Another Tenant vs. Management vs. Mice Question
May 19, 2018 11:34 AM Subscribe
I've got mice in my place, and I'm not satisfied with the way my apartment's management is addressing the issue. I'd like the hive mind to help me figure out whether my take on the situation and sequence of next steps are reasonable.
I'm in a month to month place in New York State (but not New York City), and I've caught three mice in the past three weeks coming out of what I think are radiator gaps.
My apartment manager hired an exterminator who put down a couple of bait stations, and she (my manager) has been cagey when it comes to questions of sealing up the access points and how long she thinks it will take for the problem to go away. The bait stations are in addition to the traps I set on opposite sides of the radiator. I caught the last mouse about 9 days after the exterminator put down the bait stations. The exterminator is scheduled to come back monthly, without anything to my knowledge scheduled before then.
My manager seems to want to leave the access points open, because this is the best known place in the building to make sure the mice come in contact with the bait. She's basically said that she's using this as a chance to address the building-wide issue. I think we're at a point where she's clearly prioritizing that over her obligations to me.
I can understand keeping things open for a little in order to give the mice a chance to take the bait, but it's been ten days since the exterminator came, and so far it looks like the plan is for mice to continue to enter my living space indefinitely.
My manager hasn't said this exactly, but she hasn't given me specifics about when/how she thinks the problem will be solved, and uses phrases like "hopefully soon," "it's being addressed.", and things like "it's a frustrating situation for both of us" that deflect away from taking responsibility. She's said she will talk to the owner about sealing things up, not that they will make a plan to do it, and I'm pretty sure she could make the call to do this without conferring.
To me, this looks like red flag behavior, and I'd like to move out ASAP unless there's a plan in place to seal up the radiator gaps. I could try sealing things up myself, but to me the point is that if doing this puts me in conflict with my management, I should focus on getting out of there.
My current lease expires at the end of June. We'd spoken of renewing it through October before this came up, with my manager saying that I'm good to keep renewing as long as I want.
My plan is:
- See if I can get agreement from the manager and owner to seal things off ASAP
- Failing that, see if I can get them to agree that I can move out at the end of this month without issue
- Failing that, take whatever legal measures I can to seal off the access points on my own, and see about recouping the costs of doing that and the June rent. Let them know that that will be the plan if they're not amenable to ending things at the end of May.
I can stay with family for a month if I need to find a new place quickly. It's not ideal, but I think it would be better than living in a place where they're basically refusing to address a known rodent problem.
Moving is no fun and it would be great to be able to look at this situation without having such a negative opinion of my manager's behavior, so I'd like to get people's thoughts on whether I'm viewing some aspect of this unreasonably or if there's a better approach than the one I have in mind.
I'm in a month to month place in New York State (but not New York City), and I've caught three mice in the past three weeks coming out of what I think are radiator gaps.
My apartment manager hired an exterminator who put down a couple of bait stations, and she (my manager) has been cagey when it comes to questions of sealing up the access points and how long she thinks it will take for the problem to go away. The bait stations are in addition to the traps I set on opposite sides of the radiator. I caught the last mouse about 9 days after the exterminator put down the bait stations. The exterminator is scheduled to come back monthly, without anything to my knowledge scheduled before then.
My manager seems to want to leave the access points open, because this is the best known place in the building to make sure the mice come in contact with the bait. She's basically said that she's using this as a chance to address the building-wide issue. I think we're at a point where she's clearly prioritizing that over her obligations to me.
I can understand keeping things open for a little in order to give the mice a chance to take the bait, but it's been ten days since the exterminator came, and so far it looks like the plan is for mice to continue to enter my living space indefinitely.
My manager hasn't said this exactly, but she hasn't given me specifics about when/how she thinks the problem will be solved, and uses phrases like "hopefully soon," "it's being addressed.", and things like "it's a frustrating situation for both of us" that deflect away from taking responsibility. She's said she will talk to the owner about sealing things up, not that they will make a plan to do it, and I'm pretty sure she could make the call to do this without conferring.
To me, this looks like red flag behavior, and I'd like to move out ASAP unless there's a plan in place to seal up the radiator gaps. I could try sealing things up myself, but to me the point is that if doing this puts me in conflict with my management, I should focus on getting out of there.
My current lease expires at the end of June. We'd spoken of renewing it through October before this came up, with my manager saying that I'm good to keep renewing as long as I want.
My plan is:
- See if I can get agreement from the manager and owner to seal things off ASAP
- Failing that, see if I can get them to agree that I can move out at the end of this month without issue
- Failing that, take whatever legal measures I can to seal off the access points on my own, and see about recouping the costs of doing that and the June rent. Let them know that that will be the plan if they're not amenable to ending things at the end of May.
I can stay with family for a month if I need to find a new place quickly. It's not ideal, but I think it would be better than living in a place where they're basically refusing to address a known rodent problem.
