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love god first · Mar 12, 2007, 05:10 PM

My boy friend and I want to break our lease we are infested with mice we have bed bugs and our gas bill for this month was over 500.00 we keep our heat on 68 degrees even the gas company sd something is wrong.We pay 825.00 monthly our apartment isn't that big our landlord refuses to reason with us we only been here 3 months.

nfacciolo · Mar 12, 2007, 05:29 PM

Call the city where you live and ask for the Codes Department, then call the Health Department and tell your story to both. Your landlord must provide a healthy environment to retain his/her certificate of occupancy. Move out let them take you to court, tell your story, with proof to the judge. Get an exterminator to give you an estimate in writing to prove you have these problems.

ballengerb1 · Mar 12, 2007, 05:31 PM

You might want to call the health department but none of these issues will release you from a lease. They are all fixable, granted your landlord does seem to want to fix them. Is your apartment heated by its own furnace or how?

ScottGem · Mar 12, 2007, 05:33 PM

I agree with nfacciolo. The first thing is to get proof that the infestations exist and present a health hazard. A landlord is required to provide a habitable environment.

As for the gas bill, that's not the landlord's issue unless he has illegally tapped your line into someone else. Have the gas company come out and check the meter.

Once you can provide proof of the conditions, give the landlord formal notice that he has 1 week to fix the conditions. If they are not fixed, move and let them take you to court.

landlord advocate · Mar 14, 2007, 04:36 PM

Before you start moving out and end up with a civil action on your credit report, let's take each item individually.

Calling and telling your landlord you have mice just isn't good enough. Have you sent him a registered letter, return receipt requested, stating that the property is infested with mice? Chances are your lease specifies that all complaints must be given in writing. Until you do that, you haven't really complained. Although it is NOT your duty to correct the mouse problem, why not get a few packages of something like DECON and put them in a few corners of the apartment. Since it is an apartment and not a single family home, I am wondering if you don't have a neighbor (above, below or on either side) that has less than a healthy, clean life style. This may be the cause of the infestation. There could also be an opening to the outside. Field mice come in for shelter. Look around and see if you can pinpoint the problem. Again, this is not your responsibility, but helping to solve this problem may be the best answer for you.

As far as the heating bill: I take it this is an apartment with its own furnace. Have the gas company look for leaks and CHECK THE ACCURACY OF THE METER. Make it a point to be there when the gas company checks everything. Ask the service person if the furnace is heating your apartment only, or are there other rooms or apartments feeding off your lines. Is the gas also used for water/drier etc. Is is possible that your meter is showing a reading of additional furnaces, hot water tanks etc. Ask the landlord for plastic to cover the windows, buy pull down shades, close the curtains. What floor are you on? Chances are you are paying for gas not utilized in your apartment.

Bed bugs: Ask the landlord when the last time was that your building (building, not apartment) was exterminated for mice and insects. If it was recent, ask that your apartment be re-sprayed. Since this is an apartment building, the landlord is obligated to provide a licensed exterminator. He may not, unless he is a licensed and bonded exterminator, be doing the spraying himself. If he hasn't done it recently, again in writing, insist that it be sprayed. If nothing else works, call the Health Department.