Putting food on the table is a challenge enough these days, but that on top of fighting off roaches while you eat? Absolute nightmare fuel! Unfortunately, this is the reality that a mom lives in with her children in Bristol, Virginia. Her house’s landlady refuses to fix the place’s HVAC and doesn’t even care when unpaid bills are sent to the mother’s address instead of hers. The home is infested with rodents and roaches, and it wasn’t until the mom saw her 2-year-old son swatting one away while eating dinner that she broke down.
“I’ve done everything I can on my own,” she cries hopelessly in a post on Reddit, detailing how she’s placed down countless sticky traps, bought professional-grade bug spray, and even tried filling every crack she could find with spray foam. However, with the broken HVAC that the landlady refuses to repair, the infestation keeps getting worse and worse. “We can’t cook. We can’t eat safely. My kids are growing up in filth that we didn’t cause, and no one with authority will help.”
The City and Landlady Won’t Help, so the Virginia Mother Asks Reddit for Support
The Virginian mom claims she’s tried contacting Bristol’s code enforcement officer and city health department but has gotten no response. All the while, her landlady ignores her family’s roach plight and has even threatened eviction if she gets any more complaints. Since the house’s owner and even the city refuse to help, she feels like she’s nowhere else to turn but Reddit for help. “I’m exhausted, angry, and honestly embarrassed that my kids have to live like this,” she moans, defeated by the situation.
The top-upvoted comments in the post suggest she document everything that her landlady has failed to do and take it up with the local elected official. Getting an attorney involved to make it a court battle is also an ideal choice. Still, the fact that she needs to go through this nightmare of legal work and research just because her landlady refuses to take responsibility and help her tenant is beyond messed up. Hopefully, there’s light at the end of the tunnel when she takes the penny pincher to court or finds a better place for her and her children to live.
