big mice problem in rental - whos responsibility?

Just after a bit of advice about a huge mice problem we have in our rental. They are everywhere. They live in the oven (seriously there is mouse poo all over the bottom of my oven and in the grill!!) and in the walls behind the cupboards (there is a spot I see them run too at the pantry, but there is never any mouse poo in the actual pantry). There are so many we can sit here in the lounge quietly and they start to run across the kitchen floor. They also live in the heaters in the lounge room, so often run under our feet to the kitchen. There is mouse poo always along the walls of EVERY room in the house. All over the kitchen benches. We can clean it everyday but its all back again by next morning.
We have tried traps and poisons in the 3.5 years we have lived here. Warmer months arent so bad, but come the cold part of autumn through to spring its ridiculous. They have stopped going for traps atm which is a pain. We use peanut butter in them as when they do go for the traps we usually get 12+ mice in 2 days every few months, but never get rid of them completely.

As we're renting, for such a big problem who's responsibility does this then fall on? Us, or the landlord? Meet in the middle? I can call a pest guy, he could come set some poisons or whatever. It will do nothing as we have tried it all before (with professional poisons traps df can get from the pest guys at work). They are literally EVERYWHERE! And its really concerning me about the health impacts it could be having on my little family, especially ds 2.5 and soon to be bub #2.

Any help is appreciated, I really dont know where to go from here :/ Our real estate is very difficult unfortunately so if we need to contact them I dread it as they make things so difficult to get done (for example our fence is falling down but they say the landlord doesnt need to fix it as we have a dog so its our responsibility. Consumer affairs have said different haha)

Probably depends on how long you have been there.
If you have recently moved in I would think they have a responsibility to ensure the place is vermin free. After a while pest control becomes your responsibility and the landlord can take the cost of pest control from your bind if you leave an infestation behind.
If the fence was broken when you moved in and the landlord didn't agree to fix it prior to you signing the lease then they don't have to fix it.

Thanks Zazou. We've been here 3.5years haha, I'll give some pest control people a call and see what they can do.

And the fence blew completely down about 1.5 years ago, it took him 6 months to fix it. He only re-erected the fallen, rotten fence, so since then palings keep coming off and leaving big gaps in the fence. We've tried to put them back on but the fence is so old and rotted the nails split the wood and just fall out. We have a dog, who we have permission to have and he has been on the lease since we moved in. And we've been told that the landlord wont fix the fence properly until the dog goes, and suggested we erect a new fence. And then told us its because he wants to subdivide that he wont fix it now, despite the fact we're still tenants in the meantime. We've contacted consumer affairs about it and they've told us that its not our responsibility to fix/replace it nor can they demand the dog goes or else they wont fix it, and have sent us papers to serve them with a 14 day notice to do repairs. The property manager is verrrrry difficult, even with things like leaks in the roof & mould on the walls is a huge hassle and never gets seen to.

And we have tried moving, I've spent 3 months looking and applying at rentals but its very competitive here and I guess no one wants to take on a small growing family with an outside dog.

Having a dog is the thing that would be holding you back for rentals. Its almost impossible to rent with a dog.

As for the mice, if you were just moving/moved in it would be the land lords responsibility, but as you've been at the property a while, its now yours. Try finding the holes they are coming in & out of & block them up. The only way to keep them out is to stop them coming in. I use steel wool. They don't seem to be able to get through it. Our house has been fully renovated & we've just moved in, so haven't had any this winter, but next year I'm sure they'll be back.

Yep, sorry but unless you've just moved in any pest-type "infestation" is your responsibility.

The landlord is totally wrong about the fence. If there was a workable fence when you started renting, they have to keep it up, dog or no dog, subdivision or no subdivision. I reckon serve them the papers - and keep a blank copy of the papers so that next time they drag their heels you can get straight onto it.

