New apartment problems

[Restrat]

Hello BG,

I just moved into a new apartment this weekend, in Washington, DC. It's a small building, but there are a bynch of buildings in the area all run by the same office.

The problem is the apartment is infested with roaches. I've been killing 15+ a night, not just the occasional one. When I went to the building management, they handed me a memo they sent out to residents of the building around a month ago, stating they had a reoccurring pest issue, and it would be taken care of on November 30th, which obviously wasn't successful. They also told me that specific "problem units" including my apartment would have follow up exterminations tomorrow. I was never informed about any of this in any of my communications with the management when I was looking to rent, not even that I have to take all my food and dishes out of the apartment and be gone all day tomorrow. I guess they were just planning to surprise me tomorrow morning.

My question is, does this give me sufficient cause to get out of my lease? I feel cheated that I was sold an infested apartment when there were others without a problem, and that they just hoped they could fix it before I moved in instead of fixing it before renting it out. I also feel disgusted that I woke up with roaches in my bed. I've lived in four different apartments in the DC area and never had more than the occasional roach.

[kyod]

Best response: Consult a landlord/tenant lawyer or resource center.

If this was a known problem in your unit and the landlord failed to disclose that fact to you, it is definitely grounds for breaking a lease. If the infestation is disclosed on your lease (actual document), you're SOL. It sounds like your landlord knowingly rented a roach-infested apartment to you.

I would contact a legal professional for further action.

[Ksandra]

do you have renter's insurance? if so contact them and see what they say. also check your lease that you signed carefully. Sometimes they throw in addendums to the lease that you initial involving pests in the apartments. See if yours says anything.

[Restrat]

Yeah, there's nothing in the lease related to pests. I guess since I can't be inside tomorrow I can spend that time trying to find a lawyer to talk to

[Cooleko]

where/who in dc are you renting from?

[archibaldcrane]

If the follow up exterminations tomorrow take care of it, do you still want to get out of the lease?

[Restrat]

I do, I feel that it was very inappropriate for them not to disclose the issue, and can only wonder how any future problems would work with them. Even if the roaches are gone tomorrow, will they come back every two weeks or month? Will I be stuck with random evacuations for them to fumigate? It doesn't seem like any situation I would have agreed to knowingly beforehand.

[archibaldcrane]

As long as they continue to be responsive to eliminating the pests, I think you're probably SOL.

[Moss]

From my limited knowledge of lease law, I think archi is right, as long as they are acting to remedy whatever problems arise in a timely manner, you are still locked in the lease. If they are slow to act(after you give them fair and documented warning), you can pay for it yourself and deduct it from your rent.

[SwampdonkeyPLD]

From my limited knowledge of lease law, I think archi is right, as long as they are acting to remedy whatever problems arise in a timely manner, you are still locked in the lease. If they are slow to act(after you give them fair and documented warning), you can pay for it yourself and deduct it from your rent.

Not quite. You can merely withhold rent until the problem has been remedied. Then you have to pay up. Unless the state he's in is different.

[Moss]

I should have specified that what I said is the case in Louisiana. For example, if something important like your door lock is broken, you can have it repaired yourself immediately and either send the bill to your landlord or withhold that portion of the rent.

Then again, Louisiana law can be unique and/or archaic at times so it probably isn't the best to offer for comparison >.>

[kyod]

Landlord/tenant laws vary wildly state to state and municipality to municipality. In Chicago, for example, if the landlord fails to disclose a significant problem with the apartment (that he knows about before you signed your lease), you are able to have your lease broken.

I think the key issue most people are missing is the problem didn't happen in the unit after the tenant moved in. Roaches had been a problem in the unit and building prior to the lease being signed. Leases have a line the landlord signs saying he/she disclosed all problems associated with the unit (most lease agreements have an area for the landlord to write this) and agrees to fix them by a specified date. Again, I don't know the OPs landlord/tenant laws so I can't refer to DC city code. If this was in Chicago, the tenant would easily be able to get out of the lease.

Now if the unit had no reported roach issue that the landlord knew about prior to the tenant moving in, the OP would be SOL for breaking his lease as long as the landlord acted to fix the problem. The same as if the landlord disclosed this problem in the lease.

