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Mice

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Mice

Postby bruklinboy » Tue Jan 14, 2003 10:13 pm

Moved into a rent stabilized apartment a little over 6 weeks ago. In this time we have caught 7 mice. To be fair the landlord has had an exterminator on the premises(3 weeks ago)and honestly we didn't see any mice since then. Until, that is yesterday. In a 24 hr period we have caught, in glue traps, 3 more mice.
I called the lanlord's rep at 9am, after 3 or 4 more calls trying to get some action, at about 5pm, I was told they were going to be bombing the elevator soon. I should also mention, our apartment is somewhat near the shaft and right over the furnace and compactor rooms. They also said the exterminator would be calling me tonite, its 8.07pm, no phone call. For some reason they won't give me his number, so that I may call him myself.
I guess I need to know what my rights are here. In terms of how I can make the lanlord deal with my problem. What avenues can I pursue? Do I call the board of Health or some other city agency. Do I call a lawyer to find out if I have any legal rights in this situation. Should I be going thru steps to withhold my rent until this problem is dealt with to my satisfaction? I'm stumped and would appreciate any constructive help I can get.

Thanks
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Re: Mice

Postby Cranky Tenant » Wed Jan 15, 2003 5:31 am

The only way to really get rid of mice in your apartment is to find the holes where they're coming in and seal them. Exterminators usually only have sticky traps and poison which are temporary measures at best.

Bombing a single area, like the elevator,without filling the holes and tunnels, is probably one of the worst thing they can do. It may kill a few mice but it's likely to drive others into the surrounding areas.
I'm a cranky tenant NOT a cranky lawyer.
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Re: Mice

Postby mjr203 » Wed Jan 15, 2003 1:32 pm

I like to sit in my kitchen in the dark with my ruger .45 and an unfrosted lightbulb attached to a string. I hear little feet a-scuttlin', I pull the cord, blind the sucker and then BLAMMO ... bye bye mr mouse.

My neighbors have started complaining about the noise though.

/havermeyer
most Landlords suck it.
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Re: Mice

Postby mbrenner » Wed Jan 15, 2003 6:03 pm

Mice can be awful. My building has them and had
them during construction. You may find holes and
of course they should be filled. I started getting them after the building installed a new
door. No one ever found any holes (my exterminator and theirs checked) (The mice used to get caught on the glue boards in the middle of the night. It was awful.)

Management finally put some kind of a brush on the bottom of my front door and thank goodness - no
more mice. They were walking in beneath the new
door. Of course, it took the building months to
do something like this.

Is your entry door FLUSH with the floor? You may want to check that out too.
mbrenner
 

Re: Mice

Postby Cranky Tenant » Wed Jan 15, 2003 6:15 pm

Every now and then I used to see an occasional mouse run out from behind the kitchen sink, across the room to the refrigerator. I had the super in several times but no matter how many corners he filled, the mice continued to run back and forth.

Then when the LL finally replaced the ktichen linoleum and installed a new sink, we discovered a three foot hole in the floor under the sink!

<small>[ January 15, 2003, 05:17 PM: Message edited by: Cranky Tenant ]</small>
I'm a cranky tenant NOT a cranky lawyer.
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Re: Mice

Postby MikeW » Wed Jan 15, 2003 6:30 pm

bruklinboy,

Get a cat. I'm kidding. I have cats. They're useless.

Pointer,

A Mossberg 12-gauge works better, but you go through alot of steel wool patching up the holes it leaves afterward.

And besides, the mice are kinda cute
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Re: Mice

Postby bruklinboy » Wed Jan 15, 2003 7:49 pm

Thanks everyone. Although as I posted last nite I was looking for ways to punish my LL, well for suggestions as to how,I decided to take a proactive solution to the problem, from some of your suggestions. Although, I think I might refrain from getting a gun and shooting the little varmints(the mice I mean, not the LL). After talking to the LL's rep 3x today, I got her to get the super to come here tomorrow and pull the kitchen cabinets out so we can look for holes, as there doesn't seem to be any visible holes, and the mice that we keep trapping, are along the kitchen sink cabinets, at least 7 out of the 8(yes thats right, another since I posted last nite)have been trapped there. I'm also trying to co-ordinate the exterminator to be here when the cabinets are out so he can stick some poison in the walls if and when we find the holes. And I'm going to look into reinforcing the front door of the apt as there does seem to be a space near the bottom. I've also been reading up on mouse proofing a home......it never ceases to amaze me the kind of things you can find on the internet.......such as keeping food in glass jars, even in the closets, etc. As far as getting a cat, I've read and heard that they are good at keeping mice away, maybe you just have useless cats Mike,unfortunately my wife is allergic to cats, she breaks out into hives around them. And if its a choice between my wife and a cat, well, lets just say I like curling up in bed next to my wife, rather than a cat.
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Re: Mice

