leave food out and wash the dishes after every meal.
I've spoken to my landlady about it, and her response has been to keep sending exterminators over, which obviously hasn't been working. I understand that roaches are a problem in many apartments and sometimes there's simply nothing that can be done. But it just doesn't seem fair that I'm paying a large sum of rent each month (and have signed a binding 12 month lease) to live in a place that is absolutely crawling with roaches. It was obviously something I couldn't have foreseen prior to signing the lease.
I've come to terms with the fact that I've just gotten bad luck. I've tried getting rid of the roaches and failed, and I doubt I can use them as an excuse to terminate my lease or reduce my rent without getting into a headache of legal complications (wouldn't be worth it). My question is whether anyone has any advice on how I can avoid this problem in the future. Is there any way to determine how bad an insect problem is PRIOR to signing a lease? I suppose you can always just ask the landlord but they may not be entirely truthful.
Any help would be great. Thanks.
Add a provision to the lease before you sign. Any tenant can add lease provisions or cross-out provisions of a lease. Whether or not the landlord will agree is another matter. I had an experience like yours and forever afterward added a provision that I could terminate the lease if an infestation of pests is identified within 60 days.
Unfortunately, if there is a roach infestation in another part of the building, they will find their way through the walls to your unit. I come from Florida, where life with the little critters is a given.
Before you sign a lease, have an exterminator come and inspect the apartment. They will be able to see signs of infestation that are not easy to spot. That said, pretty much anywhere you are in the SE, you will run into roaches. You'll have to decide if you want to be exposed to bugs or to pesticides. Pesticides are showing up in the breastmilk of mothers and are known to cause other heath issues such as allergies and cancer.
Keeping the bugs under control and moderating pesticide use it a way of life in the South!
Tracey
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