Urgent - Estate Agent

Globetrotter17

My estate had been sending emails about wanting to come round and fix a blind cord that was broken, it was on their notes since the last property check.

I have a child with a medical condition, am a single parent and after years of 24hr round the clock care of my child, my health is suffering and am often in a great deal of pain.

As a result I didn't reply to the email as quickly as I could have. With everything going on, a blind cord and finding the time for a handyman was simply not a priority.

There is a room in the house with a moth problem, just one room. It has been that way for about 2 years now and is basically a cordoned off area. The source of the problem, a wool mattress has been removed a long time ago and I have tried everything but the problem persists. As a result, the door to that room remains shut and nothing that they can make holes in is kept in that room - the estate agent is aware of the problem.

Whilst away, I received an email to say that since I hadn't replied to their email - no one had attempted the call me - they had entered the property and fixed the blind cord without my permission. I was away at the time, getting some much needed respite and support with family.

I was very uncomfortable and unhappy about someone entering my house without permission but didn't want to create bad relations, so just gave them a call and explained the situation and that I may be away from time to time or not checking my emails frequently as a result. I asked that they call me in future in unable to reach me, which is something I would have expected them to do before entering the property anyway!

The problem is that whoever entered the house, left all the upstairs doors open. When I got back the door that always remained closed, due to the infestation, was left wide open as was the door to my son's bedroom - which I always close while we are away just to be sure that the infestation doesn't spread!

Upon my return home, I was looking for a cuddly toy up on my son's mid sleeper. I had changed the bedsheets before going away and was shocked to find something with sand paper texture underneath a wool blanket on his duvet cover. Further exploration uncovered a moth worm!! There were also signs of moths in clothes that had been left out in laundry baskets ...

Now it transpires that their entry has created a very big problem as the infestation that I had manage to contain for years has now spread all over the house, not just in my son's bedroom but downstairs also. My life is consumed by medical appointments, care for my son and the inability to have a second for myself has had detrimental effects on my own health. The very last thing I need is having to deal with a moth infestation in the whole of my house!

Any advice or idea's about where I stand would be gratefully received. I've lived in the house for 4 years and don't have any desire to move, Ive always been on good terms with the estate agents and I'd like that not to change. I am feeling very frustrated by the situation I now find myself in.

Many thanks in advance for reading and responding.

fairy_lights

Was the mattress that caused the infestation in the property when you moved in, or was it your own? Has the landlord sent in a pest controller or done anything else to remedy the problem?
I'm amazed you've lived for so long in a property with a room that is unusable due to moths, it was inevitable really that if left untreated the problem would spread to other rooms.

Doozergirl

Sweetheart, do you have anxiety?

This moth problem isn't their fault for leaving a door open. It was something that needed to be addressed a long time ago?

You're right that they shouldn't have come without permission, but can you see that they tried and that they were doing a good thing?

No one would ever think that leaving a door open would be a problem.

You should have dealt with it already. It was almost inevitable that a problem like that would spread.

You must ask for help when you need it.

Pixie5740

What does your tenancy agreement say about access for repairs? You may have already agreed to access with the required 24 hours of notice.

Globetrotter17

Not sure, we all know how long tenancy agreements are! Will need to find and read.

Globetrotter17

Moth infestations are notorious to be a nightmare to deal with, people have moved house because of it and still not managed to solve the problem. It is not for want of trying that the problem persists. I have reduced them significantly and contained the problem.

Condescending remarks not welcome, if you can help great, if not no need to diagnose me with mental health problems, thanks 👍🏻

Globetrotter17

The mattress was my own and was brand new, it was made from 100% natural fibres - mostly cotton and wool. I had no idea at the time that it would be a feeding ground for moths!

The problem has persisted so long due to my dealing with a longstanding serious medical condition with my son. Anyone who has had to be a round the clock carer understands how exhausting it is to be on call 24/7.

I have had pest control in but all it takes is one egg to be left behind and the problem restarts all over again ...

Doozergirl

Globetrotter17 wrote: »

Condescending remarks not welcome, if you can help great, if not no need to diagnose me with mental health problems, thanks ����

Let's get one thing very clear. My post contained very genuine sympathy for your situation. I have suffered with anxiety in the past and I did not diagnose, I asked a genuine question out of concern for you and empathy. You yourself use words like pain, suffering and needing respite and support, not having a second for yourself. How does that promote a healthy mind? It sounds awful. Dealing with a moth situation by shutting a door is not the most normal of reactions, but it isn't your fault if you are suffering.

Leaving things that should be dealt with is a very real symptom of anxiety. Not answering emails, not dealing adequately with situations. The thought of dealing with something is more frightening than the actual doing of it and it ultimately makes things worse than just dealing with it. Having a poorly child and being a single parent, I wouldn't expect one to be in the right headspace.

I won't offer anything more posts. You need to understand that you haven't dealt with any of this very well and it could have been avoided. It isn't condescending of me to point it out, it is unfair of you to blame the straw that broke the camel's back (someone innocently leaving a door open) for your predicament. You don't have to beat yourself up over it and I'm not beating you up for it either. Life is !!!! sometimes and we can't always cope. I wish you well.

G_M

1) you are lucky to have an agent who wants to fix issues - they tried to contact you about access for the blind. You ignored. So they fixed the blind. Be grateful.

2) you almost certainly agreed to them having access for repairs when you signed the tenancy agreement. Read it.

3) had you not wanted them to fix the blind, and/or come in in your absence, you should have told them

4) the moth problem appears to have been caused by the mattress. Your mattress. So responsibility for dealing with it is yours.

5) you have ingnored the moth problem for a long time.It was inevitable that simply keeping a door shut was not going to work in the long term.

6) it was not unreasonable for an internal door to be left open following a visit for repairs. Had it been an external door, that would have been different.

Sorry to sound unhelpful, but the solution is in your hands - contact some moth/pest eradication companies and get them to do whatever needs doing. If you need tomove out temporarily (for fumigation whatever) then that is just one of those things.

edit: I see you've had a company round. So contact them again and ask for their advice. It may be that because of eggs hatching after treatment, a course of treatment over several weeks is needed (I'm not a moth expert).

Or find a company that will provide a guarantee with their treatment.

JimmyTheWig

Doozergirl wrote: »

Let's get one thing very clear. My post contained very genuine sympathy for your situation.

Having read your reply, I believe you. Having just read your first post, I agreed with the OP.
I think it was the "sweetheart" bit that did it.

philbostavros

Hi

Ignoring for the moment, the various health and caring issues you are having to deal with, (for which you have my deapest sympathy) the way forward is to try and get the infestation issue dealt with once and for all - then you can move on.

You don't say what type of moth problem but recently, my SIL had a problem with carpet moths. She's lived in the same place for over 30 years and this is the first time it's happened.

She got a local pest control chap in, who treated the carpets in the whole house as well as the curtains (a favourite place they lay their eggs in, apparently). There was only visible signs in the through lounge and back bedroom. As the lounge carpet was fairly new, furniture was moved away from the edges and these areas were given more attention. The back bedroom carpet was taken up and disposed of (including underlay) and the guy spayed all the bare floorboards (downstairs was concrete floors).

I belive they had to leave the stuff on a few days before hoovering. My SIL now regularly checks behind any curtain pelmets and around the carpet edges but has not had any further problems.

Maybe your estate agent/landlord/council environmental health dept can assists or offer further advice?

Good luck anyway.