Should my landlord have warned me about a roach problem before I moved in? What can I do about it?

Question

Obviously I AM REALLY GROSSED OUT.

I noticed one roach in the sink on my first day. There were a couple the second day. On the 4th night, I opened my dishwasher and it was FILLED with roaches. I have been running my dishwasher constantly to keep them from coming in. I have plugged up my sink.

They cleaned this place before I moved in. Someone must have noticed there was an infestation! They probably sprayed, which temporarily fixed the problem just in time for me to move in.

Obviously I've complained (yesterday) and there's been no response yet. I'm really pissed off.

If you've gotten this far, thanks for reading my rant. I just don't think it's okay for them to lease me an apartment that's already infested!

Answer 1

It is the landlords responsibility...... call the health department.... that's what I did with my mold problem..... it works too. They'll get you taken care of!!! And plan on moving out!

Answer 2

Sorry to hear it,

The landlord IS RESPONSIBLE for PEST control, so yes you do have grounds for a suit, based on the lease you signed. It probably won't get very far or get you much money; however, you can use it as grounds to break the contract and most courts would agree with that.

If you want to stay then you need to get them to come in a get rid of them. Ideally, they should put you up in a hotel for a few days and fumigate the place, but they will resist that. They should provide free pest control services though, and you can ask the professional, when he comes, what his opinion is.

I don't know how bad your problem really is, filled could be 20 or 200 or more. Of course 1 is too much. I once found a phone that didn't work in our office and, curious I took off the cover. I found it filled with cockroaches and I drenched the entire thing in bug spray. I saw dozens and dozens of roaches and it was a real horrible mess.

Needless to say I wanted the place sprayed for roaches soon after and I made it happen. The boss got a unaddressed envelope full of dead roaches and he took the hint. It was not the best way to handle it, but I wasn't caught and no one knew what had been done. I am sure it grossed him out, but I was a little ticked off so...

If you live in an apartment complex or duplex then make sure ALL of the units that touch are treated at the same time. Otherwise the roaches will just flee and move back in later.

Personally I would buy a do-it-yourself room fogger from the grocery store, open the cabinets, let it go and go visit a friend for a few hours. If it was a really bad infestation then I might use two of them. If that isn't enough to kill off the roaches then I would want to move out or have the entire place tented and done by a professional.

Answer 3

What often happens in apartments is someone will spray for roaches and they will all flee that apartment and go to the next one. Then that person gets grossed out, they spray and the roaches move again. The bigger and older the apartment building, the more of a problem.

The only real effective way is for all the tenants AND the landlord to coordinate a "spray day" and hit all the apartments, hallways, service access areas, laundry rooms and etc. at the same time. The roaches will not have "safe havens" and you can kill them all off, at least until they invade from another building.

In the meantime, get a bunch of roach hotels and put them all over. Spray around the perimeter of your apartment, and anywhere pipes and vents come in. It will not cure the problem but will slow them down.

Answer 4

Now as for this.. the landlord has a responsibility to keep your home liveable. so they have to get rid of the bugs... now let me tell you something about roaches... they are extermely hard to get rid of. you cant spray the apt. you have to bait. it's a slow process but the bait they eat leaves them sterile so they cant lay more eggs. If you spray all you do is scare them into the walls. then they come back when the spray is gone. the home needs to have nothing for the bugs to feed on no other food source or they will eat that instead of the bait. heres the trick now that you live there all of your furniture. clothes. personal items are infested as well. you can give the bugs to other people like if you stay with friends... so you need to make them aware of the problem. I would take pictures write down when you talk to management and what courses of action were taken. I would ask for a new place to live or to be put in a hotel while they were fixing the problem. roaches are NASTY a bomb could go off and those little suckers could still be alive. I have seen one get microwaved and live! aahhhhhhh!
the proper way to get rid of them is to have the unit empty
bait wait a weed vacumn up the dead ones... bait again repeat until gone. it is important to get rid of the dead ones because the alive ones will feed on the bodies instead of the bait.

I am so sorry this is a situation I wouldnt wish on my worst enemy

oh yeah, while doing this process all apliances need to be out of the home. they will pack into them by the droves... roaches like heat.

Answer 5

Are you sure you didn't bring along a few "hitchhikers" when you moved in?

(ok, I'm kidding......I'm a kidder).

Obviously, at some point you'll be moving out....perhaps sooner than later....
NOW, I'm NOT kidding...you DO need to worry about hitchhiking cucarachas as you vacate that place. If you don't carry along some live buggers, you'll certainly have some eggs neatly tucked away somewhere in your furniture and/or clothes.

What a pr*ick if your new landlord already knew about the infestation (of course he DID)....consider suing his a*ss....especially for damages you'll be incurring as you try to rid yourself of these nasty critters in the future.

I would get on the phone with your local Health Department tomorrow and at least see what they say and perhaps they will advise you or, even better, send out an inspector to confirm your complaint....good stuff for your Lawyer to have if you should get to that point.

Good luck!

Answer 6

I had a app. like that in Texas, north of houston, lol. Tiny german cockroaches.

You are a victim of - moving into a sub-par apartment. What you can do is complain, they'll come by and spray/it won't help. What helped me was going and getting a 8 pack of those nice looking black/clear with tainted water inside roach motels. They cleaned them up quite quick, then a can of industrial strength roach killer to spray under the dishwasher/under the sink. But those bugs where inside my couch, in my walls.. under things.. running across my computer...

Answer 7

Complain them again or get your money back! Then go to a pest control and call them or go to home depot,walmart, etc.. and buy this thing where you plug it on the wall and keeps cocoroaches away and rats bugs.. and stuff and you can get those things where you put on the ground and kills the bugs from from coming in. and spray every where, the walls up the ceiling and go out for the night.. and in your closets EVERYWHERE.then go out like i said and come home and the smell will be gone. hope everything works out.

Answer 8

i'm in Canada and your question is fairly long. here it fairly is comparatively elementary. there's a central authority act that covers the tenant. A hire is a criminal checklist and there are places that may assist you like criminal clinics. So, i'm hoping you realize the policies in Florida; are you able to locate a criminal health center for an opinion? If the circumstance of housing is an issue, is there something interior the policies/policies that conceal the region...and my advice is shop emotions out of it.

Answer 9

Go to Home Depot and buy "boric acid" put the power at electric outlets,corners, at moldings and everywhere, then do the dishes all time, put out garbage and keep it as cleas as you can and once is no food and with the boric acid they go to
you can do it twice per yr and no more cucarachas....

Answer 10

You could file a law suit. Was there some sort of a contract before you moved in?