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by bluebxrry 4 days ago
> The recurring leak might not be the author's fault, but the... roaches in the kitchen definitely are

"Definitely"? A unit can look clean after treatment while still being mid-cycle. Rent it during that window and the roaches come back through no fault of the tenant.

It wouldn't even be that crazy to postulate the life-cycle of a roach could track the 2-Year Apartment Rule (minus any residual effects of the extermination).

I don’t know how you get a moral judgement out of this article. That's misdirected blame. It pressures tenants into staying quiet or spraying their own units for a building-level problem.

edit:

From this article on the American Cockroach https://www.canr.msu.edu/resources/american-cockroach

> Development to adult averages about 15 months, varying between 9-1/2 to 20 months.

> Buildings with multiple dwellings usually require the treatment of each unit.

This pretty much contradicts blaming the tenant and the roach development aligns with the 2-Year Apartment Rule. It says apartments usually require each unit to be treated. That means no single tenant can do that. That makes it a building-level infestation by definition.

1 comments

> "Definitely"? A unit can look clean after treatment while still being mid-cycle. Rent it during that window and the roaches come back through no fault of the tenant.

"A unit" can, sure. But, "every apartment I've ever lived in"... come on! From TFA:

> I've noticed this myself with every apartment I've ever lived in. Things start off fine, but then mold starts growing in the bathroom, and a recurring leak springs up in the living room, and then roaches start appearing in the kitchen.

If this doesn't set off all the alarm bells, I don't know what does.

I'd extend some good faith to someone reporting a potential community health problem. And roaches in a kitchen isn't a smoking gun. Roach bait is food. Poisoned food, but food. You put it in the kitchen on purpose. Next to the food. That is how it works.