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The war of the home is lost
Memorandum
To: xxx and assistants
CC: Electronic copy sent to xxx
From: xxx
Date: 6/3/2003
Re: Huge Roach Infestation (both huge roaches and huge infestation)
Roaches winning the war:
I have left a phone message detailing my very serious problems with these incredible roaches. These roaches have been described by the pest management company as wood-eating cockroaches, not related to common household roaches more typically found in kitchens. They are brown, winged, and seem to range from 1-3 “long.
The roaches in question are found repeatedly in the drop-ceiling that holds the ventilation for my heat pump. They have been a problem literally for years now, and I am past my limit in dealing with them. I have alerted management repeatedly, who has taken steps repeatedly with pest control services. I have given access to my unit, and provided samples of the bugs in question. I even went so far as to provide Mr. xxx with monies to attempt to seal my unit from further infestation – to no avail.
Today I returned to my home only to find a dying roach on my kitchen window-sill. I thought I had heard scratching in the ceiling in the hallway some of the previous nights, where I had placed a glue trap. Fearing the worst I checked the trap, which is being included (sealed in plastic) with the copy of this letter being provided to the Mgt. Office. It was covered with giant roaches, many more of which remain in my ceiling. These roaches extend far beyond my reach, and are large enough that their decaying dead bodies produce a noxious odor. I have heard them in the vents throughout the apartment, but I do not have access to all places they have crawled.
It is not reasonable to expect me to live under these conditions. I have started having trouble with my health as I have developed a mold and mildew allergy. I believe this is being aggravated by decaying dead roaches in my home. Please note that due to their locations in areas inaccessible to my unit without major structural damage, that I am unable to remove their bodies! In addition, when they make mad dashes through the unit the sight of these 3” long creatures is extremely disturbing to me, and a horrible embarrassment when seen by guests to my home. The smell is preventing me from keeping my windows closed for long periods of time. I am finding that when I return from travel assignments, my home smells of a horrid odor that I have come to recognize of decaying bugs.
I do not feel that these bugs are my fault or responsibility. I have a clean home. I vacuum the rug weekly. I mop the floors with an ammonia based cleaning solution (Lysol). I clean the counters in the kitchen. I take out the trash frequently, and it’s in a container with a lid all other times. I do not leave the door open, nor leave out any food or drink that might attract animals or bugs. I have taken all steps I can think of to address any possible part I could play in the problem, and find that there are no further steps I could take to remedy the situation. Remember I have even spent my money on a contractor to attempt to prevent the bug’s access to my unit.
I am at my wit’s end, and am very willing to entertain just about any suggestion as to how we might address this problem. I hereby grant full and unannounced access to my unit with the keys I have provided to Mgt. for the purpose of investigating and dealing with this problem. I apologize if this correspondence seems less than pleasant, but this has been an ongoing problem that I am no willing to endure. I have had a long and good relationship with the Board, residents, and employees of xxx – in addition to xxx of xxx. However, I find it quite difficult to describe the situation without letting some of the feelings ‘bleed through.’
Please let me know what steps we can take to end this problem. I am available at xxx, xxx home, xxx work.
To: xxx and assistants
CC: Electronic copy sent to xxx
From: xxx
Date: 6/3/2003
Re: Huge Roach Infestation (both huge roaches and huge infestation)
Roaches winning the war:
I have left a phone message detailing my very serious problems with these incredible roaches. These roaches have been described by the pest management company as wood-eating cockroaches, not related to common household roaches more typically found in kitchens. They are brown, winged, and seem to range from 1-3 “long.
The roaches in question are found repeatedly in the drop-ceiling that holds the ventilation for my heat pump. They have been a problem literally for years now, and I am past my limit in dealing with them. I have alerted management repeatedly, who has taken steps repeatedly with pest control services. I have given access to my unit, and provided samples of the bugs in question. I even went so far as to provide Mr. xxx with monies to attempt to seal my unit from further infestation – to no avail.
