Rats in rental property!

[adore.clothing]

Hi everyone

I have a question I'd like to ask, to get an opinion on whether I'm just overeacting or if I have a valid reason to break my lease.

I've been in my current rental property for 2 years.  Since I moved in there have been problems with rodents in the roof.  The property manager has sent pest controllers around regularly who have been putting bait boxes around the property but no one has ever looked for entry points or done anything to help stop the rats from getting into the roof.

Today I woke up to find the kitchen literally crawling with maggots.  Seriously, hundreds of the things on the floor and the kitchen bench.  I managed to clean it up whilst running to the bathroom to vomit several times.  Then I called the property manager and she arranged for the pest man to come and remove the dead rodent from the roof space and spray the maggots up in the roof.  The bugs are still falling from the gaps around the edges of the ceiling but not nearly as many as I found this morning.

The kitchen is now empty, I've pulled everything out and once I'm sure no more maggots will fall out of the ceiling then I can finish disinfecting every surface.  Every time I go in there I want to vomit as I find another maggot fallen out of the ceiling.

The problem with the rats will just keep happening, so I'm pondering breaking my lease early to just get out of this house.  My lease expires in 3 months time.  I have a break fee clause in my lease and I would be more than happy to pay it, but I just don't know if I'm overeacting and should just get over it.   I'm also concerned that the rats may have chewed the wiring in the ceiling, I asked about this but no one seems too bothered by it.  I'm very anxious and am considering paying an electrician myself to come and check.  I've read that many unexplained house fires were likely caused by animals chewing wiring in the roof.  This scares me.

Do you think this is a valid reason to break the lease early?  (Yes you can tell me to get over it if you think I should!!)  What would you do in my situation?

[jean2579]

adore, you don't say which State you are in. However I think that in every State you would have aFair Trading Department, Call them and ask to speak with someone regarding rental matters. They will put you through to the correct  section.

I was an agent in NSW for a very long time and from experience I believe that you have grounds to terminate your lease,  I would seriously consider doing this on health and safety grounds if nothing else.

I would also suggest that today you call the local Council and ask to speak with the Health Inspector, tell them what has happened and ask if they can issue an order on the Landlord through the Agent to clean up this mess once and for all.

It is really not rocket science. There will be very obvious entry points and tossing a few baits around will not fix the matter.

Good luck and please come back and let us know how you went.

[kengillard]

throw up!!

seriously.    if you can afford it...break the lease....not nice to live with at all.

[adore.clothing]

Sorry, I forgot to mention I'm in NSW.    I tried calling one of the tenants service lines but can't get through. 

[jean2579]

adore, don't bother, they have no power. You need the following:

1.Council Health Department FAST! Ask for an inspector to come out to investigate.

2. Rental Tenancy Tribunal advice

3. Advise the agent that you plan to take immediate action through the Real Estate Services Section of the Dept of Fair Trading immediately and that you have notified the Council Health Officer.

4. It is not your responsibility to pay for any remedial work to fix this problem.

Go to the website for the Department of Fair Trading and there is a section there for Tenants rights and it will have all of the phone numbers you will need.

[jean2579]

adore, phone numbeer for Fair Trading is 13 32 20 they are there until 5.00pm

[***super_nova***]

 i agree with jean no way would I pay to get out of my lease under these circumstances.  Contact the agent?owner again and tell them that as they failed to remedy the health hazard problem and you are concerned that the rats may have now caused a fire hazard (you do have a smoke alarms in good order, don't you) you will be leaving and do not expect to pay whatever it is, "re-letting" fee?

The problem is that there is probably somebody in your area who has poultry or birds, the seeds attract rats and they then look for places to settle in and breed = your roof, and it is not easy to block off, they squeese in very small gaps.  I have the same problem; it started when I and my neighbor we both got couple of hens; soon we both realised that hens means rats, and that was it.  It was OK while I had a cat the rats would eat through plastic tubs of chook food, but did not come into the house.  But when she died, the rodents were coming in the kitchen, even that I keep everything in glass containers and there is absolutely nothing for them to eat.  After huge unsuccessful campaign trapping and baiting I got a new cat, and that was the end of finding any signs inside, but they are still around.  I am sure a new neighbor who has number of aviaries is the cause.    But as we all own the houses, it is up to us to deal with them.

[adore.clothing]

Thanks very much for your posts, I'll try and make some phone calls this afternoon.

[adore.clothing]

It seems there is a bit of a disagreement about what constitutes the property being habitable in terms of health, Fair Trading said the owner is taking preventative measures to keep the rats out by baiting outside and one instance of a dead rodent may not be grounds to break the lease without penalty, especially as the Property Manager arranged for it's removal immediately after I called..  They said it would be a different story of course if the rats were inside the house.  They said it doesn't sound like an 'infestation'.

Either way, I don't mind paying a break lease fee so I think I will start my new property search and see what I can find.  I just don't want to live here now, it feels so unclean.

[i-once-was-bump]

I don't have a clue about leases or anything but I do feel for you, it must have been horrible to have that happen to your kitchen.

I do hope you get out soon and into somewhere much nicer and cleaner.