Can I break my lease over a pest problem?

Question

My fiance and I have lived in our apartment for almost 2 months now. Since we moved in we have had a roach problem. We keep telling the landlord, they sent their exterminator twice and it seems like the problem keeps getting worse.
I was told that the roach problem would be grounds to break a lease...is this true? and how would i go about doing it?
Thanks

I live in North Carolina

I am not a dirty person.
I keep a clean apartment,
so the pest problem is not my fault...

Also i have done every thing i can think of...
Bought roach baits, bought bug stopped and sprayed my apartment myself

See the thing is, I was not told of a pest problem before i moved in when we began moving in i had to clean the cabinets out because they were hundreds of dead roaches in them along with some live ones

Answer 1

tell the slum land lord that not only you going to break lease but report him

Answer 2

If your landlord is and has been addressing the roach issues, then you cannot break your lease because of it. They send their exterminator. Roaches are a hard insect to get rid of and a very lengthy one. It can takes months and months before all those lovely little eggs hatch and die.
To Break your lease over this you must provide 2 forms of evidence. 1. You notified your landlord of the problem and nothing has been done about it. 2. You flat out asked if there was a roach problem and were lied to and told there wasnt. (fraud). Now since you said you had the problem SINCE you moved in, it is possible (and I am not blaming you here) you DID bring them with you. They hide in newspaper, old rags, paper towel and boxes. Even the cleanest person can have roaches.
My advise is to call an exterminator an ask if there is some sort of gel or spray that you can use. If you have no pets (other than the roaches, ha ha) and no children, then go for the strongest approach possible. Educate yourself on the length of time it could take to get rid of them. Get the pamplets and information from the exterminator and show it to your landlord. Maybe his is a fly by nite extermnator. (cheap cheap). If after all that you get no results, then give them your 30 day notice and move.
It took me almost a year to get rid of them because of the low life tenant I inheirited when I bought the place. That and the generations of families of mice skeletons I found also.

Answer 3

This is years late but for future reference since so many people everywhere have pest problems: Unless the owner addresses the issue by having the whole building treated, the problem is not really addressed. Some property owners will answer a tenant request knowing that's all they need to do legally. If the problem persists and you want to get out of the lease, you have no basis because he has legal proof he tried to address the problem. Law will rule in his favor as a result.

It does take time to rid a building of roaches but all tenants must be on the same page and extermination must include the whole building, not just apartments. They breed fast anywhere. They will just leave one place and go to another in the same property and set up a new nest. They can survive almost anything.

I lived in a two story house that was changed to 2 apartments. Once the owner rented the 2nd floor to some people who had roaches. We had never had roaches before. I called him and he sent an exterminator who was like a roach doctor scientist. He came out twice and whatever he used, we never had roaches again and the stuff didn't even leave residue or odor. The people upstairs finally moved. I was shocked when the owner said he knew they had roaches in their former place but moved them in anyway. ???? - $$$

One thing the exterminator told me was that one of the products he was using stops the roaches from wanting to mate. So he sprayed first and then left this thing that attached to the lower part of a wall that supposedly kept them mating. Whatever he used we never had roaches again.

Tenants are not responsible for this kind of maintenance. It is the sole responsibility of the owner. Pests are a health risk. It should be reported to your local health dept. And make sure they create a report to put in their files. That becomes a public report to warn future tenants of previous problems and can be helpful in a court case against the owner.

Also, if the problem is reoccurring, you should report it to local city inspectors. That's what they get paid for. If owners are not made responsible, we might as well go live in tents in the woods. You pay the rent that helps him derive an income. He isn't paying you.

Apartments are a product that we pay for just as if we went to a store and purchased something or leased something---we expect it to work, or we take the faulty thing back and get our money or a replacement. An apartment is no different. Why do we act as if the rental property owners are doing us a favor?

Know your rights as a tenant in the city and state you live in and learn what their rights are as well. Rental property owners get away with entirely too much. And yes, there are undesirable tenants as well but that's another subject.

Answer 4

This actually could be grounds to be released from you lease as roaches are unsanitary. If you land lord can't or wont rectify the problem call the health department.

Answer 5

Pull your lease out and read it. If it has that clause, you're outta there. If not, go buy a few cans of Raid. I am sorry you have to live with those nasty things. If you have no reservations, and the problem isn't solved by your landlord, notify the Health Department. I bet he gets rid of them if the city says he has to do it.

Answer 6

No, it is not grounds upon which to break a lease, especially given that your landlord is taking measures to remediate the issue.

What you need to understand about a roach issue is that spraying alone will not rid the premises of these creatures. It takes YOUR cooperation as well. You need to insure that your premises are immaculately clean, and you also need to put out roach traps, at least one of which is designated to kill roach eggs.

You seem to think that you have no responsibility in this issue. Think again.