Bad flea infestation and landlord won’t take responsibility

By Irene Milman

I moved into a rental property a little over 4 months ago at the beginning of February.  I have one house cat, who never steps a foot outside or even onto the enclosed patio.  When I was shown the apartment, I was told that the carpets were brand new.  They appeared to be new so I belived it.  Fast forward to about 3 weeks ago, my cat has suddenly acquired a bad case of fleas – which he has never had before now.  I am living in South Florida now, and I have been told that this is a breeding ground for fleas.  There is wildlife on the property as well as people walking their dogs, and the owners do not spray for fleas or ticks outside nor do they pay to have it done inside apartments.  They told me that it is my responsibility to do so and that I can call any exterminator of my choice, but that I would have to pay him.  But as a ‘favor’ to me, they agreed to have their regular exterminator come out and bomb my apartment.  I was told that this procedure works immediately, so I had the guy come to the apartment last Thursday morning, when I was leaving for a long weekend out of town.  I took my cat to a boarding facility as well, where he was given a pill to kill all existing fleas on his body.  He has been on Advantage II since the beginning of this month (as soon as the fleas appeared).

So when I returned to the apartment last night ( almost 5 days later), I let the cat out of his carrier onto the carpet and about an hour later when I picked him up, I saw them – all over his body!  The treatment had little, if any, effect.  I am going to try to bomb the place myself again, but my concern is that it will be an exercise in futility because the fleas are coming from the untreated property outside – and what’s to stop them from jumping on me when I go outside, or through the front door, every single day? 

I was given the option to get out of my lease, but this would really only help the property manager to re-rent the apartment and it would be an additional hardship for me.  There are costs associated with  moving and I would really appreciate some insight into what my legal rights are in this situation.  I would like the owner to pay my expenses and refund me my $300 pet deposit and $400 security, plus pay my moving costs.  After having lived there less than half of my lease term (which ends at the end of Feb. 2013), is this something I am legally entitled to? 

Thanks so much for your feedback.

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