If I rented a place and found out it had a known roach problem which wasn't disclosed to me, you can bet I'd definitely break my lease. If the landlord isn't willing to disclose this to you at the time of lease signing what the hell else hasn't he told you?

If you really want to get out of your lease, consult a lawyer related to landlord/tenant issues (again, a lot of cities have this as a service for free).

[Nephlite]

I'm from D.C. and currently work for DCMPD. Here's how you make it work:

Take your story to Fox 5 news.

Seriously, people go to them and BAM! Shit happens.

On a more serious note:

If the problem existed before you moved in, and the problem was not disclosed to you at the time of the lease signing, by law you can opt out of rent until the situation is resolved or you can break the lease under "Good tenant/Good landlord" laws in D.C. and ask for full reimbursement of your security deposit. I'll give you the exact specific language of the law when I can (buried in one of my old academy books) but unsafe/unsanitary living conditions are a huge problem in D.C. (especially in the public housing sector), and can be reported to the Health Inspectors office which is your fuel to break your lease. I'll give you the specifics when I can.

[Restrat]

Thanks for that information, I think I found what you mentioned:

http://users.erols.com/anc2e/DCMR/Title14.html#400

"No person shall rent or offer to rent any habitation, or the furnishings of a habitation, unless the habitation and its furnishings are in a clean, safe, and sanitary condition, in repair, and free from rodents or vermin."


Is that what you meant? I can bring that information to them tomorrow, which should at least let them know I'm serious about this.

[Kohan]

First of all, you should contact your local health department. Regardless of state, you should be able to make a report (don't make it anonymous, as you want them to come to your apartment), after which they should come and investigate within a matter of days. Don't take steps to kill off the vermin yourself; instead, keep your place as clean as possible so it's obvious you're not responsible.

As an aside, roaches can live off of anything, even wood chips, so the idea of their only infesting places with slobs is a complete myth -- slumlords sometimes try to blame their presence on the tenants for being "dirty," so if this ever happens to you, don't forget that fact.

After contacting the health department, you'll want to start recording things in writing, so let me ask you this: is the property owned by a management company, or an individual who is not the on-site manager?

If it is, what you need to do before you proceed any further (beyond calling the health department, which you should do right away, but you don't need to wait for them) is to send a letter, via Certified Mail with Return Receipt, to the management company/owner and the on-site manager's address. If there's only one person whom you must contact, send the letter to them. In either case, you'll want to make the original (or two originals, if needed), sign it/them, and make a photocopy for yourself (which you should keep in a safe place, along with the Certified Mail and Return Receipt paperwork).

The letter itself should document what you are experiencing in a professional, friendly manner (such as, "since moving in, I've noticed a large amount of cockroaches and other vermin in my residence; the on-site manager has tried to exterminate them, but as of yet to no avail, and I am concerned"). You want to kindly request that the management company/owner arrange for a fumigation, as this appears necessary, and I assure you, it is. If they have a building/complex-wide issue, tent fumigation is what they need to do. Nothing else will kill the infestation, no matter what they tell you.

Do not conduct these discussions verbally without a paper trail. If this goes anywhere like small claims court, you are going to need to be able to defend yourself (you won't have a lawyer defending you there). Send everything Certified Mail with Return Receipt.

They're going to know you mean business, but you should not be afraid of that. This is how it's supposed to work, how you can protect yourself, and if ultimately necessary, how you can get out of your lease.

[Valisk]

As long as they continue to be responsive to eliminating the pests, I think you're probably SOL.

If those measures aren't working and presenting a safety risk, I think he has evidence of negligence because the apartment complex didn't act in good faith when selling him the apartment. I would consult the landlord but they'll probably give you the run around and make it seem like there's nothing you can do so they can keep your business. If the landlord doesn't shed any light on the situation, you could always raid a local law office and weigh your options with them as many have already stated.

Edit: Be sure to file a formal complaint when going to see the landlord.

[Cooleko]

where/who in dc are you renting from?

I'd still like to know where you are at because I currently rent in DC and am about to change places. Would like to avoid your current residence.