Postby Chimera » Wed Jan 15, 2003 8:46 pm

To be fair the landlord has had an exterminator on the premises(3 weeks ago)and honestly we didn't see any mice since then.
Although as I posted last nite I was looking for ways to punish my LL . . .
Why do you want to punish your landlord? As me again noted, your landlord is making an attempt to fix the problem. He doesn't seem to be neglecting your apartment or the building, and I would think an attempt by you to 'punish' him will only complicate your relationship with him, which isn't going to serve you well, especially so early in your tenancy. I'm glad you have decided to take a proactive approach , working with your landlord will ultimately make your life easier.

I've had rodent problems, myself. Along with plugging up all of the visible holes, you should make sure NO food is available for the mice to eat. Don't keep anything in your cabinets that isn't completely sealed (like tight lidded jars and cans.) All cereal boxes, bags of flour and packages of pasta, and anything else that can be accessed by chewing through plastic or cardboard should be kept in the refrigerator (or an air tight jar as you mentioned in a previous post, but I find keeping this in the refrigerator make them easily accessible.)

Take out the trash as often as you can. Clean all areas where food is consumed religiously, so no scraps are available to attract and feed vermin. And finally, keep your apartment as neat as you can. Anything on the floor (cardboard, plastic, rumpled clothing) can provide places for mice to hide. Eradicating food sources and hiding places should make a big improvement.

Good luck!
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Re: Mice

Postby bruklinboy » Wed Jan 15, 2003 8:56 pm

WOW! I guess I used the wrong choice of words, I think I should have said I want the LL to respond with a bit more urgency than they seem to be doing. For e.g., I still haven't been told when the exterminator is coming, if at all. The LL knows I'm home all day tomorrow, so instead of trying to get the exterminator to call me, why can't he just tell them to get here tomorrow? I realize the exterminator is not one of his employees, but if they can't get any response from the exterminator, why can't they give me his number, I'd be more than happy to call him a million times a day to get him to respond.
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Re: Mice

Postby NYCkid » Thu Jan 16, 2003 6:01 pm

I have to agree with all of the people who have said to plug the holes. I had a small mouse problem in my apartment and it was quickly fixed after I searched the edge of EVERY wall in my apartment. Stuff steel wool into the hole until it is tightly packed. Cover with spackle. If it is a hole in the floor, cement may be the best solution, or having the landlord redo the floor with another permanent fix (good luck getting that done).

Once the holes are plugged, set up snap traps to catch the ones who cannot make their way back out of the apartment. You can use glue traps too, but only if you dont mind hearing mice squeal as they die and try to eat their legs off to get unstuck. Trust me, coming home to a squeling dying mouse that has chewed off its own leg is not a pretty sight.

Poison is good too, but dont be surprised to find a dead mouse under your sofa or behind your fridge in six months. They dont always go back into the walls to drop dead.

All of these things the LL should do for you, but if you have a stubborn LL it may be a better idea to do it yourself and get rid of the problem ASAP.
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Re: Mice

Postby LLareScum » Fri Jan 17, 2003 7:01 pm

Jesus man, they're just mice. We should put you on some poison sticky traps and see how you like it. Honestly, what the hell did you expect? You moved to brooklyn; It's the armpit of the world and no amount of trendy rich kids and yuppies will ever change that, ever. Now get on the phone and whine some more to your poor LL, who must be ruing the day he leased to you.
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Re: Mice

Postby bruklinboy » Fri Jan 17, 2003 8:20 pm

Sean,
Didn't move to bklyn..been here my all my life, and yes while some of it is an armpit, not all of it. and as far as yuppies or trendy rich kids go..i could do with out them........they're makin bklyn an impossible place to live, drivin up rents, pushing it further n further away from the neighborhood types of places I've always lived, ya know, where everyone knows each other, an actually talks to one another, instead of anonymously on the net. Of course some of them would have to learn to speak english first, but thats a whole nother subject. And yea, ur rite, the LL is probably ruing the day he leased to me, but so what?, He's in a business, n he's supposed to be providing a service, n if he thinks i'm gonna be payin 4 that service he better start doin a better job, he still hasn't got the exterminator to come here, I've been sealing up holes for 2 days now, this damn place was supposed to be renovated, b4 I moved in! I've been finding all the shortcuts they took. Shame on me for not looking the place over alot better than I did, but that still doesn't excuse the shoddy state of this place. The next mouse I catch is gonna be deposited on his damn door step, as a matter of fact every damn mouse i catch is going to be deposited at his office til he gets the message that i ain't foolin around.
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