(WSVN) - Just saying the word makes some people squeamish — roaches. Now imagine them running around your nice, clean house. You suspect they are coming from the apartment next door, but what can you do about it? One solution — call Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
When Lisa was looking for a condo, she hoped for a few things, like water.
Lisa Brousseau, battling roaches: “I love it. It’s paradise here. We are surrounded with water. It’s a really nice complex to be in.”
Something else at her Aventura complex caught her eye — it’s neat and clean, just like her.
Lisa Brousseau: “I’m super clean. I’m clean, very clean.”
Unfortunately, she says one neighbor must not be as clean, and in South Florida, you know what that can mean…
Lisa Brousseau: “The first time I saw something, I said, ‘Oh my God, that’s a roach.” So, one! OK, I saw one. I said OK, don’t panic.”
The condo association came over and sprayed, but the roaches soon returned.
Lisa Brousseau: “Every night, every night, I see roaches. It’s embarrassing.”
Lisa checked with her neighbors who told her they were having a roach problem as well.
Lisa Brousseau: “The one upstairs has some, the one downstairs, she has some too, so it’s coming from somewhere.”
And then Lisa went to talk to her next door neighbor.
Lisa Brousseau: “He had like 100 coming out from the kitchen cabinets. He said he never saw that. C’mon. I’m freaking out!”
Lisa says she asked her neighbor how often he cleaned his place.
Lisa Brousseau: “From his apartment, he hasn’t cleaned since three years and he is saying, ‘I don’t have to clean because I don’t open the window, and I don’t cook.'”
Lisa’s association has a pest control service that sprays each apartment, but she says her neighbor is not always home when they spray.
Lisa Brousseau: “They don’t want to go into the apartment if someone say they don’t want to, except if it’s an emergency.”
Cockroaches and Lisa’s nice clean condo … it’s not a good combination for her.
Lisa Brousseau: “I don’t live that way. I don’t want to see not even one.”
Howard, if you think a neighbor is causing infestation problem, what can you do?
Howard Finkelstein, 7News legal expert: “First of all, each resident has the legal obligation to avoid causing harm to their neighbor and that means they have to allow pest control into their unit to avoid roaches, rats or other pests. If the neighbor does not allow that, the association cannot go into the unit, and they have to get a court order to enter the apartment.”
We spoke to the president of Point East Condominium, who was very helpful.
He told us they don’t think the problem is coming from Lisa’s neighbor, that his apartment is very clean.
But to make Lisa happy, instead of spraying her unit, they are going to use foggers to fumigate, which means everyone around her has to leave their units for a few hours.
If that doesn’t work, the condo president said they will then fumigate the neighbor that Lisa says has the roach problem…
Howard Finkelstein: “It’s nice that the association is working this out, and it brings up the point about when you can enter a condo or apartment. No one has the right to enter your unit without your permission unless it’s an emergency, like a fire, a busted water pipe or someone in danger.”
Lisa Brousseau: “I am very happy.”
Lisa is happy with her association and the people from Help Me Howard…
Lisa Brousseau: “And I tell all my friends if you need help, call them because they are great and they do everything to help you.”
Lisa should be our PR agent … glad she is happy now. And Howard says unless it’s an emergency, they can’t enter your condo or apartment without your permission. If they do, that’s trespassing and it’s a crime. If you think someone is coming in, set up a camera to catch them.
Got a problem bugging you? Ready to exterminate the headache. Contact us. We won’t be a pest but we will get Howard to spray a little legal knowledge around.
CONTACT HELP ME HOWARD:
Email: helpmehoward@wsvn.com
Reporter: Patrick Fraser at pfraser@wsvn.com
Miami-Dade: 305-953-WSVN
Broward: 954-761-WSVN
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