Moving is no fun and it would be great to be able to look at this situation without having such a negative opinion of my manager's behavior, so I'd like to get people's thoughts on whether I'm viewing some aspect of this unreasonably or if there's a better approach than the one I have in mind.
It is okay for you to think that mice in your place is unacceptable. It's also okay for your manager to not have an idea of when the mice are going to be gone. It's also okay for you to do what you need to do to keep mice out of your place. I don't see this as red flag, I see this as not-super-effective management.
Script "The bait stations have been down for nine days and mice are still getting in to my apartment. I am going to seal off the places I think they are getting into the apartment. Let me know if you'd like to have a professional come and do that otherwise I will be doing it in two days." and then go stuff steel wool into the holes to get the peace of mind.
If it were me I'd really see if I could just get to the end of my lease and bail because I find mice annoying but if the manager is attempting to mitigate you're going to get into a fight trying to break your lease over it (if they're fighty types, maybe they aren't). I am someone who lives in the country and mice are just sort of part of what you deal with here. I don't want to minimize your feelings--you feel what you feel--but I'd start with solving the actual issue (i.e. mice coming in) and worry less about the feelings and opinions of the people who are not solving your problem (i.e. management)
posted by jessamyn at 12:24 PM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
Script "The bait stations have been down for nine days and mice are still getting in to my apartment. I am going to seal off the places I think they are getting into the apartment. Let me know if you'd like to have a professional come and do that otherwise I will be doing it in two days." and then go stuff steel wool into the holes to get the peace of mind.
If it were me I'd really see if I could just get to the end of my lease and bail because I find mice annoying but if the manager is attempting to mitigate you're going to get into a fight trying to break your lease over it (if they're fighty types, maybe they aren't). I am someone who lives in the country and mice are just sort of part of what you deal with here. I don't want to minimize your feelings--you feel what you feel--but I'd start with solving the actual issue (i.e. mice coming in) and worry less about the feelings and opinions of the people who are not solving your problem (i.e. management)
posted by jessamyn at 12:24 PM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
FWIW, here in California, pest-proofing is a matter of law, which means the lack thereof is a breach of the implied warranty of habitability.
posted by rhizome at 2:01 PM on May 19, 2018
posted by rhizome at 2:01 PM on May 19, 2018
she (my manager) has been cagey when it comes to questions of sealing up the access points
Unless they would be sealed with steel, mice could still get through. Mice can and will chew through anything up to and including aluminum flashing in order to preserve their accustomed travel routes. Their teeth are constantly growing, so they don't care if they get worn down.
She's basically said that she's using this as a chance to address the building-wide issue.
This is the only way to address this issue. The mice don't live in your apartment, they live in your building. They live in the walls, in the air conditioning ducts, in other people's apartments, everywhere.
she hasn't given me specifics about when/how she thinks the problem will be solved, and uses phrases like "hopefully soon," "it's being addressed.", and things like "it's a frustrating situation for both of us"
Getting completely rid of mice in a multi-unit apartment is freakin' hard and does not happen quickly. It takes time and persistence. As long as they have a food and water source and a place to live (inside the walls) and are not being trapped and/or poisoned faster than they can reproduce (which is super fast; one female mouse can have up to 140 babies per year, only two of which need to survive in order to maintain population levels) they will continue to exist within the building.
Basically, to me it sounds like your property manager is trying to deal with the mouse problem but it's a really hard problem and you can't expect quick or perfect results. If you can't live with the level of mice that you are currently experiencing, moving out might genuinely be your best option.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 6:17 PM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
Unless they would be sealed with steel, mice could still get through. Mice can and will chew through anything up to and including aluminum flashing in order to preserve their accustomed travel routes. Their teeth are constantly growing, so they don't care if they get worn down.
She's basically said that she's using this as a chance to address the building-wide issue.
This is the only way to address this issue. The mice don't live in your apartment, they live in your building. They live in the walls, in the air conditioning ducts, in other people's apartments, everywhere.
she hasn't given me specifics about when/how she thinks the problem will be solved, and uses phrases like "hopefully soon," "it's being addressed.", and things like "it's a frustrating situation for both of us"
Getting completely rid of mice in a multi-unit apartment is freakin' hard and does not happen quickly. It takes time and persistence. As long as they have a food and water source and a place to live (inside the walls) and are not being trapped and/or poisoned faster than they can reproduce (which is super fast; one female mouse can have up to 140 babies per year, only two of which need to survive in order to maintain population levels) they will continue to exist within the building.
Basically, to me it sounds like your property manager is trying to deal with the mouse problem but it's a really hard problem and you can't expect quick or perfect results. If you can't live with the level of mice that you are currently experiencing, moving out might genuinely be your best option.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 6:17 PM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
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posted by quince at 11:46 AM on May 19, 2018 [7 favorites]