Snakes invade ceiling of family’s rental house, landlord allegedly says it’s not his problem

Nearly every homeowner at some point has to deal with a pest problem. Usually, those problems are minor – maybe some ants or flies indoors. One animal most of us don’t have to (and never want to have to) deal with in our house is snakes. For a family living in Georgia, this nightmare is a daily reality. (1)

Snakes Invaded This Family’s Ceiling, And Their Landlord Won’t Help

When the Pugliese family moved into their new home in Lafayette, Georgia, they never could have imagined the nightmare they would have to live out. Among the myriad of problems was a leaky roof, rats, bees, and cockroaches; however, the family recently discovered another type of vermin sharing their space: Snakes. (1)

Starting in February, the Pugliese family began calling the landlord to fix a leaking roof. He initially said he didn’t have the funds to do so. After calling him 30 or 40 times, he finally “fixed” it again – only to have it begin leaking again. On top of this, they had rats and cockroach problems from the day they moved in— all of which the landlord was in denial about. The snakes coming out of the ceiling were the family’s final straw. They are currently facing eviction because they refuse to pay rent until these problems are fixed. (1)

“He acts like he doesn’t care,” Susan Pugliese said of their landlord. “He said, ‘Well, if there are snakes in the ceiling, they’ll be taking care of the rats.'” (1)

SNAKES ALIVE! A LaFayette man shared pictures with us of snakes in the ceiling of his rental home.@BlissZechman shares more: https://t.co/VwYnlZo6LR

— WTVC NewsChannel 9 (@newschannelnine) May 25, 2021

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The Landlord’s Response

Though the family says he initially denied the rats, he then told them to take care of the problem themselves and get traps and poison. He later said that he didn’t know that there were rats in the house but that there are rats everywhere, so he’s not surprised. He also did nothing about the bee infestation, claiming the reason he wasn’t doing anything about it was because they’re endangered. (1)

“I would hate to disturb the bees because it’s getting hard to even raise bees. Bees are becoming extinct and that is a strong hive.” (1)

According to him, he doesn’t believe that humans have any other choice but to learn to live with insects, rodents, and vermin. (1)

Next Steps

The Pugliese family contacted the Codes Enforcement Department and protested by not paying rent. Unfortunately, that decision might actually end up hurting their case. (2)

“Under Georgia law, tenants don’t have too many rights,” said Georgia State law professor Lauren Sudeall. (2)

That being said, she did say that if the conditions of the home were as bad as they seem, making the home essentially unlivable, there are arguments that can be made. Regardless of what happens in the court case, the family does plan on moving out. (2)

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