My family had decided to move into an apartment to save on utility bills and other expenses. As we lived in Friendswood and did not want to have to relocate our children to new schools, we were overjoyed when we found Salem Square.
It did not look fancy, but it looked clean, the residents seemed relaxed, and so we decided to move in. We paid the deposit, and the application fee for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath apartment. When we recieved notice that the approval process was complete, we paid 2 weeks rent and signed the lease.
AFTER we had signed the last page of the lease, the manager tells us "My boys (what she called the repairmen) found a couple of very small roaches in your unit. I wanted to let you know ahead of time and tell you that there has NEVER been a roach problem here. We have someone who sprays every Tuesday." We should have run at that exact moment.
We were also told, after signing the papers, that the unit would not be available for another day or two, but we could certainly move our things in regardless, because the manager trusted "her boys." Well, she might, we did not, and so we did not move in for another 2 days.
Before moving in, we purchased 6 roach bombs. We detonated them into the apartment before moving in so much as one box. Six, for those who are not aware, is about 2 too many for an apartment this size.
This was the end of day 2.
The next day as we moved things in, we noticed roaches still walking down the walls and perching on the tops of the doorways. We went back to the store and bought a liquid poison that we had used to keep bugs out of our previous home which was in an area that had trouble with fire ants. I sprayed every wall, the entire way around, even in door hinges and the cracks where the carpet didn't quite meet the walls.
This was the end of day 3.
We decided to wait it out, and try to move. We photographed roaches everywhere. They crawled out of the dishwasher door, into sealed containers of food, my fiance's mouthguard case, into the microwave control panel, and even across the stove *while I was cooking.*
My fiance and I decided that night that we were most definitely moving out.
We arrived home the next evening after work to find the carpets torn up through the dining room, living room and bedroom. There were huge, rusty fans sitting under the carpets, and another large, rusty fan with a jagged edge, blocking the hallway to the bathroom. I called my daughter who had gone into her room and closed the door to wait for us. She could not get by the fan to use the restroom and as our home phone was not hooked up, she could not call us either. We were not notified of any of this and my child was left unattended with rusty metal and opened carpet knives laying under the carpet.
We left the apartment that night and moved back to the previous residence where we thankfully still were able to stay through the end of the month. We then moved all our belongings out of the apartment, left a letter along with the keys demanding our deposit be returned within ten days, and canceled the rent check. We also noticed and photographed, mildew and mold growing in the walls before we even got our things fully removed and AFTER the carpet had been replaced. We couldn't have been more pleased to get out of there.
We have heard no response on the matter. We are debating pursuing this in court. We do feel that the law is on our side. From what I have read about TX law in this matter, the apartment complex should return all our funds to us immediately.
We have enough evidence that if this matter takes us to court, the apartment complex will be the ones paying. The only thing I couldn't get were the live roaches themselves. Hopefully the judge will like the picture of the one staring at us from the top of the sealed spaghetti container.
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