'They ate right through the Sheetrock.' Wakefield woman says rats have taken over her apartment
Cynthia Aviles said she has lived in her first-floor apartment for four years, but the rat infestation began about two years ago and has steadily worsened.
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A Wakefield woman says rats have taken over her apartment on Barnes Avenue — crawling through holes in the walls, getting into food and even climbing into her bed.
Cynthia Aviles said she has lived in her first-floor apartment for four years, but the rat infestation began about two years ago and has steadily worsened.
“Once I’m cooking, there is no way they come out during the day. Evening, night doesn’t matter. Once they smell the food, they’re out,” Aviles said.
She said the rodents have appeared throughout the apartment, including in the bathroom toilet and behind her son’s bed, where she found a nest.
Aviles showed News 12 damage she said rats caused while chewing through storage containers and food packaging, including her dog’s treats.
Her apartment window faces an alleyway that frequently fills with trash, which she believes attracts rats. She said the rodents enter the building through a hole that leads directly into her apartment.
After first noticing the infestation, Aviles said she contacted her landlord and building management for help. She said repairs were attempted with Sheetrock, but the rats chewed through it within days.
“They put a piece of Sheetrock and within two days, they ate right through the Sheetrock,” she said.
Aviles said repeated calls to management, which she identified as Ari Shiner and Herecroft Realty, have since gone unanswered.
She now sets traps throughout the apartment which she says the rats are too big for them to work. She said she has changed her daily routine to avoid encounters with the rats, including banging on furniture before she enters the kitchen and blocks her bedroom door with towels to keep them out at night.
“They’re just taking over my apartment. I can’t be here. I’m scared,” she said.
Aviles said she is withholding rent until the problem is resolved and is also trying to save enough money to move out.
News 12 reached out to Ari Shiner and Herecroft Realty for comment but had not received a response as of Monday morning.
