joh117

I am just looking for some advice. We moved into a rental property 13days ago. It is a really nice property however we have all been bitten by what I thought at first was mosquito's however we found a flea biting my 3yr old daughter yesterday.

Now I am freaked out and I am due to give birth anytime and there is no way I am bringing a newborn home to a flea infested home.

There is nothing in our rental agreement covering this however the owner who lived in the property until the day we moved in had two cats.

I have emailed the rental agent (their preferred method of contact) to see what they will do about this if anything.

What are our rights as tenants if any? I have tried to look on the net and cant seem to find anything.

There are a few ants in the house which I can live with even expect in this climate but I am not living with fleas.

Any advice appreciated

Jo

spartacus

Between tenants the pest man would generally be called to debug the house. Seems that didn't happen in your case. Get onto rental agents and ask to have house 'bombed'.

bcworld

I've been in exactly this same situation and it's horrible! I'd even be sitting at work and a flea would jump off me onto my desk!

The agent has to put this right I'm sure as it's a health issue. FWIW in my case as soon as informed the agent got right on it and within 2 days all was good. The owners were very embarassed and couldn't apologise enough...like your case they had just moved out and their cats were the culprits.

Petals

Not sure but the tenants union will be able to help you.

http://www.tuq.org.au/

Raid is a good spray which I use for my dogs and cats beds during the flea season. Fleas actually live in the soil and only go on the animals to bite them like us. So if there is a lot of dry sand, soil around that is what they love.

You can also get flea bombs in the supermarket I think.

Are you sure they are fleas and not biting midges.

joh117

Oh I am sure it is a flea bite. We have the evidence from the one my husband killed off my daughters skin. I made him keep it to show the agent if they wanted evidence.

There is soil under the house and there are no animals at the property now we dont have pets so they are surviving by biting us.

I am now constantly itching.

I hope I get a response soon from the agent. If they wont deal asap I will be bombing the house but I am going to have to leave the property and it is such an inconvience as I am so far on in my pregnancy I just want to rest.

Jo

Ozzy dog

Preferred method of contact - that is completely unacceptable! Yes back up any requests with an email but really.

Get on to them, get the house sprayed asap.

Good luck

T x

joh117

I know they even said it is not ideal to call in else I would as the person who is able to deal with your request may not be there so it would be a wasted trip.

I will give them a call now to see what they say

Bet i dont get past the receptionist

Jo

Ozzy dog

May be a situation where you sort out an exterminator to spray the entire property and argue the toss later. Insist and tell them you will involve the ombudsman and will go to doctors as its affecting your health. Demand to speak to the owner of the rental company - I would say your problem is urgent.

I would even ring your local MP which you should be able to find in the phone book if they are really unhelpful.

Take care and good luck.

T

jad n rich

You speak to the property manager. Back your compaint up with fax or email.

Property managers know blooming well loads of rentals have fleas:curse:, they also know flea season is just starting. They should organise registered pest control spray ASAP, providing of course you are OK with that being pregnant. Stay with a mates overnight perhaps. Dont be surprised as it warms up if they come back, fleas are very difficult to get rid of, just ask for re-spray.

joh117

The agent has come back and said they have put in a work order they are sending someone out on wed morning.

Lets hope they get rid of the things!!

Jo

haggis supper

In my experience of rental in Melbourne the Landlord or Estate Agent will probably charge you for either sub letting or for keeping pets

joh117

We are not subletting or keeping pets. We have a flea infestation which thank goodness they are dealing with.

Jo

ABCDiamond

I bought a property to let out a couple of years ago, and the previous owners had a dog, obviously with fleas I found out later!

I had 20 or 30 bites on each leg after an afternoon cleaning the property.

We had a pest control come out to specifically deal with fleas, and he got rid of them permanently, although it did take a few days for them all to die off completely. The garden was full of them.

Make sure the pest controller knows it is for fleas, as normal pest control stuff may not work.

A quick answer is to get a dog. They then get the flea attention !

Petals

Glad the agent is fixing it. Take photos of anything that is wrong with the property.

Geelong Gent

I think his point was in jest at agents ie

Fleas being kept as pets or as subtenants