Renting + Rats

Thraxen

I have rats. Big ones. I have already bludgeoned one myself and the other is right above me. I am paying for poison but it is expensive. I have tried to find where they are coming in, but whole areas of the back section of the house are inaccessible due to something to do with the neighbours and the central heating box.

Should the landlady be dealing with this? I can't take it anymore. I keep my house clean, I have blocked them coming into the kitchen, I bleach the tops every day and moved the food into another room which is sealed shut. No way in at all.

I am in tears right now because it is making a racket above me in the ceiling. What can I do? What can I get the land lady to do?

Sir Arthur Daley

Your land lady has to sort this out, she will have to employ the likes of Rentokil for example.

h2005

Move out **** living like that.

Thraxen

WikiHow wrote: »

Your land lady has to sort this out, she will have to employ the likes of Rentokil for example.

I have been reading up and most examples like this I have read suggest she does not have to do anything? Does she absolutely have to do it? I just want to make sure in case she says no.

Sir Arthur Daley

Thraxen wrote: »

I have been reading up and most examples like this I have read suggest she does not have to do anything? Does she absolutely have to do it? I just want to make sure in case she says no.

Get tough with her, you cant be living with rats, it is a health risk.

Thraxen

h2005 wrote: »

Move out **** living like that.

Trust me! I want to leave I really really really want to leave. I check daft plus so many other sites but the problem is in this area there is very few places to rent below €500. My partner has a child and work, I need to stay in this area. For now I have to stay here. I have seen one place come up nearby and I will being going for a viewing. I cannot take it here, I have never had to deal with an infestation like this (I know only 2 but still to me that is awful!!)

Ken.

I'm sorry I know its a serious situation your in but I can't help it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRgU_VTlCQg

househero

She has to fix it. If she refuses to, complain to your td about your uninhabitable flat.

Sir Arthur Daley

househero wrote: »

complain to your td about your uninhabitable flat.

Alot they will do :rolleyes:

Thraxen

ken wrote: »

I'm sorry I know its a serious situation your in but I can't help it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRgU_VTlCQg

Hey man thank you! Made me smile needed it after the last few weeks!!

househero wrote: »

She has to fix it. If she refuses to, complain to your td about your uninhabitable flat.

WikiHow wrote: »

Alot they will do :rolleyes:

Yeah was just going to say they will do nothing. Trust me hun I have had very bad dealings with the TD in my area. Those TD's are simply there to line their own pockets.

Sir Arthur Daley

Rats are becoming a serious issue everywhere, this is due to the good summer in 2013, if your landlady is any decent skin she will sort this out, if she doesn't she must not care about her property and then i feel you must start looking for accommodation else where.

Thraxen

WikiHow wrote: »

Rats are becoming a serious issue everywhere, this is due to the good summer in 2013, if your landlady is any decent skin she will sort this out, if she doesn't she must not care about her property and then i feel you must start looking for accommodation else where.

Ah this house is a joke though, you cannot get into the attic. The kitchen ceiling is very high and that is only held up by two sticks that pull on the roof joists. The water tank is in the attic but on the far side of it so you cannot even try and reach. Now it gets better, the water tanks are held up by a door. Yes a door. It is on it's side resting between the eves with two bits of timber nailed to the joists.

Then you have the mold. Oh boy do we have mold. She scrubbed and painted some areas of the house. Yeah 2 days later the mold grew back. There is water on the windows, not a lil bit of condensation but so much that it could fill half a cup (on each panel!). Oh and there is so much water that the front door had mushrooms on it. I mean on the inside. Bottom of the window pain gets damp due to the water and small lil mushrooms started to grow there. (Btw I clean the windows each week so I really do not get how they grew there!)

I know I know, move. I will do. Thank you all for the help though and letting vent a lil there. Just feel so frustrated with everything. Since my partners father died here mid 2013 the house is falling apart. It wasn't this bad before.

ted1

househero wrote: »

She has to fix it. If she refuses to, complain to your td about your uninhabitable flat.

Can you show us where in the law she has to deal with it?
It's not clear cut. As the landlord doesn't live there he can't control how the house is kept. For all we know the house mightn't be kept clean, there could be food etc left lying around.


Personally as a landlord I have called peat control 2 times over the years. On e for rats ms once for mice. This kept the tenant happy and she has stayed. I did this to keep her not because I was obliged.

The company I used was complete pest control, about 120 for 3 or 4 visits. They ensure there gone. I can write this off against my tax bill.

The_Morrigan

OP from your description of the house I would be contacting the local authority so they could inspect the place.
It doesn't sound structurally safe.

