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Can a tenant break the lease for mosquito infestation due to health risk (West Nile Virus) in CA? What are my options?
Anonymous3 views1 answers
My husband and I recently moved into an upstairs apartment a month and a half ago. The day we moved in, the manager on site mentioned Terminex would be spraying for the mosquito infestation in the enclosed hallway leading to our door. We have continued to complain about the issue as it has not been resolved and the mosquito's are entering our apartment any time we enter or exit our home. The landlord does not feel that it is an issue and will not do anything else about it (even with multiple tenants complaining to the on-site manager). I'm frustrated with the constant mosquito bites that my husband and I are getting and would like to know what our options are. Do mosquito infestation's qualify as a health rish because they can carry West Nile Virus? What recourse do we have?
A landlord is required to maintain the common areas of the property and to maintain the habitability of individual units with respect to issues within the landlord's control (i.e. overall building plumbing, electrical wiring, clean common areas, etc.). If there is a pest problem, especially originating in the common areas of the building, the landlord is required to make reasonable efforts to eliminate the problem.
If your landlord has failed take any measures to deal with the mosquito problem, that could constitute a breach of the lease agreement, and if so, you would have the right to withhold rent or move out. If the landlord has taken some measures on his own, such as using his own sprays, and the problem persists, matters become a little less clear, but even then, if the problem has not improved at all, it would be hard to argue that the pest control measures were "reasonable" measures to address the problem.
Numerous pests can be considered health risks due to potentially carrying diseases, but whether their presence is enough to render the dwelling "unfit for human habitation" depends on the nature and extent of the infestation.
Your best course of action would be to consult a landlord-tenant attorney and discuss the matter in more depth.
