I have a roach problem.

[september]

I moved into my apartment about 10 days ago. I just discovered my roach problem last night, when not a foot away from my bed, this cheeky cockroach just scurries along the floor. I tried to kill the motherf-er, but it dived into a pile of my clothes (!) and I picked through each piece of clothing, but to no avail.

Now, I know that where there's one roach, there's plenty to go round... and I share a building with my landlord (his business, I live above it). I'm rather upset that I wasn't informed about this upfront, figuring that he has to have seen at least a couple of them downstairs. I couldn't sleep in my bed (a futon which sits on the floor) last night because I was so disgusted and creeped out, thinking they could easily crawl onto my bed, especially after I turned the lights out. In short: I am very (and I believe justifiably so) upset about this.

How can I handle this problem with decorum and emotional control?

[Erin Pavlina]

Similar thing happeend to me when I got my second apartment in college. The landlady warned me that the guy living downstairs from me had a major roach problem. Didn't think it would affect me, boy was I stupid. First night at my place I see them crawling out of the fireplace. I killed the three I saw. Went to bed. Next morning my alarm went off and just as I was about to turn it off I see a cheeky cockroach standing on top of my alarm clock. I could practically here him challenging me, "Go ahead, make my day. Just try to turn off your alarm. I'll crawl up your arm so fast it will make your head spin."

I fled screaming into the dawn. Went home to my parents. They called the landlady and told her I wasn't coming back until the place was fumigated and we were going to contact some health board or something to make sure she did it.

Long story short... I think legally the landlord has to provide a bug free apartment for you if you're paying rent. You could try bug bombing for the day but get a professional fumigator person out there pronto.

After my place was fumigated I still saw the occasional cockroach but nothing like what it was before. Good luck. I don't envy you your position.

[kellyrued]

Oh, that's just awful.

I've not lived anywhere with roaches myself but I know they can be hard to get rid of. Those bug bombs you can buy at the store yourself might help but they won't solve anything unless they are done everywhere in the building at the same time (otherwise the bugs are smart enough to simply go downstairs and avoid your cloud of death smoke for 4 hours). You will need a professional exterminator/pest control company to come out and fumigate the whole place, top-to-bottom. They will also probably leave some longer-term bait/poison traps around so be sure that the landlord tells the service if you have any small children or house pets who so they can use the safest roach traps and place them in inaccessible spots (behind and underneath appliances/vents).

If you make it clear to the landlord that he needs to take care of it right away, he probably will do that rather than go through expensive legal hassles (but watch out if he says he called someone but you never get any notice that they are entering your unit or that you need to be out of the house while they do the fumigating since that might mean he just gave you the run around and didn't actually call anyone).

If he doesn't do anything about it, be proactive and take pictures of the infestation (try to turn on the lights in the middle of the night and then snap pics as they tend to come out in the dark). If you can't afford a lawyer call social service places (like your local United Way/First Call for Help) and get referrals to legal aid. Most places have free or low cost legal counsel available for housing related issues (you may have a tenant's union where you live too). Pressure from a lawyer might be needed later on. One mistake to not make: don't stop paying your rent on the basis of the infestation without seeking a lawyer and putting your rent into escrow. That step proves that you aren't just making up an excuse to avoid paying your rent when it's due (you essentially put the rent into the escrow account on time but deny it to your landlord until he performs his part of the lease agreement- by providing you a habitable, sanitary rental). Good luck!

[september]

Thank you for the kind thoughts and suggestions. I called him up, exaggerated the problem just a touch, and my landlord said he'd call and get the bug peeps in ASAP on Monday. One strong motivating factor I hadn't thought of is that his business is downstairs - and nothing motivates like the thought of unhappy patients seeing roaches, I think.

Although that seemed nearly too simple, I appreciate the advice, in case I DO get the runaround. (Also, I feel special, because Erin replied to me. Like getting a celebrity autograph. How childish of me! )

[Erin Pavlina]

Hey i've been wanting to share that roach story for a decade, so thank YOU for bringing it up

[brandi]

use max force roach bait, no spraying, just a jell that goes into the corners and they eat it and never come back. we have to do it on the properties i manage.

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

I have always had great luck with the Raid roach baits (and let me tell you, here in Texas we have ginormous flying roaches that will kamikaze right at you as if intent on your destruction). They are supposed to last 3 months, but I hadn't replaced them for about a year and am just now starting to see a few roaches around.

Just in case you need or want another solution.

@Erin - LOVED your story!

[Amandaaa]

my landlord said he'd call and get the bug peeps in ASAP on Monday.

i'm glad that he's taking care of it for you.



just be glad that you don't live in Florida.

we have "palmetto bugs" here...which is really just a nice name for "giant flying cockroaches."

they're the size of China, and they're pretty much immortal.

i keep my apartment OCD-clean... and my doors are always shut... but i've still encountered 4 of them in the past year.
(i don't know how they get in here!!! they're sneaky little bastards.)

[CoolStuff]

Yeah I think landlords are supposed to take care of it, but I know that landlords don't follow the law completely, and it's not worth it trying to make them, because they will just **** you over. You can suggest it, but don't make them.

Roaches are a bitch I'm glad I've never had them. We have a small ant problem that's not too bad, but the landlord doesn't do anything about it.

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Basically most places say to prevent first and then use the things that trap some and go back to the roach nest and kill them all. If you're in an apartment, you would need to have everyone cooperating. Otherwise the problem will only be reduced, but not solved.