Cockroaches and doors wide open for hours at night?

Question

I rented a house in the town where I'm moving (an hour away) yesterday afternoon. I had seen it briefly twice two days in a row (both times before the power was on). It looked old but fine the first day, and was right downtown. When I called and said I wanted it, the landlord's helper met me at the house. I saw a couple of dying cockroaches on the counter. (It looked as if they had just sprayed.) I told the landlord "I saw some cockroaches," and he told me that his people were going out to spray (again?). I had already rented a moving van that was loaded, so I signed the month to month rental and paid them first and security, then unloaded my things. The landlord is very nice and walked me over to city hall, where I paid to have the utilities turned on..

I took another van load over this morning. They had not only sprayed but set off several "bombs" in the kitchen. I noticed several dead roaches on the kitchen floor, one on the bathroom floor, and one crawled out from under the front door mat on the porch. Still, I was not alarmed (they seemed to be running away or dying). The landlord offered for one of his people to meet the utilities person to make sure everything in the house was turned on at 3:30 pm; he would also move out some beds that were left by the previous tenant.

I decided to make a late haul and got up there about 8:30 pm tonight. I arrived to find the front door and its storm door wide open, the back door wide open (NOT just unlocked, propped open), several lights on in the house, with the central AC running full blast. As I walked in the kitchen, a huge roach came scurrying across the counter; two were crawling on the floor and wall. The fridge was propped wide open and running, and two large live roaches were inside.

I was there about half an hour. No one came by to close and lock the doors, and I presume they wouldn't have. Meanwhile, my belongings (I hope they are all still there) are sitting there in the livingroom. I just left without unloading my next load of things, for obvious reasons. The landlord knows that (especially as a single woman) I am concerned about the security of the house, as I asked him several questions about who would have keys to the house, safety of the neighborhood, etc.

What would you do at this point if you were me?

Answer 1

To answer the question.....what would i do?

From the sound of things I would of passed on renting the house. It was not properly cleaned up after being bombed twice. Lots of chemicals and dead roaches....I am shocked the beds left behind had not been removed before the home was shown for rental......I would of removed all of my belongings and left double checking for roaches on my items....it just sounds pretty bad from the start and got worse. like u said you already had got a rental truck and all of that good stuff. very difficult to say what to do there.

This is just what I would of done. It's not meant to disrespect or knock you down for your choices and reasons with all due respect to why you made your choices.....I too would of been alarmed by the wide open home that is very perplexing and a huge red flag and I would of been just as worried about it being married with kids or single. wow hun that is spooky. you have my respect and sympathy on all of this.

can you request the locks be changed and the home to be properly cleaned by a professional agency.....maybe it's too late. i hope there is some way to salvage the rental agreement. if not i hope you get your money back in full.

very sorry to read all of this. i hope something worked out in your favor hun i really do. take care and good luck.

Answer 2

I'm concerned about all the spraying and bombing that was done.  Perhaps that was why fridge and doors were left open (because it would have been harmful to you to stay in the closed up house after spraying and bombing.  It may have been a lack of communication between landlord and people who attempted to get rid of the pests.  I don't blame you for being upset about the lack of security.  Do discuss this at length with him and also get assurance the cockroaches are eliminated; but make some arrangements it is not done at your health risk, or security risk.  Let him know (in a kind, but firm way) what your expectations are, and give him your suggestions what he can do to remedy it.  Most people want to please if they know what to do.  Sometimes problems can't be fixed easily or promptly.  But if an immediate attempt is not made, find out what legal recourse you have.  Definitely talk to the loandlord as soon as possible.  

Answer 3

Unfortunately the only thing you can do at this point is demand a changeof the locks because your security has been threatened.