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Practical-Intern-347 t1_j52x29c wrote

That water thing sounds awful. The mouse part sounds, unfortunately, relatable. I had mice in my home (that I own, and is relatively 'nice') for YEARS before I was really able to get a handle on it. The issue was only resolved (incidentally) via a total gut renovation of my kitchen/dining/pantry area where there were a handful of inaccessible, mouse-chewed holes through wood. With that all blocked off, I finally stopped seeing evidence of mice in my kitchen (although can still occasionally hear them in the attic). I have a dry-stone foundation and so mice in the basement is going to be a forever situation.

That's all to say, mice are frustrating. It's frustrating for you as the resident and I'm sure its frustrating for your landlord as well. Good luck!

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verifiedboomer t1_j52zkao wrote

Was going to say, buy a house and try to solve your own mouse problem. We buy snap traps in bulk, reuse them as much as possible, and are still using the jar of peanut butter I bought 3 years ago for bait. Average about one corpse a day.

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[deleted] OP t1_j5556to wrote

[deleted]

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boskie22 t1_j55tc2u wrote

If we didn't have a pet, we would probably try poison at this point. I get that mice coming into houses is just something that happens, but my issue is that our landlord isn't taking enough action. They told the health inspector they have been doing lots of trapping and filling holes but they were totally exaggerating about their efforts. Placing 5 single traps and checking them twice in 5 months, and filling 3 out of the many many access points isn't really trying to make a dent in the problem. We ourselves regularly set and check traps and know it's not only something our landlord is responsible for, but when they keep telling us they will do it and that they don't want us removing certain panels to set traps in case the panels break, but they never come around to do it themselves, there's just no effort or follow through on their part and we have no choice but to remove certain panels to set and empty traps because there's always mice in those places.

I don't think our landlord is super wealthy but I know they're far from poor, they just don't want to spend any money on anything to do with the rental unit. They bought a fixer upper and just slapped some paint on the walls and made things look decent for our tour. They shocked the well before we moved in and told us to drink bottled water for the first week. That shocking didn't solve the e coli problem so they kept shocking it about 5 more times, and it still didn't solve the problem. Eventually they had to have a water sanitization system installed. Apparently they knew there were potential major issues with the water and septic but didn't take the time before renting it out to try to fix them.

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[deleted] OP t1_j55wgew wrote

[deleted]

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boskie22 t1_j560kco wrote

I agree with you, and we don't want to continue fighting this. We just want to move. The problem is, apartments are going for like $2500 and we're disabled so we can't afford that, yet we don't qualify for most rental assistance either. We've been on waitlists for a year and we are actively searching for a new place, it's just not an easy market at all. If the landlord does renew our lease and it's still an affordable rent for us, and if we haven't found a better place which is likely, we would have to stay here until we are approved for a different place.

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WantDastardlyBack t1_j555ajh wrote

The water thing can happen more easily if you think, especially if it's a dug well. We had one with the tight-fitting, heavy cement cap and small snakes would crawl up underneath and fall in. We put in filtration and had to take measures to drive out snakes from the yard.

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boskie22 t1_j55poqs wrote

Glad you were able to get the mice more under control! If we were allowed to do more major fixes while renting this place, we would, but aren't allowed to and it probably wouldn't make much financial sense anyway.

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Stockmom42 t1_j52zlm5 wrote

Mice are super tough, blocking access points is a big fixer. When we purchased our home the previous owners had let them really get into the house. Steel wool, foam, and replacing any worn down wood helps. I also found and I know how wild this sounds but we have been looking for solutions that don’t harm other animals mouse birth control which is supposedly very effective. Haven’t tried it yet but have plans to put some out in the spring. https://conntraceptol.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA8aOeBhCWARIsANRFrQFo7sFTBIZLdKTfqLlqvzEy0Je21DcIe6P0ws3CjlmAaBJT-vbWfNgaAvFlEALw_wcB

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thisoneisnotasbad t1_j54ma52 wrote

Hate to break it to you but yes, it would be legal.

For the water one, that sucks but that is VT. Growing up my school would have a boil water notice regularly because we were near a number of farms and the runoff impacted water quality. It still happens in a lot of places. If does not excuse it and the landlord should have done all they could to quickly fix it. I was more saying it is not uncommon or surprising.

For the mice, look at it from the other side. You called and reported them to the health inspector for a mice infestation that was not real. The health inspector said to keep using traps implying it is a normal level of mice in a VT trailer. Would you keep a renter who reported you to the state for a imagined infestation.

I’ll probably be downvoted again, I’ve been downvoted before but... VT renters rights are only good on paper. Once you get the state involved you realize they don’t really care and your landlord can legally kick you out (for a totally and unrelated coincidence of course). Complain and make reports at your own risk.

