Location: Austin, TX. I feel like obviously my apartments failed to provide a safe and habitable environment.
I moved into my apartments end of December, 2024. And, for the record, I have always paid rent in full and on time. Along with so many other problems, I noticed pretty quickly there were raccoons living in the walls of my apartment. I found out where they were getting in, and I submitted a maintenance/pest control request through the resident portal.
The request was deleted without any explanation, so I asked them what was going on. They said they would have to reach out to a 3rd party pest control company for a job like this and to give them time to find someone. I said okay.
Weeks went by and I got no updates, so I asked again what was going on. They said they couldn't find where the access points were. I said they should have asked me, because I knew where they were. I emailed photos to them.
I asked them for updates again later. They said they were waiting for bids from different pest control companies. Every time I asked, they said they were still waiting.
As the months were passing by, and with a bunch of other bullshit going on, I realized they were giving me the run around. (In this time they tried to simply block off the hole the raccoons had dug to be able to crawl under the building and get to the crawl space....which only resulted in the raccoons digging more holes....)
I sent a letter by certified mail to the office with, among other things, a demand that they fix the raccoon problem. I explained how it was not only a noise issue, but it was a health and safety issue, because the raccoons were contributing to a flea infestation that was going on in my apartment at the time, and I had heard them killing squirrels inside the crawl space. The apartments emailed me a response saying they were still waiting for bids. I replied back asking why it was taking so long. It had been about 6 months at that point. They never replied. I sent other emails after that. All went ignored. (I've kept record of the emails and the letter)
I felt like i could have broken my lease here, but unfortunately I didn't have money at the time to move. I was halfway through my lease anyway, so I just decided to save up money to move at the end of my lease.
Three weeks ago, the access panel to the HVAC caved in and the biggest fucking raccoon I'd ever seen fell in with it. This was in the bathroom, everything fell into the shower, so luckily I was home and able to lock it in and get my animals out of there.
The apartments finally got pest control out here, but just for this raccoon, which was certainly not the only raccoons in my walls.
I'm moving this week, but I can't help but be anxious. My apartment never reached out after the raccoon incident. I figured maybe they were willing to let things go quietly. I would move out and everything would be fine.
But the other day they sent me an email reminding me to clean my apartment before I leave and give them a forwarding address in case they need to bill me for anything.
I don't plan on doing either of those things. I haven't even been able to use that shower for the past few weeks for fear that the access panel will cave in again under the weight of another raccoon.
But this is making me anxious that they are going to pretend they didnt ignore their legal obligations and violate my rights as a tenant.
I thought about maybe telling them outright that I will not be giving them another cent after I move out, but friends have told me not to do this, because landlords are spiteful and might come after me just to try me.
I've tried to talk to lawyers throughout all this, and I haven't been able to get a consultation with one. I've been told I don't qualify for legal aid free/low cost services, I've been scammed by one of those monthly legal subscription middlemen services, and every time I try to get a consultation I've been told "our law firm isn't accepting those kinds of cases at the moment, so we can't give you a consultation."
I just want to be sure I'm not missing something, that there isn't anything crucial I should have done to protect myself in case these apartments try to come after me with move out charges or damages that I don't feel I should have to pay.
Please help....
Have you complained about raccoons since pest control showed up?
No. I've always known there were multiple raccoons, I complained about raccoons plural when I made my original pest control requests. Idk, I just figured with the damage being so obvious and with only a few weeks left before moving, I didn't know what the point was....
I wouldn't say anything up front. Keep all correspondence about the pest control problem, including a receipt or acknowledgement of service from the pest control company if you have one. Clean the place up as you would anyway before moving out. Do a video walkthrough to figure out any items that still need to be touched up. Reddit will have good advice for handling that.
Let the landlord decide whether to screw you out of your deposit. If they do, challenge it in court. You have a video walkthrough and communication about an ongoing pest problems that the landlord let sit for months. When asked, ask the property manager in front of the judge: "Can you prove that these damages are from me, or from the ongoing raccoon infestation (including intrusion into the home!) that you let linger for months?"
Let the landlord do the right thing or not. You have everything you need to hang them out to dry and get triple your damages if they want to go that route. It might mean dealing with small claims court.