Mrs OBumble

OP, have you actually reported this to the landlady? What did she say?

jelenka

I was just about to suggest that you contact local authorities and prtb , the conditions you are describing are just horrible . Have you got a contract and is the ll registered with prtb? Im probably wrong but I always thought if you got rats on the property you should contact relevant health safety authority . Feel sorry for you op, I hope you can get it sorted if moving is not an option at the moment . Good luck .

Thraxen

I've not contacted her yet, I have to leave that to my partner. He does not like to rock the boat so to speak.
I have contact an estate agent about a rental property that just came up, it has a viewing in 2 weeks but they have offered a private viewing for this weekend. I will have to talk to my partner about it as moving is a big thing, especially with his shift work.
I think we will go to the viewing and take a look, if we can get the place then we will but if not we will contact the land lady on Monday.
She is with PRTB thankfully!

I will post later as my partners just home from work!

Moonbeam

If the rats are not your fault then she has to deal with the situation.
The house does not sound habitable at all.
Do you rent a room or the whole house? Are you prtb registered?

_Kaiser_

Thraxen wrote: »

I've not contacted her yet, I have to leave that to my partner. He does not like to rock the boat so to speak.
I have contact an estate agent about a rental property that just came up, it has a viewing in 2 weeks but they have offered a private viewing for this weekend. I will have to talk to my partner about it as moving is a big thing, especially with his shift work.
I think we will go to the viewing and take a look, if we can get the place then we will but if not we will contact the land lady on Monday.
She is with PRTB thankfully!

I will post later as my partners just home from work!

You will need to inform the landlord first anyway either way - you can't just move out, especially not if you plan to get your deposit back.

If the landlord refuses to do anything or it drags on then I'd be serving notice. I'd be giving them no more than a week to sort it - and the rest of the issues you mention.
If it were me I'd also be thinking of moving out for that week as well and charging them the hotel bill given their previous form on repairs.. but that's me.

(You will no doubt get the "legal position" posted here too but if the landlord is in breach of their obligations as it is, it's highly unlikely they'll be worried about letters from the PRTB. Personally I'd just move out at that point but that IS just me though - I wouldn't be paying to live in a place like that and especially not with a child in the house as well)

As for leaving it to your partner.. why? Just call the landlord yourself ASAP .. like now!

Mrs OBumble

Thraxen wrote: »

I've not contacted her yet, I have to leave that to my partner. He does not like to rock the boat so to speak.
...
I will post later as my partners just home from work!

OP, if your partner is controlling your life in this way, you may like to contact Women's Aid. Remember that abuse can be emotional, not only physical: http://www.womensaid.ie/

There is no way that you should be living in a house like that. The landlord should have been contacted as soon as the problem arose.

McDook

If I saw a rat in my house I wouldnt wait for my landlord to decide if it was their fault or not. Maybe I let them in leaving the door open.
But I wouldnt wait anyway, I would be straight on the phone to rentokill.
Why dont you just sort it out yourself and be done with it.

The house sounds like a dump though.

Thraxen

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

You will need to inform the landlord first anyway either way - you can't just move out, especially not if you plan to get your deposit back.

I would never have just moved out. Well actually I would have but I would have given 30 days notice and paid for that time. I am a woman of my word and I hold by never doing bad business with anyone.

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

OP, if your partner is controlling your life in this way, you may like to contact Women's Aid. Remember that abuse can be emotional, not only physical: http://www.womensaid.ie/

There is no way that you should be living in a house like that. The landlord should have been contacted as soon as the problem arose.

Okay first off how dare you even assume that my partner is like that. I moved in 5 months ago, his name is on the lease and it is not my place to start calling the landlord. He is an extremely compassionate man who is more caring about others than many could conceive. I understand you are trying to help women however simply saying I will let him do it, is my decision and not his CONTROL over me.

McDook wrote: »

If I saw a rat in my house I wouldnt wait for my landlord to decide if it was their fault or not. Maybe I let them in leaving the door open.
But I wouldnt wait anyway, I would be straight on the phone to rentokill.
Why dont you just sort it out yourself and be done with it.

The house sounds like a dump though.

Oh hun don't get me wrong, I have StormForce poison out straight away, traps everywhere!! I have already bludgeon one to death and the other I am happily able to report is dead too!! I have em both dead with that gorgeous poison outside!

meoklmrk91

Contact your landlady, if she doesn't deal with it pack your bags and feck off, and make sure you make a complaint to the PRTB while you're at it.

Also I wouldn't be using poison, traps, yes, poison no. If they feck off into the wall cavity or under the floor boards to die after eating it you will have to deal with the smell. It's unsanitary and the LL should be dealing with it.

