AUSTELL, Ga. — Rats and fleas have invaded a local home and the renter says she's stuck. The mother told Channel 2’s Carl Willis she can't come to terms with the landlord despite the conditions.
Code enforcement and pest control both found issues with holes throughout the property, causing too many entry points for roof rats.
The mother says they've come too close to her kids.
Tammy Byam said the landlord has trapped at least three rats.
She walked Willis through the home she's renting in Austell. She refuses to stay in the home with her children after too many encounters with the rodents.
"My daughter would hear them in the middle of the night and she would text me to come get her out of the room," Byam said. "We go to my room to go to sleep and we hear a rat (sniffing) by the door. Once we heard that, that was my last night."
The problem, Byam believes, is the landlords knew about the conditions and said now they're refusing to return her rent and deposit so she can move her family to another home.
"If you knew all that stuff was going on you should have explained that to me. And assured me that you had everything taken care of,” Byam told Willis.
Willis spoke with the homeowners over the phone Thursday. They admit code enforcement told them they need to block up several holes in the home. They say they worked on the home for a month and claim they believed it was ready for a tenant.
But Byam said the presence of roof rats and fleas suggests otherwise. She said the fleas were all over her son.
"The Orkin guy said the fleas are coming from the rodents. They're feeding off of that because I don't have an animal," Byam said.
The mother said she's had to pay for room and board elsewhere. The landlords say they have offered to return money once she's out.
"But how am I going to move without my money?" Byam told Willis. "Nobody should have to live like that, especially with children. It's unhealthy."
The landlords also point to the abandoned home next door as part of the problem.
The tenant has filed a claim. The landlords declined an interview but say they are willing to let this play out in court.
Cox Media Group
