Rodent Problem

[IABusDriver29]

My wife and I have recently begun to rent a 3-bedroom 1.5-bath home. We met with the landlords the day before we moved in (December 15, 2006) to over the contract, pay deposits and rent, etc. During the conversation, she pointed out that the house was inspected and was determined to be free of rodents.

When we moved in, we found the house in relatively bad shape. Nothing was cleaned, and there was still work to be done on the house (which as of today hasn't been touched). Our mothers cleaned the cabinets and noticed several mouse droppings in drawers and cabinets.

We have been keeping track of it, and have found several more droppings over the past 10 days. On Jan 9, I saw a mouse run across the top of the stove while my wife was getting ready for work. I contacted the landlords who were surprised to hear about it, but only offered to reimburse us for traps. I suggested calling a service and was told to get prices and call them back.

I got prices and called them back, and they changed their position by re-affirming the inspection report. They do not believe our claim and are only offering to reimburse the costs of traps.

We do have traps and have photo-documented existing droppings throughout the kitchen, bathroom, and dining room. Next step is to place the traps and photograph those as they're put down, followed by photos of all traps every morning.

In addition, I do plan on contacting the city to see if the house was even inspected to begin with and to see if it's possible to get another inspection to help us with the landlords.

Is there anything else that I could do to help prove that the problem exists, and what legal options do we have from here?

Thank you for your time on this issue.

It is permitted to break the lease if they have failed to comply with the lease and/or there are health, noise or safety concerns--but save all information, evidence etc. in case they dispute the situation and try to take you to small claims court.