A Johns Creek mother says she was forced to vacate her home due to a rat infestation.
The woman, Terri Burgner, rented a house on Arborhill Drive and shared it with her two daughters. She told Channel 2 Action News that she first started noticing "droppings" and her cabinets "smelled like urine" in May.
Burgner told Channel 2 that the property manager, Property Frameworks, based in Plano, Texas, offered her a release from her lease and a refund from her June rent if she didn’t place any future claims to replace her furniture and clothes damaged by the rodents.
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“It makes me sick. They know I’m a single mom,” Burgner said. “They know I don’t have legal representation and they want me quiet. I think it’s just sad.”
Burgner ended up signing the release, she told Channel 2 on June 26. She was given four days to vacate the property.
“It’s just been a nightmare,” Burgner said.
Burgner said she was waking up in the middle of the night with bites “all over her body”
An urgent care physician told her those were bites from rat mites, tick-like insects that live in the nests of wild rodents.
“The rats began nesting under my daughter’s mattress (and) inside of my couch,” Burgner said. “I was cleaning up poop all day, every day… I’ve seen (the rats) running through the kitchen and the garage. I came one day and there was a rat running through my kitchen —I hit it with a broom.”
She showed Channel 2 photos of where the rats had chewed through her food and furniture, and evidence of the bites from mites on her ankles. When she first reached out to the property management company, it placed traps around the home, Burgner said.
In an emailed statement to Channel 2, Property Frameworks said, “Upon learning of the issues that Ms. Burgner was experiencing, we organized professional pest control services to remediate the issue and provide ongoing preventative measures.”
The company added that they offered to move Burgner into a hotel during the pest control process.
In statement emailed to the AJC, a spokesperson for Property Frameworks said, “Ms. Burgner was offered many options to address the issues, which have since resulted in an amicable resolution of this matter.”
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