I need help. Does anyone have any ideas about this? Who do I contact? Can I be held accountable?
The next night I was outside on the steps of my front door using my cell phone when I heard Toby making a fess inside the apartment When I opened the door Toby came up to me with a dead rat in his mouth. I immediately called the office and left a message asking what was going to be done about this and when. I wrapped the rat up in a plastic bag and froze it. There's no telling what diseases it might have transferred to my dog and I wanted to keep it for testing, if need be.
It wasn't until I took the rat into the office on Monday that I heard anything from management, who stated that they were aware of the problem and was looking into having "someone" put traps down under the house. They had "meant" to contact me about it.
I have since found out that the people next to me are also having a problem with vermin in their apartment. They have observed mice in different parts of the apartment for over a week now and yesterday I found out they have now found a live rat in their apartment on one occasions and a bloody dead rat on another. They did not keep the rats like I did, but there are photos.
Also one of my neighbors in the next building over has heard vermin in the walls of his apartment. It would stop when he pounded on the wall, but start back up again within ten minutes. This is not a random happening, this is an infestation.
Local management has known about this for well over two weeks now and yet nothing has been done about it, but every time any of us talk to them about it it's "we're looking into it" and "we're taking bids". How long do we have to wait? I looked up Florida statutes 83.56 which states;
(1) If the landlord materially fails to comply with s. 83.51(1) or material provisions of the rental agreement within 7 days after delivery of notice by the tenant specifying the noncompliance by reason thereof, the tenant may terminate the rental agreement.
The local management has been aware of the vermin issue since 3/12/08 and has done nothing about this issue that any of us are aware of, other then coming into the apartment to look for droppings on 3/21/08. Last night 3/25 I was using the bathroom and heard what sounded like something in the tub, but it was actually under it.
So I had decided to leave. I'm trying to follow the statute. I've sent them letters of grievances (there's more than just the rat). I went over there to give her the Letter of Termination of Lease and took along an acknowledgement receipt just like the statute says to do.
The acting manager, Milagros Gonzales refused to sign the acknowledgement that she got the letter, so I called my co-worker Karen Cartwright and made her tell Karen that she was refusing to sign it. I had signed, notarized statement from 4 different apartments talking about their rodent issues. Photos of my rat, the rats next door, rat poop, and mice trying to get into my apartment. She refused to take any of the signed forms or photos and then she told me they're not going to let me break my lease over the fact that I had a single rat in my apartment. How many does it take? She kept going on about the lease as if the lease superseded Florida law.
She then told me I had failed to give her notice that I was moving out. It was on the acknowledgement letter she refused to sign. I told her that I would type something up for her right away.
I typed it up, signed it and gave it to her. She brought it back to me because it said I was moving out today. (I had cut and pasted it), I fixed it, went to give it back to her and she had locked up the office so I couldn't give it to her. So I slipped it through the door. I have since faxed it to the office at 239-997-5162; I did receive a fax receipt saying that their machine received it. I requested her to fax me back.
So I left work early so that I could hand it to her. I asked her if she had gotten my fax, she told me she had. When I asked her why she didn't fax me back she just stood there looking at me. And that's the whole attitude of indifference. It's always "we're looking into it".
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3 comments:
You should contact the Housing Commission in your area and file a formal complaint with them. In reference to terminating your lease, you have to serve them by service processor or by certified mail that you are terminating your least in accordance with the statute that you quoted. She is correct in saying that you cannot terminate your lease based on one rat in your apartment, but you have proof that there is many more than one throughout the building and complex, so you have legal precedent for termination. You will have to give more than one day notice for termination tho. Check with the Housing Commission on how many days notice you have to give and state the number of days in your notice. Also you cannot be in arrears on your rent or this will be viewed as an attempt to avoid paying rent. Hope this helps.
How horrible. I've lived with rats and mice when I worked for the Park Service, but that was to be expected as we lived in remote cabins. Had one once pee in my boots and I still can't get the smell out of them. Good luck with your battle. You have every justification to leave for your health.
Dagny McKinley
www.onnotextiles.com
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