Landlord to pay $4,200 to tenant whose son was bitten by a rat
Feb. 16—The landlord of a rat-infested tenement in Manchester will pay nearly $4,200 to a tenant whose child was bitten by a rat in their apartment last month.
Lawyers for the landlord, the Nashua-based Hinch-Crowley Realty Associates, and the tenant, Congolese immigrant Tunda Mami, announced the deal at a hearing in Manchester District Court on Thursday.
Mami's 7-year-old son was bitten in her 127 Orange St. apartment on Jan. 27. In an interview outside the courtroom, Mami said her son can walk now and is trying to recover from the bite.
She and her four children are now sharing one room in a shelter.
"She wants to have an apartment where she can sit and read with her children," an interpreter said for Mami.
Mami appeared in court after filing a 540-A court petition, which allows tenants to bring a landlord to court over substandard conditions.
As part of the deal, Hinch-Crowley will pay Mami $2,900 and refund her $1,295 security deposit.
She will have until March 18 to claim any property in her apartment and won't be charged for disposal of whatever she abandons.
"It's better for everybody if we go there, clean it out and start all over," said Rob Crowley, owner of Hinch-Crowley.
He said grease was a problem in the apartment, and he can better clean everything with the apartment vacant.
Mami rejected any notion that her apartment and those of other tenants, many whom are immigrants and refugees, are dirty and draw rats.
"Her neighbors, they don't like the apartments because of the rats," the interpreter said. "They are clean, not dirty."
The interpreter, Alodie Gakwaya of Victory Women of Vision, said the International Institute of New England teaches refugee families about proper sanitation. Manchester health workers also try to reinforce the need for proper sanitation, she said.
A number of social workers were on hand to assist Mami and to interpret.
The International Institute of New England places newly arrived refugees in the complex. Critics of the landlord said the tenants are ideal because they are unfamiliar with laws and ways to advocate for themselves.
But Crowley said he had an exterminator visit the complex once a month until the rat population exploded in October.
Exterminators now visit three times a week and have removed 72 rats from the buildings and property, said Bedford lawyer Brian Shaughnessy, who represented Crowley.
"There is some infestation going on in that neighborhood," Shaughnessy said.
Crowley also emailed a reporter photos of what he said were rat burrows in neighboring properties to show rats are a problem at more than his apartment buildings.
The Manchester Department of Planning and Community Development, which enforces housing codes, has logged no complaints involving rats in nearby properties in the past year, said Director Jeff Belanger.
An ongoing problem at a Union Street property involves a few sightings of rats, Belanger said. The property involves trash in the exterior and a cluttered basement.
"Those issues were cleaned up, and extermination of rats has commenced," he wrote in an email.
The Manchester Health Department listed five instances of rat activity in the past two years:
* Cedar Street, August 2022: Rodent droppings detected. Property owner contracted with a pest-control company.
* Cambridge Court, June 2022: Complaint that excessive feeding of animals was attracting rats. City reached out to owner.
* Plummer Street, June 2022: Vacant property drawing litter, garbage, mosquito breeding and possible rats. Violation letters sent to owner; situation corrected that month.
* Anthony Street / Mammoth Road area, May 2022: Reports of rodent activity. Neighborhood outreach and canvassing; literature distributed. Health Department notifies code enforcement about problem dumpster.
* Stark Park area, June 2021: Reports of rats. Neighborhood outreach and canvassing; literature distributed. A chicken coop was referred to code enforcement.