Thanks everyone, I thought it would be the case but I wasnt sure so I am glad I asked :D

With moving I have figured it was our dog, we're applying for houses that specifically say "pets considered/outside dogs considered", but if we're up against people with no pets then of course we're going to lose out. We're waiting to hear on finance for a house & land package, so if we get that we just have to tough it out here until the house is built. If we dont get it, I have no idea what we are going to do. With all the issues, there is also not enough bedrooms for us & 2 kids. I really dont want to have to hide the dog, even though being honest is getting us nowhere. And I know people lie about pets all the time but I am not really comfortable doing that :/

And as for blocking the holes up.... omg the whole house would have to be redone LOL! Its an old house, there are cracks & holes in the walls/roofs everywhere so it'd be near on impossible to find all their ways in. It would not pass a building inspection if it were ever sold pmsl.

And with the fence we have been sitting on the papers for about a month but I think its time to serve them. When next door moved in a month ago (landlord also owns that house), the adjoining fence was still broken. So his handyman has tied bits of old wire fence, and a BIRD CAGE to the palings to make it "secure" so the dogs cant get through. Our back fence is also pretty bad, I've had to tie a random gate found alongside the shed over the worst bit as nothing will hold the palings in place, and have chicken wire along the rest (which is constantly falling down because the nails wont hold in the fence). The joints in the fence posts are also rotted out, the fence is barely standing. Im just not sure how to word it properly what we want done: a secure fence that isnt the old fence with bits & pieces added to it lol. Its not about the dog either, its the fact it makes the yard unsafe for my son to play in and also it makes our property unsecure. Consumer affairs have also said that if they refuse to do repairs or dont do them satisfactorily, they will then send someone out to investigate. They were so so helpful!

I agree & wouldn't even mention the dog as a concern. That is nothing compared to the safety of your child. That is what I'd be stressing when you talk to them. You moved into a house with a secure yard for your DS's safety & it is no longer safe for him.

Can you look more at houses out of town? If you've got a chance of going more to the outter area's, LL are less worried about dogs, because there's generally more room to entertain them, so less digging/barking & anything else that can be a nuisance.

Hi there, if you have signed a lease, but even if its just an ongoing tenancy after 3.5 years, the landlord is responsible for ensuring the house is safe and habitable. Mice poo in your house and especially in the oven is not safe, and if you were to have a community health worker come out to your home I'm sure they would back you up. You could and have probably tried baits etc yourself but obviously if they are everywhere then THE PROPERTY (not you and your family) has an infesation. I would be giving 14 days written notice for the landlord/agent to organise pest control or after which time that has not occured, you will be organising pest control of the property and yourself billing it to them. I'm in NSW, I wouldnt be putting up with it. Might be diffrent where you are in regards to the number of days you have lived there etc.
Sounds like the landlord/agent is just being plain lazy, it really gets my goat up lol

We had the same issue at our rental and it was awful. We've moved now and I didn't know what to do so we dwelt ith it ourselves but someone recently told me that if the mice can get in from outside ie, holes in house from bring old etc. it's the landlords issue not tenants. If its a new place and its not easy for the mice to get in from outside then it's tenant issue. I would be calling your agent and advising them that something needs to be done and soon, especially as it sounds like a health hazard.

I think that's a good point the others have brought up. Whilst you may be responsible for calling the pest control (not sure that you actually are, but you might), I would argue that it would be the landlords responsibility to ensure there weren't holes etc for the mice to get in and they should be responsible for repairing them. The fact is that if you did move out and even if they did charge you to have a pest person come in, it seems in reality the house would have mice in it again before someone else moved in meaning that surely they'd be responsible for fixing the situation.....

How did you go? Just read the bit about the fence- that is ridiculous!!!!! As if it is your problem, some people are morons.

Trying traps & baits again while I try to find a pest control company that does mice!

Another question re it not being the landlords problem.... what if there is a MASSIVE hole in the laundry wall (its on the condition report)?? Because they will quite easily get access to the house & walls via it. I heard them in the bloody walls last night! I honestly want to cry, my benches & oven are covered in poo again. I think I might call consumers affairs on Monday and get their thoughts, because honestly there is no way we can block access points to the house to stop them getting in as there are little cracks everywhere. There is a huge piece of wood missing at the top of the toilet wall, the windows in the laundry & spare room are 'layered'.... its hard to explain but there are about 3 panes of glass that open/close together, and even when shut there is a slight gap between panes.

Really want to move lol, and just deal with it afterwards if need be. Buuutttttt that wont happen because of the dog >.<