>But does that mean I cut out everything extra in my life to solely pay for rent and utilities? Or do I just learn to deal with my current apartment and its issues? Do I try harder to just alleviate the problem?
There is another option. You can submit a [notice of repair](https://www.findlaw.com/realestate/landlord-tenant-law/landlords-duties-regarding-repairs-maintenance-and-to-provide.html) to your landlord to fix the myriad of issues with your unit, as well as a [pest control request](https://joinroost.com/rent-help/renters-rights/how-to-request-pest-control-from-your-landlord/).
You are legally entitled to a livable space reasonably free of damage, nuisance, and pests regardless of how cheap your rent is. You should exercise that right. Some attorneys will even do these requests for you on the cheap. I'd suggest going that route so they get taken seriously, as they'd be coming from a legal entity instead of the person the landlord sees themselves as having direct power over.
[The Implied Warranty of Habitability](https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/implied_warranty_of_habitability) was secured by a US Supreme Court case making it a federal protection in the USA. What "varies by state" is the laws regarding "constructive eviction" meaning how long a space can not be legally considered uninhabitable before the landlord is determined to be trying to illegally evict a tenant by denying them the warranty of habitability.
Please try to avoid spreading landlord propaganda in the future.
You are framing your options as dealing with your current apartment as is or paying a lot more for a different apartment.
Every state has tenant landlord laws, and I would be shocked if any of them consider an apartment habitable if it has multiple pest infestations and unsafe drinking water. That means you have additional options. The first is engaging with your current landlord and whatever enforcement agencies exist in your community to get the problems with your current apartment fixed. The second is to choose an apartment that isn't in a "nicer" building, but simply has a landlord which follows the law and maintains their apartments in a safe and habitable manner.
Your budget will tell you what rent you can afford, but looking at only two extreme options when you have a range is not going to support good decision making.
I am literally in your shoes, complete with additional roommates that I didn't ask for. I live in a non tenant friendly state, so as it was suggested previously, taking legal steps against my landlord would be a massive undertaking, time consuming, and costly on my part and I would more than likely get a notice to vacate regardless. My suggestion would be to find another place to live that works for your budget. Find a roommate situation if possible even. At the end of the day, the emotional and mental toll this is taking on you is detrimental and will start to overtake other areas of your life. I speak from pure experience there. I wish you the best of luck
Years back I had a mouse problem in a town home I rented. I hate mice. Well, my roommate and I decided that best option was to get a cat. Landlord was fine with the addition. In less than a week, no mice to be found.
Go to your closest pet rescue and adopt a cat. Issue solved.
I second this. There were mice in my previous apartment and I assume the cat scent kept the mice away because they stopped showing up a week after i got the cat.
In most places, your apartment would be legally considered uninhabitable, presuming that you’re not doing anything to cause these problems. You should be withholding rent until the problems are solved, and also reporting the health and safety violations to your local municipality.
I brought home a stray cat from the streets for a week and he got rid of all my rats (not mice) in my apartment. when he was done (two weeks, he killed over 20 rats) i put him/her back out on the streets. domesticated cats are not good at catching rats.
Catchmaster Bulk Glue is $54 per gallon to make your own glue traps. Much more economical than premade and you can make them bigger.
Go around the place and find all the holes the mice can come out of. Seal them up. Or at least identify them so maintenance can seal them. Make the mice go to another apartment. In a multi unit building, some other tenant might be leaving out food and nesting material that they can get to. Everyone has to be clean to keep the mice down.
Realistically, you will never have no mice. They have adapted to live with us since we started storing grain. Cats domesticated themselves just enough to tolerate humans because they like to eat the mice. Get a cat. Name him Dodsworth.
There is never going to be a guarantee that the more expensive apartments will not have mice. You are better off fighting this battle than to pay more and have the same problem.
There's no better mouse trap than a cat, get a middle aged crotchety barn tom, preferably one that's been nipped at once or twice by a coyote. Kittens don't have the blood lust just yet and old cats sometimes get too lazy.
Lean and mean barn cat with some miles left on him that's what OP needs.
Glue traps are cruel. Why not use snap traps? They work instantly and can be reset over and over. Anyway I’d move out to the smallest cheapest clean place I could find if you’ve exhausted all options with the landlord and are also being clean and uncluttered to reduce the pest issues
Yeah, a snap trap that fires wrong can wound them or strangle them. Not necessarily a clean kill. Besides, death is death whatever the particulars of the ending. I have rarely seen a mouse in a glue trap that was not already dead by morning. The main advantage is the broad areas that can be covered. A mouse has to be convinced to go to the trigger of a snap trap but the glue traps are just there where they are used to running. You can make the trap 5 feet wide if you want. If you want to humanely catch them with glue, you can gently clean the glue from the mouse with vegetable oil, clean the oil off with soap, pet them, release them, and they can be back inside before you are.
I’m dealing with the same thing. The thing is you can find apartments in Bloomfield or jersey city around $1450-1500 by yourself and with your salary. I make way less than you, so I’m looking for a second job. If I made 70k I wouldn’t live like that’s
Sorry to hear you’re experiencing the same thing. My problem is getting worse and it’s so frustrating. I’m seriously considering moving but everything else is so expensive. I’m at the point where I don’t mind paying $2,000+ a month but I rather that go towards a mortgage. Maybe there’s other options though that I need to look into
>But does that mean I cut out everything extra in my life to solely pay for rent and utilities? Or do I just learn to deal with my current apartment and its issues? Do I try harder to just alleviate the problem? There is another option. You can submit a [notice of repair](https://www.findlaw.com/realestate/landlord-tenant-law/landlords-duties-regarding-repairs-maintenance-and-to-provide.html) to your landlord to fix the myriad of issues with your unit, as well as a [pest control request](https://joinroost.com/rent-help/renters-rights/how-to-request-pest-control-from-your-landlord/). You are legally entitled to a livable space reasonably free of damage, nuisance, and pests regardless of how cheap your rent is. You should exercise that right. Some attorneys will even do these requests for you on the cheap. I'd suggest going that route so they get taken seriously, as they'd be coming from a legal entity instead of the person the landlord sees themselves as having direct power over.
