What is are a tenant's rights regarding a roach infestation?
Question Details:
My GF checked the place before we signed the lease there were no roaches. The third day they appeared. Complete infestation. GF is pregnant and has a lung problem. I didn't move anything in the apartment at all. The refrigerator was in there and had dead roaches, shells, eggs under it. I had 2 exterminators come out, used bait traps and fogged twice. The roaches are still there. They are either big ones or baby ones crawling. And they are the brown ones. I just signed the lease a week ago is there anything that I can do?
Every lease comes with an "implied warranty of habitability," which is a condition added to it that the place must be inhabitable--clean and hygeinic. While the place does not need to be pristine, a severe roach infestation may qualify as violating it. Landlords generally are responsible for extermination and pest control. Once you have made sure the premises--the parts you control--are completely clean and so you're not causing the problem, ask you landlord to deal with it. If he won't, consult with an attorney--you may be able to bring a lawsuit to force him to deal with it. Another option might be to contract the housing or health department and report the matter, as it may be a code violation that would take action on--that is slightly risky though, since if the place is sufficiently bad, it could theoretically be declared uninhabitable and you'd have to move it.
