Renter claims rat invasion

AUSTIN (KXAN) - A Southeast Austin woman said rats are crawling all over her apartment, and management is not doing enough to get rid of them. Lena Parrott moved into the Mission Hills Apartments in September. She said she saw her first rat a month later. Parrott said the rats have torn her furniture and raided her food and garbage.

One Sunday in November, Parrott trapped a rat under her sink with a sticky trap supplied by the complex. When she phoned management, she said she was told they would come out Monday to dispose of the vermin, but she said they never did. Worst of all, Parrott said she can hear the rats scurrying around at night.

"They're in the walls, they run around, they're loud," Parrott said. "My roommate's heard them squeaking in the walls. They wake me up. It's awful."

Mission Hills management declined to comment. Their Worldwide Pest Control man servicing the complex said it is not unusual for rats to move indoors during cold weather. Parrott said the complex has offered to move her into a different unit, but that she wants out of her lease entirely. Parrott has gone to the Austin Tenant Council for support.