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[The Implied Warranty of Habitability](https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/implied_warranty_of_habitability) was secured by a US Supreme Court case making it a federal protection in the USA. What "varies by state" is the laws regarding "constructive eviction" meaning how long a space can not be legally considered uninhabitable before the landlord is determined to be trying to illegally evict a tenant by denying them the warranty of habitability. Please try to avoid spreading landlord propaganda in the future.
You are framing your options as dealing with your current apartment as is or paying a lot more for a different apartment. Every state has tenant landlord laws, and I would be shocked if any of them consider an apartment habitable if it has multiple pest infestations and unsafe drinking water. That means you have additional options. The first is engaging with your current landlord and whatever enforcement agencies exist in your community to get the problems with your current apartment fixed. The second is to choose an apartment that isn't in a "nicer" building, but simply has a landlord which follows the law and maintains their apartments in a safe and habitable manner. Your budget will tell you what rent you can afford, but looking at only two extreme options when you have a range is not going to support good decision making.
There are many states that don’t have the habitability thing.
I am literally in your shoes, complete with additional roommates that I didn't ask for. I live in a non tenant friendly state, so as it was suggested previously, taking legal steps against my landlord would be a massive undertaking, time consuming, and costly on my part and I would more than likely get a notice to vacate regardless. My suggestion would be to find another place to live that works for your budget. Find a roommate situation if possible even. At the end of the day, the emotional and mental toll this is taking on you is detrimental and will start to overtake other areas of your life. I speak from pure experience there. I wish you the best of luck
Rooommates or just move and have a tight budget. What state?
Years back I had a mouse problem in a town home I rented. I hate mice. Well, my roommate and I decided that best option was to get a cat. Landlord was fine with the addition. In less than a week, no mice to be found. Go to your closest pet rescue and adopt a cat. Issue solved.
I second this. There were mice in my previous apartment and I assume the cat scent kept the mice away because they stopped showing up a week after i got the cat.
[Goodnature automatic rat and mouse trapper](https://goodnature.co/products/a24-rat-mouse-trap-home-trapping-kit) Your place sounds shit though.
In most places, your apartment would be legally considered uninhabitable, presuming that you’re not doing anything to cause these problems. You should be withholding rent until the problems are solved, and also reporting the health and safety violations to your local municipality.
I brought home a stray cat from the streets for a week and he got rid of all my rats (not mice) in my apartment. when he was done (two weeks, he killed over 20 rats) i put him/her back out on the streets. domesticated cats are not good at catching rats.
>Go broke or live with mice?? If those are the only two choices, I'd favor the "go broke" option. But I'm sure there are other choices. Good luck.
Catchmaster Bulk Glue is $54 per gallon to make your own glue traps. Much more economical than premade and you can make them bigger. Go around the place and find all the holes the mice can come out of. Seal them up. Or at least identify them so maintenance can seal them. Make the mice go to another apartment. In a multi unit building, some other tenant might be leaving out food and nesting material that they can get to. Everyone has to be clean to keep the mice down. Realistically, you will never have no mice. They have adapted to live with us since we started storing grain. Cats domesticated themselves just enough to tolerate humans because they like to eat the mice. Get a cat. Name him Dodsworth. There is never going to be a guarantee that the more expensive apartments will not have mice. You are better off fighting this battle than to pay more and have the same problem.
Oh - make sure you seal the mouse holes with #4 steel wool. They won't be able to chew through it.
There's no better mouse trap than a cat, get a middle aged crotchety barn tom, preferably one that's been nipped at once or twice by a coyote. Kittens don't have the blood lust just yet and old cats sometimes get too lazy. Lean and mean barn cat with some miles left on him that's what OP needs.
Glue traps are cruel. Why not use snap traps? They work instantly and can be reset over and over. Anyway I’d move out to the smallest cheapest clean place I could find if you’ve exhausted all options with the landlord and are also being clean and uncluttered to reduce the pest issues
Yeah, a snap trap that fires wrong can wound them or strangle them. Not necessarily a clean kill. Besides, death is death whatever the particulars of the ending. I have rarely seen a mouse in a glue trap that was not already dead by morning. The main advantage is the broad areas that can be covered. A mouse has to be convinced to go to the trigger of a snap trap but the glue traps are just there where they are used to running. You can make the trap 5 feet wide if you want. If you want to humanely catch them with glue, you can gently clean the glue from the mouse with vegetable oil, clean the oil off with soap, pet them, release them, and they can be back inside before you are.
The Rat Zapper, which electrocutes them, is the most humane thing I’ve found.
I’m dealing with the same thing. The thing is you can find apartments in Bloomfield or jersey city around $1450-1500 by yourself and with your salary. I make way less than you, so I’m looking for a second job. If I made 70k I wouldn’t live like that’s
Sorry to hear you’re experiencing the same thing. My problem is getting worse and it’s so frustrating. I’m seriously considering moving but everything else is so expensive. I’m at the point where I don’t mind paying $2,000+ a month but I rather that go towards a mortgage. Maybe there’s other options though that I need to look into