I’d love to get some help if anyone knows how to handle flea situations with landlords. I signed a 1-year contract with my landlord and gave a security deposit when I got here in August 2011. However, with the recently developing flea situation in my room, I’d like to move out and find a new place. Is there a way to get the security deposit back if I breach the 1-year contract? Does anyone have legal advice for this?
In the past 2-3 weeks, I’ve gotten an increasing amount of flea bites and have actually seen some fleas jump on and off me. They were most likely brought in through the wild/stray cat that sometime rested on the furniture pile my landlord had outside my window. I’ve fumigated my room multiple times, but I still get flea bites! I’m pretty allergic and sensitive to mosquito/flea/insect bites so this flea situation is pretty bad for me. I’m at my wit’s end about what to do. My landlord (who lives with me) refuses to fumigate the whole house. She thinks that because I’m the only one bitten, it’s only in my room. However the exterminators I’ve called have all said that fleas don’t stay in one place. Maybe they’ll only bite me, but they’re all over the house.
I’m considering moving out, but would like to know if there’s a way to get the security deposit back. Please let me know! I’d appreciate any advice! Thanks!
I had a similar problem when I was in Taiwan. I had pet a stray dog, and a flea jumped on me. I didn’t realize till I got home, and I sat on the bed. It must have laid eggs in the bed because I would get 5-10 new bites a night, and boy did they hurt. I had to throw out the whole bed.
The problem is that fumigation really won’t work because that only kills the adult flea, but the eggs in the bed are not affected at all. They hatch when you lie down on the bed at night, as the heat and vibration cause them to hatch. To kill them, usually you need to put borax powder on the bed, and then use the vacuum over the bed or carpet. Its a real pain in the butt.
You absolutely cannot just fumigate the home and expect them to go away unfortunately.
Talk to your landlord, be polite, tell him the problem. Do not say that you brought in the fleas. If your landlord is not old and grumpy, you should be able to resolve amicably either by getting back the deposit and move out or landlord will get rid of the fleas.
Definitely feel you right now! The fleas won’t stop biting me and it’s driving me crazy! I tried the borax powder but I don’t think it got to the baby fleas/larvae in time. I did a combination of fogger + spray that has IGR (insect growth repellent) for the past 4 days and I’ll return back to my room later this week to check it out. Even if the fleas DO go away, I’m considering moving out because of the all chemicals I’ve sprayed in my room and on my mattress (my room doesn’t have good air circulation either).
Thanks Isha for your advice!
I’ve talked to my landlords about the problem and she acknowledges it could be from the stray cat outside my window. She still refuses to get the whole house cleaned/fumigated though. Do you have any recommendations on how to bring up the moving-out subject to my landlord and getting back my deposit? I’m a lot younger than her (fresh college graduate) so my co-workers have said to bring an older adult with me to give me some seniority-level. My co-workers will also be more persuasive and they speak more fluent Chinese than me. I’ve also gotten a doctor’s notice saying I’m very “sensitive” to insect/mosquito/flea bites. My landlords also seem a bit less flexible. They’r quite nice people, but if they’re unwilling to fumigate the whole house, I’m wondering how likely they are to give me back my deposit.
Bringing an older person with you is a very good idea. Choose an older taiwanese person. You can also ask help from your teachers. They can call your landlady, explain the problem that you need move out and would like to get the deposit back. You can show the doctor’s note too. I think your landlord will return the deposit as it is a genuine problem.
The reason why many landlords do not take care of their rented houses (or reduce the rent)is because they are already rich enough to survive without this extra income.
You can just fumigate with a smoke bomb. Get a bottle of Advantage Spray. Spray the entire affected area. You can bomb again a week later and spray again and you should be good. The smoke bomb kills all adults in hard to reach places. The spray will kill eggs, larvae and everything else. It’s not really that difficult to get rid of all your fleas. Roaches, on the other hand are nearly impossible if you are infested. So, if you really like your place, it’s not a hard fix. That bottle of Advantage, sold at most large pet stores costs 850 a pop and you may need 2 bottles. You may be able to get reimbursed by the landlord for that. I don’t think borax works for fleas, only roaches.
I didn’t know fleas could survice on human blood for long.
I’ve taken fleas home a few times over the years. Usually after being in a local Chungho park, or cleaning out my old garage which cats had nested in. We had fleas for a few days each time, and then they just seemed to die off.
My favorite weapons against fleas: white vinegar -the local one, no soft puff puff Heinz- and the vaccum cleaner. Use hot water and/or vinegar on clothes, drapes, mattresses and all bed sheets/bed spreads. That gets rid of eggs -so you won’t have to start anew with your wardrobe. Vaccum cleaner gets rid of eggs.
Get the cats to stay away with orange peels and vinegar spray.
Hope you find a better place soon, anyway. And get your money back. Hint: it is easier if you already have a new tenant for the place…
Hey guys I’m not sure if I somehow managed to brings fleas back into my home today. There’s a feral cat that lives near my apartment, I walled past him and he was pretty close to me (standing by the door way). After my jog I took a shower and put my clothes on my computer chair. Afterwards when I sat on the chair it felt really itchy but I didn’t find any of those fleas. Then 4 hours later when I concluded nothing was wrong I’m almost certain I saw something black jump when I scratched my belly. I got it but I couldn’t tell if it was a bug or just dust particles, maybe I grabbed too quickly because it wasn’t moving. Sadly my evidence fell to the floor and I couldn’t further exmanine it.
Anyways im not sure how to detect them if there numbers are small. But I want to find and kill them if they are in my home. Any good signs to know if you brought in fleas?