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boskie22 t1_j55xqph wrote

We realize many Vermonters have to boil their water from time to time, but there are strict rental laws about tenants having a safe, potable water supply. Sometimes renters have to boil it when there's water boil notices, but legally they can't have to boil it for every time due to consistent unsafe water that is due to a problem with the water supply. For weeks we couldn't use the water for anything at all, even washing our hands or showering, because it was full of bleach when they kept just pouring bleach in the water supply to try to fix the issue.

We mentioned the mice to the health inspector due to the very fact that our landlord wasn't taking sufficient action to curb the mice. They told the health inspector they were doing lots of trapping and blocking holes, but in 5 months they set 5 single traps and filled 3 out of many many holes. That's it. We realize our landlord isn't solely responsible for trapping and filling holes, we ourselves set and empty traps daily and continue blocking holes regularly. Our landlord often tells us they are coming to check and reset traps but they never come, and they don't want us removing certain panels to set traps because they don't want the panels to break, but there's always tons of mice in those places so we have no choice but to do it ourselves.

The mice issue was among the issues we reported to the health inspector. The chimney and roof were leaking, with water pouring down a wall whenever it rained. Our landlord responded by simply placing a trash bag over the chinney. There was tons of mold resulting from the leak. Additionally, there were fire safety violations that the health inspector was very concerned about and made our landlord fix.

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Vermontess t1_j52yj2y wrote

Trailers are notoriously hard to keep mice out of. Sorry you’re dealing with this. What reason do you have to believe your lease won’t be renewed?

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boskie22 t1_j55twwd wrote

Thanks. Our landlord has made comments in front of us to the health inspector that they're not sure how long they're going to rent out the place. My landlord is also close with a family member, who told me that the landlord has been complaining about the situation and seems like they don't want to continue.

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trueg50 t1_j54ocqd wrote

Mice are terrible! Nothing worse than trying to catch them yet hearing them in the walls as though they are taunting you.

Even exterminators will just set a ton of traps and keep changing them, so keep going with that if it's working. If you have an area outside you should do a bucket trap, with some water/anti-freeze (or something that won't freeze), it doesn't need to be reset with each kill. https://www.amazon.com/RinneTraps-Bucket-Outdoor-Compatible-Manufacturer/dp/B08SL6KJ29

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videological t1_j53mv7t wrote

Have a chat with VT Legal Aid: https://www.vtlegalaid.org/

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the_winter_woods t1_j56lhfs wrote

This is the answer. A Landlord is not allowed to change lease terms, raise rent, or evict within 90 days of a tenant complaining of a material (ie serious) health and safety issue, especially if a THO was involved - this is called a retaliatory eviction and is illegal. Call Vermont Legal Aid and get some advice at minimum.

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danceintherain2 t1_j5510m9 wrote

Yes, it’s legal. Once your lease is up, they don’t have to renew or give you a reason. Just like you can leave once the lease is up with no reason. You both however, need to give notice - 30 days for the landlord and whatever is in your lease for you.

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Odd-Philosopher5926 t1_j553k9y wrote

Listen. Five gallon bucket with a lid. Cut a hole in the lid for the mouse the get in. A little bit of brake fluid on the bottom. It will get rid of a lot of mice

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IamNabil t1_j54lhq1 wrote

I used Orkin to get the mice out of my 75 year old home. $50 a month for all pests (except mosquitos), and after about a year, I no longer have spiders, ants, mice, or any of the other crap. I originally called them for carpenter ants that made a nest in the master bedroom after the drones fell on my face while I was sleeping. It’s not cheap, but some things are worth the money.

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Nanotude t1_j5h69vt wrote

The Orkin Man rocks! We noticed fleas and turned out mice were bringing them in. I signed a one year contract with Orkin but after 3 months, the mice and the fleas were gone. The first visit included an inspection that identified the entry points where mice were coming in.

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IamNabil t1_j5h6iyw wrote

It's been something like four years now, and I still have them coming. They did such a good job, I am ok with a $50 a month spend to never have to worry about it again. Bugs? Call them and they come fix it. Mice? Call them and they come fix it.

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Reasonable_Expert_23 t1_j52xo32 wrote

Are there other tenants of the same landlord that you can organize with? If so, many of them probably have similar issues. You’ll have a lot more power to make demands of your landlord if you do it collectively.

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boskie22 t1_j55y81d wrote

Our landlord only has the one rental property.

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ResponsibleExcuse727 t1_j556w9g wrote

Get a cat. Had mice in an Appartment we stayed at. One morning my cat had 4 dead, never saw any mice in there again. Word spread I guess

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boskie22 t1_j55yil7 wrote

We have considered getting a cat, but my partner is severely allergic. Might be worth looking into if we can manage the allergies.

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TheMobyDicks t1_j5688h9 wrote

Put some homemade bucket traps with antifreeze underneath the trailer. Use peanut butter for bait. Hella easier than effing with snap or sticky traps.

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random_vermonter t1_j57kadm wrote

Some people should not rent properties out to others, especially if they have ZERO understanding of tenant law and insist on violating it at will.

Long story short: If you can't stand that people who rent your properties will leave at least a bit of damage if not more, you don't belong in this industry.

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