While mice in apartments are possible and often a common irritant in many parts of the nation, long-lasting issues (problems lasting over several months) with mice are often a result of a combination of tenant cleanliness and poor management.
The best apartment management companies handle mice issues quickly and proactively to prevent ongoing issues. It can take several treatments to get rid of mice especially if the source of the problem is outside of your apartment. Trained exterminators and a committed management team should be able to resolve the problem.
Finding an apartment without mice usually goes hand in hand with finding a good apartment building. Below are some questions you can ask to help find an apartment without mice. Alternatively, check out the video below for a quick summary.
1. Do you seal all windows and doors, lines, and roof holes?
Find out the management company’s policy for sealing all open areas like doors, windows, soffits, roof lines and holes so you are aware of how they manage extermination problems and prevention. Do the outside doors appear to close tightly? Do the windows close tightly?
2. Do you have a professional exterminator on call?
A good management company has an on-call professional exterminator that is available to quickly respond to reported problems and performs routine preventive services several times a month for the apartment community. Preventing problems from occurring, and quick action by a trained professional exterminator can prevent a mouse problem from spreading and recurring.
3. Is there a plan to remove mice?
Some apartment management companies have an extermination vendor that visits the community several times a month, and a plan of action that includes treatment and follow-up services to make sure the problem is timely and permanently resolved. Find out if the apartment building you are looking at has regularly scheduled extermination services, or only hires an exterminator as the need arises.
4. Is the building well-built and damage-free?
Damaged or poorly built buildings are likely to have structural issues and holes, which are exactly the kind of spaces mice need to get into apartments. Look for visible signs of damage like missing siding, small gaps when the exterior doors close. You don’t need to be an expert to see if the building looks to be in good condition and well-maintained.
5. Will the apartment management company organize a treatment plan straight away?
Just responding to a reported mice problem by management is not enough. You will want to make sure the landlord has regularly scheduled treatments for small extermination problems, special service dates for larger problems, and that there is a trained licensed exterminator. It’s unlikely your typical maintenance man (or woman) will resolve a mouse or other extermination problem.
6. Does the management company have a reputation for being responsive to complaints?
Nobody wants to share their living space with mice, so will the apartment company do what it takes to get rid of the source to prevent a future issue? A management company that does a poor job in servicing general maintenance complaints likely does a poor job in resolving mice problems.
Finally, you, as a tenant, must be willing to do everything possible to eliminate the problem of mice entering the apartment by keeping the house clean, keeping food in tightly closed containers, cleaning floors, and taking out your trash regularly.