[quote=“Rabidpie”]Hey guys I’m not sure if I somehow managed to brings fleas back into my home today. There’s a feral cat that lives near my apartment, I walled past him and he was pretty close to me (standing by the door way). After my jog I took a shower and put my clothes on my computer chair. Afterwards when I sat on the chair it felt really itchy but I didn’t find any of those fleas. Then 4 hours later when I concluded nothing was wrong I’m almost certain I saw something black jump when I scratched my belly. I got it but I couldn’t tell if it was a bug or just dust particles, maybe I grabbed too quickly because it wasn’t moving. Sadly my evidence fell to the floor and I couldn’t further exmanine it.
Anyways im not sure how to detect them if there numbers are small. But I want to find and kill them if they are in my home. Any good signs to know if you brought in fleas?[/quote]
Usually the spot where you are itching turns into a welt mark where they bite. If you are just generally itchy, it probably isn’t fleas if there is no accompanying welt mark.
When you get an infestation you know because they usually bite the calf of the leg, and you will get multiple bites.
Is the floor near your computer chair tile or carpet?
My experience is that when you grab a flea, it bites the everliving shit out of you, and you can feel it kicking like mad. They are almost impossible to kill unless you squeeze them between your fingernails, HARD. So, it was probably just dust.
Ah ok, thanks for the responses guys. I definitely don’t have fleas then.
The itchiness was most likely due to the towel i was using. It really needs to get washed, so I changed and the itchyness went away. Hehe, simple enough.
When I was here 3 years ago, I got fleas from a passing stray dog that I was playing with. I determined that I would keep a very good distance away from stray dogs this time around.
Fast forward to recently, I went to a scooter shop to buy a scooter. Their pet dog jumped up on me, and surprise surprise, fleas came home with me again. They seem to be attracted to by blood.
I bought a chemical spray and sprayed the crap out of the apartment (not healthy i know). I had also bought salt and added it to hot water in a sprayer and sprayed the matress down where they are. I then didn’t get bit for about 2 weeks, but again last night got multiple bites again so I think there must be eggs in the mattress.
Now from what I read before, sprays kill only the adult flea but not the eggs which hatch later. Someone mentioned advantage spray but I assume this doesn’t kill the adults if what I was reading is correct. I tried to buy boric acid or pengsuan as they call it in Mandarin, and no one seems to know where to buy this. And lastly I looked to pick up a vacuum at Carrefour and the vacuums here don’t seem to have bristles that would remove the eggs, just suction.
Has anyone had any success at removing fleas, or knows exactly what to do to kill em?
[quote=“dan2006”]Ok, this topic comes alive again for me
When I was here 3 years ago, I got fleas from a passing stray dog that I was playing with. I determined that I would keep a very good distance away from stray dogs this time around.
Fast forward to recently, I went to a scooter shop to buy a scooter. Their pet dog jumped up on me, and surprise surprise, fleas came home with me again. They seem to be attracted to by blood.
I bought a chemical spray and sprayed the crap out of the apartment (not healthy I know). I had also bought salt and added it to hot water in a sprayer and sprayed the matress down where they are. I then didn’t get bit for about 2 weeks, but again last night got multiple bites again so I think there must be eggs in the mattress.
Now from what I read before, sprays kill only the adult flea but not the eggs which hatch later. Someone mentioned advantage spray but I assume this doesn’t kill the adults if what I was reading is correct. I tried to buy boric acid or pengsuan as they call it in Mandarin, and no one seems to know where to buy this. And lastly I looked to pick up a vacuum at Carrefour and the vacuums here don’t seem to have bristles that would remove the eggs, just suction.
Has anyone had any success at removing fleas, or knows exactly what to do to kill em?[/quote]
The Advantage spray is great stuff. It kills fleas in EVERY stage of their life cycle from eggs to larva to adult. The smoke bomb is just insurance. It’ll kill the guys that jumped behind your fridge or under your dresser that the spray cannot reach.
[quote=“kaikai34”][quote=“dan2006”]Ok, this topic comes alive again for me
When I was here 3 years ago, I got fleas from a passing stray dog that I was playing with. I determined that I would keep a very good distance away from stray dogs this time around.
Fast forward to recently, I went to a scooter shop to buy a scooter. Their pet dog jumped up on me, and surprise surprise, fleas came home with me again. They seem to be attracted to by blood.
I bought a chemical spray and sprayed the crap out of the apartment (not healthy I know). I had also bought salt and added it to hot water in a sprayer and sprayed the matress down where they are. I then didn’t get bit for about 2 weeks, but again last night got multiple bites again so I think there must be eggs in the mattress.
Now from what I read before, sprays kill only the adult flea but not the eggs which hatch later. Someone mentioned advantage spray but I assume this doesn’t kill the adults if what I was reading is correct. I tried to buy boric acid or pengsuan as they call it in Mandarin, and no one seems to know where to buy this. And lastly I looked to pick up a vacuum at Carrefour and the vacuums here don’t seem to have bristles that would remove the eggs, just suction.
Has anyone had any success at removing fleas, or knows exactly what to do to kill em?[/quote]
The Advantage spray is great stuff. It kills fleas in EVERY stage of their life cycle from eggs to larva to adult. The smoke bomb is just insurance. It’ll kill the guys that jumped behind your fridge or under your dresser that the spray cannot reach.[/quote]
Thanks KaiKai… Ill have to look around for a pet store in Kaohsiung now that sells it. I guess I will have to really spray down the mattress. I guess afterward I would have to wash it with soap and water so I don’t get poisoned myself.
As I am typing this, another flea tried to bite by leg. I can’t see the suckers but I can feel them.