Today I returned to my home only to find a dying roach on my kitchen window-sill. I thought I had heard scratching in the ceiling in the hallway some of the previous nights, where I had placed a glue trap. Fearing the worst I checked the trap, which is being included (sealed in plastic) with the copy of this letter being provided to the Mgt. Office. It was covered with giant roaches, many more of which remain in my ceiling. These roaches extend far beyond my reach, and are large enough that their decaying dead bodies produce a noxious odor. I have heard them in the vents throughout the apartment, but I do not have access to all places they have crawled.
It is not reasonable to expect me to live under these conditions. I have started having trouble with my health as I have developed a mold and mildew allergy. I believe this is being aggravated by decaying dead roaches in my home. Please note that due to their locations in areas inaccessible to my unit without major structural damage, that I am unable to remove their bodies! In addition, when they make mad dashes through the unit the sight of these 3” long creatures is extremely disturbing to me, and a horrible embarrassment when seen by guests to my home. The smell is preventing me from keeping my windows closed for long periods of time. I am finding that when I return from travel assignments, my home smells of a horrid odor that I have come to recognize of decaying bugs.
I do not feel that these bugs are my fault or responsibility. I have a clean home. I vacuum the rug weekly. I mop the floors with an ammonia based cleaning solution (Lysol). I clean the counters in the kitchen. I take out the trash frequently, and it’s in a container with a lid all other times. I do not leave the door open, nor leave out any food or drink that might attract animals or bugs. I have taken all steps I can think of to address any possible part I could play in the problem, and find that there are no further steps I could take to remedy the situation. Remember I have even spent my money on a contractor to attempt to prevent the bug’s access to my unit.
I am at my wit’s end, and am very willing to entertain just about any suggestion as to how we might address this problem. I hereby grant full and unannounced access to my unit with the keys I have provided to Mgt. for the purpose of investigating and dealing with this problem. I apologize if this correspondence seems less than pleasant, but this has been an ongoing problem that I am no willing to endure. I have had a long and good relationship with the Board, residents, and employees of xxx – in addition to xxx of xxx. However, I find it quite difficult to describe the situation without letting some of the feelings ‘bleed through.’
Please let me know what steps we can take to end this problem. I am available at xxx, xxx home, xxx work.
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Hrmmm . . . in NY there's a Landlord/Tenant Court where you can report such things . . . maybe the Health Department, in this case? Do you own your place (condo?) or rent it? I thought you owned, but that may be just that you were looking to buy, I am tired and spacey right now.
-- Andi
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Called these guys:
Department of Community Planning, Housing & Development
Office of Housing & Community Development
#1 Courthouse Plaza
2100 Clarendon Boulevard, Suite 701
Arlington, VA 22201
(703) 228-3760
The Housing staff is out until 2 pm today (Thurs.) but you can give them a call then . . . the guy I spoke with seemed to think that they would be able to tell you who to complain to (I didn't give out any names or identifying information, of course, just asked that if you were a condo owner in Arlington and had a problem with roaches coming from common walls in a unit, not from inside the unit, and the Board hadn't done anything about it, who should you atlk to?)
This has to do with rats, but it has the contact info for the Environmental Health Bureau:
http://www.co.arlington.va.us/dhs/health/envhealth/faqs.htm#rats
Community Code Enforcement (phone numbers at bottom):
http://www.co.arlington.va.us/cphd/planning/code_enforcement/index.htm
Arlington Municipal Codes:
http://livepublish.municode.com/19/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=main-h.htm&vid=11749
(This is useful because it actually has all the ordinances -- I saw one for rat control but not specifically for roach control, but since you have a good legal mind, I think you can sift through these and find something that applies)
Arlington Environmental Health Bureau:
http://www.vdh.state.va.us/LHD/arlington/arlington.htm
http://www.vdh.state.va.us/LHD/mtrogers/environm.htm
http://www.vdh.state.va.us/oehs/03.htm
Document regarding cockroaches and asthma:
http://www.vdh.state.va.us/epi_news/mar01.pdf
Hope this helps . . . I don't have time to pursue it further, but at least this gives you a few people to harass!! ;)
-- Andi
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The big reddish/brown roaches are, I think, american cockroaches. They do fly, and can come in off of trees and such. We've been told they like cardboard and such. FWIW: http://www.pestproducts.com/american.htm
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I snorted Mountain Dew out of my nose when I reached the part about including the glue trap plus it's captured roaches with the letter.
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