Thraxen

Kay I want to set the record straight as some have misinterpreted my words.
The rats, 2 of them in total were an issue once in my kitchen. However I blocked the hole where they came through, it was cause because the landlady replaced the old cooker but the new one is an inch thinner.
As soon as I saw vermin my da came up with StormForce poison, he kindly gave me a bunch which we set up all outside. The lil bastards have been eating it like a feast. I caught one which was woozy and dispatched of it myself. The other one today was found dead (yippy!!!). I believe there was only ever two in the place. Tomorrow I will be round to the neighbours to check and see if the end of the house (in their garden) has any holes. If there is some the cement and glass will be quickly stuffed in it. If however I cannot find the hole I will ask my partner (he is the name on the lease) to call and ask if she can help out. I would like to state my partner is loving and supportive. I do not need Women's Aid!! This man on the day I found his father dead raced home in shock but the first thing after seeing his father he asked me if I was okay. On the most devastating day he still remembered that I was hurting too.
My house is clean, I loath dirt and grime. I make sure that all food is kept in the cupboards and the counters must be cleaned as soon as you are done with them (that one annoys him lol).
My partners son comes over each weekend with a sleep over each month. I make sure this place is extra clean when he is here and if I even thought for a second that vermin could get into the actual house I would not have him over, I would instead ask my partner to have a sleep over at his mothers.
The rats are confined to the ceiling area only, they used to come down behind the airing cupboard and behind counters to the cooker but since I found that out it has been blocked and they will never get through.

I will not be moving yet as my partners parents may be investing in a house which would need to be renovated and then rented to us for a low amount. I do not want to get signed to a new agreement for a year and then have to break it. For now I am good, I will be working on getting some issues fixed however.

Anyway they are all dead!! I will be investing, or I may ask the land lady to help out in getting a big tub of StormForce poison. I want to mention the name as it is brilliant, it is doughnut shaped and this means you can tie it on with wire to something. That way they cannot just run off and store it in their den. They have to actually eat it and once they do they are dead. My da says place a sauce(container) near the poison as they crave the water so badly but it will kill them faster hehe!

Thank you all for the help!

Thraxen

meoklmrk91 wrote: »

Contact your landlady, if she doesn't deal with it pack your bags and feck off, and make sure you make a complaint to the PRTB while you're at it.

Also I wouldn't be using poison, traps, yes, poison no. If they feck off into the wall cavity or under the floor boards to die after eating it you will have to deal with the smell. It's unsanitary and the LL should be dealing with it.

Ah but see they are unable to get into the house, they are in the ceiling. No possible way to actually put traps into those areas.

meoklmrk91

Thraxen wrote: »

Ah but see they are unable to get into the house, they are in the ceiling. No possible way to actually put traps into those areas.

I really wouldn't be so sure, rats are crafty buggers and they can fit through any holes that their head can fit in through, and I can assure you from experience that if there isn't one then they will make one for themselves. I have seen rats eat through plaster board, wood, Lino etc. Don't underestimate them. I'm not trying to creep you out but I think you should know what you are dealing with.

I'm sure that you are very clean, I've seen it happen to the cleanest houses. Often infestations come from neighbours, rats coming through adjoined houses from a house where someone is leaving rubbish out the back or something like that.

the_syco

Thraxen wrote: »

The water tank is in the attic but on the far side of it so you cannot even try and reach.

Is it covered? Esp with rats, as you can die from rat pee in the water (and the symptoms will be only flu-like symptoms!).

runawaybishop

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

OP, if your partner is controlling your life in this way, you may like to contact Women's Aid. Remember that abuse can be emotional, not only physical: http://www.womensaid.ie/
.

Jesus ****ing wept.

Mrs OBumble

runawaybishop wrote: »

Jesus ****ing wept.

All those who think it's ok that this woman's partner has not already contacted the landlord re the rat problem, hands up.

If the landlord is not informed, they cannot fix the problem.

I don't care whose name is on the lease, if one partner is saying "ahh sure'n they're only rats, suck it up", that's not OK behaviour in my book.

Sir Arthur Daley

I dont know any human being that could live with rats anyway.

The_Conductor

The general manner in which this is dealt with (and it does occur quite a bit)- is the Landlord organises to erradicate the problem (by whatever means necessary). If it can be shown that the issue arose through negligence on the part of the tenant- it is up to the tenant to pay for whatever course of action is taken by the landlord. Negligence can be not taking reasonable precautions- we are overrun with rats after the summer we had- and it is reasonable to expect to have to take precautions.

Rats will burrow through masonry- if/when you find where they have made their holes- you really need to stuff them with steel wool.

At this point- a call to Rentokill (or similar) is warranted.

Resolve the problem- argue over who is to pay for it, later.