claudine

City: 
Los Angeles
Residence Type: 
5-9 units
Landlord Type: 
Private Landlord -- Rent Control
Organization: 
n/a

the other week, I realized that there was a rat in my apartment. I called the company to tell them about it and they informed that if I wanted a pest control to come out that I would have to pay for it. They sent over the maintenance man to put rat traps throughout my apartment. I refused because I have a cat and I could not risk her getting injured because of the traps. I called the management company again, and they refused to hire a reputable pest control company.
I contacted the health department and the person that I spoke to said that there was nothing that they could do if I was not able to show fresh rat droppings.
I finally had to call the city council and they gave me the name of the supervisor of the health department, who immediately sent someone out the next day.
They caught the rat in my apartment using a trap that is safe for cats and for me. However, I had to see the whole ordeal since the tail of the rat was sticking out of the box after it had been caught.
They are going to fill in the rat hole in my apartment, and they have (badly) fixed the wholes underneath the building.
Next week the inspector is returning to see if there is still a rat problem.
This experience has been an eye opener for me. I live in Brentwood, which is one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in Los Angeles, I am paying a lot of rent, and I still have to endure being treated in an inhumane manner both by the landlord, who doesn't care about his tenants, by the first health department representative.
Brentwood has become slum wood due to its slumlords.

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