If you rent a house, does your landlord have to....?

We are renting a home and our lease is up on April 30th 2008. We have noticed that we have some unwanted "visitors" mice! I called the landlord acouple of weeks ago about it and they said that they would have some traps brought over and they never did. We set up some of the "sticky" ones but they have chewed their way out of the traps. They are inside our cabinets and drawers in the kitchen. We already took out all of our dishes and have put them on the counter but the office still hasn't taken care of the problem. What should I do? I am disgusted at the thought of mice in our home and I heard one get out of the trap this morning....ewww...what can I do? Don't they have to do something?

Just to let everyone know, we have a very clean house and we have not left any food out. They haven't bothered our food. They are in our cabinets that we keep our CLEAN pota and pans in, along with drawers that had silverware and other CLEAN utensils. The only reason we even know that they are there is because we found their droppings in out drawers! They were all over our tupperware and our silverware! So thank you very much. Also we have put out traps ourselves but I do not feel the need to go out and spend a bunch of money on stuff for a house that I will be moving out of next month! I just want to know if they are supposed to do something or not.

I own houses that I rent out and it is required that your land lord take care of the problem. I would call the land lord and tell them you are going to hire someone to come take care of the problem (pest control) and it is required that he pay the bill.

Yes they have to take care of it !

yes they must take care of it

You should check over the contract that you have with them. It should be agreed on that who would have to do with this sort of thing.

they are supposed to take care of everything except your extras, like a cable bill or a phone bill. I would tell him you are not paying your rent until they do something about it.

I'm not sure if they have to do anything, I would think it is based on the rules in the area that you live in. However Decon works. The mice eat it and go outside looking for water and when they get it they die. (Outside)

Tell them that unless they take care of it you are calling exterminator and deducting the cost from your rent, and record all your conversations with them and get everything in writing in case legal action takes place in the future.

Yes, the landlord is required to do something about that. Tell him you will arrange for an exterminator and deduct it from your rent if he cannot get it taken care of. Give him 30 days. Send it in writing.

Check your lease and with rental laws in your state. Are you planning on renewing your lease? If you've already given notice that you're not staying, they're probably dragging their feet because you'll be out soon (this doesn't make it right, though).

Tip: Put some lavender essential oil and water in a spray bottle and spray all around your baseboards and cabinets. Mice hate lavender. You have to re-spray often, but it worked for us in our apartment.

Call the health department, I would move if I were you when the lease is up though because the renters will be pissed you called but it's their fault.

Well you could refuse to pay until they do their job. I've found it works most of the time. But it could lead to you losing your house. So just pester them until the finally bring the traps out.

Yes they should pay for the extermination, just make sure you are not to blame ( and get charged )by showing that you are keeping food in metal containers, and not leaving any food out.

hell yeah they have to take care of the issue. I had that problem once an my landlord acted the same way so i sued him and won! because he evicted me because i wouldnt pay rent bcause of the problem i told him i would pay when he fixed the issue!

Not all landlords act responsibly. Call again to complain. Tell the manager that you will wait two more days for a response and a positive move to take care of the infestation.
Then call the local health department. Tell them about your problem. Ask them for some backing and what you should do.

They have to do something. You've told them about the problem several times and tried to care of the problem yourself. If the conditions are considered unliveable, which it sounds that way, you should actually leave the house until the problem is taking care off and withhold the rent until the problem is taking care of. If you have to get a hotel I do believe the landlord will have to pay for those expenses.

Your landlord has to take care of it.

If I were you, I would buy some of those ultrasonic pest repellers. We had a major mouse problem in our house (we live in a timber). I bought a 5 pack of them (made by Victor) at our local hardware store and plugged them in each room. I haven't seen a mouse since. Then you can take them with you when you move.

http://www.amazon.com/Victor-Pest-Contro...

Call an exterminator! Or pay a visit to a Do-It-Yourself pest control store. I don't think you have to resort to traps alone to get rid of them.

Unfortunately it is not your landlords problem to discard of the mice. Do you have a cat? Decon crystals, put them behind the fridge, couch etc... It is a nasty little critter. Where you live to, like the country or in an older home. The weather is changing to so they are out and about. Maybe you can compromise with you landlord to rid the problem. I am sure he doesn't want mice in his house. Hope your mice are nice and decide to leave.

Why can't you take care of it yourself? I mean the landlord didn't bring the mice in. They come in when there is old food left around to eat. If a house is kept reasonably clean, no mice. Clean up your house, put some mouse traps out. Take responsibility.

Check the landlord tenant laws in your state. In my state, you can legally hire an exterminator and deduct that cost from your rent if your landlord does not respond to your requests to fix the problem. Its sounds like to me that its a building problem and not a unit problem....a cat would also be a good solution because mice and rats do not like the smell of cats (but they do like cat food so you have to be careful with the food).