Landlord under city scrutiny as tenants battle rat infestation
Feb. 11—A rat infestation in a Manchester tenement complex has persisted for three months despite city scrutiny, with a child living in one of the apartments suffering a possible rat bite in late January, according to city records.
Residents say they hear rats at night crawling on top of suspended ceilings and gnawing inside walls. They credit cats for keeping the rodents at bay.
The residents say their landlord is not doing enough to address problems — trash, rat holes, damaged walls — that allow rats to propagate in the four-building complex. Their complaints are backed up by exterminators hired by the landlord.
"These are big old city rats. They're brazen," said Heather Waterman, who lives in a second-floor apartment at 131 Orange St. "I've cried over it. We've called the city. We've done everything we can do."
The city has known about the rats since mid-November, when an inspector recorded problems, according to city records. Inspectors have told the landlord to bring in an exterminator, but the infestation has continued.
The problem ramped up in late January, when city health officials received reports that a child living at one of the four buildings in the complex suffered a possible rat bite, according to an email exchange that city inspectors provided to the New Hampshire Union Leader.
Michael Michelle, who lives in the four-building complex, said his 7-year-old cousin was bitten on the foot. The boy didn't wash his hands before going to bed, and he believes food smells drew the rat, Michelle said.
"Sometimes we hear them climbing up our bed," said Michelle, who is 11 and attends Webster School. A teacher at his cousin's school helped move the family into a hotel, he said.
School district officials are aware of complaints about the property, according to spokesman Andrew Toland, who confirmed that students lived there.
Toland said that after school social workers visited the location, officials filed reports with the city's code enforcement division and referred families to legal resources.
Problems noted in November
The city has told the landlord — the Nashua-based Hinch-Crowley Realty Associates — that the issue requires immediate attention. But 10 days after the bite, the extermination company hired by the landlord reported that ongoing conditions at the buildings were conducive to high levels of rat populations.
"It's unbelievable, unbelievable," said Alderman Patrick Long, whose Ward 3 includes the properties. He was aware of the rat problems but did not know about the bite until told by a reporter.
"If the Health Department says there is a potential danger, we need to move them out," Long said.
On its website, Hinch-Crowley calls itself a premier real estate firm that provides investment opportunities in multi-family properties, property management and other real-estate related services. It lists 39 properties that it manages but does not include the Orange Street tenements.
"As far as we know about it, this is a citywide problem, and we'd refer you to pest-control experts," said Jennifer Donnaruma, Hinch-Crowley's direction of operations. "We're doing all we can."
She said she would pass a reporter's telephone number to her supervisor, but no call followed.
City records show problems with the property have persisted, even after the reported bite.
—On Jan. 26, the day before the bite report, a city code enforcement inspector making a follow-up inspection at 127 Orange St. logged 57 violations, including trash, damaged screens, damaged and rotting walls, missing doors and ceiling tiles, and evidence of cockroaches, mice and rats. City inspectors first visited the complex on Nov. 18 and found 60 violations then, according to Kevin Dionne, Manchester code enforcement supervisor.
—On Feb. 2, six days after the bite report, an inspector from A1 Exterminators wrote that trash should be removed from the grounds. Inspection of the basements found no change in previous conditions. "Effective pest control starts with repairs that are allowing conditions to remain," the report read. Sixteen rats were caught in traps.
—On Feb. 6, 10 days after the bite report, the same A1 inspector recommended that excessive trash be removed from three of the four buildings. He said the foundation should be sealed and rat holes plugged, and trash, old furniture and building supplies should be removed because they harbored rodents. "The overall conditions of the buildings, basements and grounds are conducive to high levels of rat populations," the report read. It also said that the maintenance worker was not on-site during inspections, which hindered extermination efforts. Four rats were caught in traps.
An uncommon infestation
Dionne said this is the first rat infestation he can recall in his 14 years with the city. Dionne said the city can assess fines if the landlord does not address a rat problem satisfactorily.
The city has issued two violation notices, and Hinch-Crowley is treating the property three times a week, Dionne said. He said he is working with the inspector and speaking to the landlord to make sure treatments continue and documents are filed.
However, when a reporter and photographer visited the property last week, some outside trash cans were overflowing, hallways were dirty, and exterior doors did not latch.
In December, Manchester aldermen toughened the city ordinance addressing vermin and pests. The revised ordinance calls for prompt extermination and stresses that the owner is responsible for any remediation when defects in the structure cause the problem.
The complex involves four buildings with a total of 22 apartments, residents said. The buildings share a driveway, where litter collects and trash cans stand, some overflowing. The buildings are older and wood-framed.
Jeff Zeke lives in a second-floor apartment in 127 Orange, across the hall from where the rat bite was reported.
Zeke said he keeps his apartment clean, and he buys rat repellents and sets them out in his apartment.
"They're everywhere," he said of the rats. "They come and treat it, but there's a lot more they could do."
Zeke said he pays $1,500 a month for a three-bedroom, one-bath apartment. He said he believes the landlord favors renting to immigrants who aren't aware of their rights and don't know whom to call for help.
Residents fear for health
Waterman said she has lived in her apartment for seven years.
The rent for their three-bedroom apartment rose $400 last year to $1,450, and another $100 increase takes effect next month, the same month her federal COVID-pandemic rental assistance is expected to end.
It's hard to find three-bedroom apartments anywhere in the city, she said. The rats started to be a problem in the fall, she said.
People come through — she showed a reporter business cards from Dionne and a state lead inspector — but nothing seems to change, she said.
Meanwhile, she worries about exposure of her children to hantavirus and other rat-borne illnesses.
"The landlords don't have any accountability," she said, "and if the buildings deteriorate, the city deteriorates."
