QUESTION: I have been renting a renovated apartment and I love the place but it is infested with cockroaches and I have to sleep (when I can) with the lights on.
The condition report stated there was no infestation, but as soon as I moved in I noticed them. The agent recommended I try roach ‘bombs’. So did my mother. Four bombs down, still roaches.
I have now bought baits, surface spray, ‘professional’ indoor/outdoor spray, one of those automatic sprays and I’ve ordered an expensive pest inspection.
Can I get out of the lease? I don’t want to but I can’t sleep in the apartment and I’m staying at my parents’. What can I do? – LeChat, Lower North Shore.
ANSWER: This is probably a problem in the building, not just your apartment, and its Executive Committee should have the whole block de-roached.
You have to get your landlord or agent involved, so ask for a rent reduction backdated to when the infestation was first reported, then they might hassle the Executive Committee to deal with it.
And you probably can break your lease because you were misled in the condition report. Contact Tenants NSW (tenants.org.au) and they’ll advise you how to pursue this, if need be, through Fair Trading.
You can read the whole discussion HERE.