73 Monitor Street,

Brooklyn, NY 11222

The building is great. There are only 2 other apartments and our neighbors were awesome. Location is great and there is ALWAYS parking near by. The apartment is HUGE 2,000 sq ft with a laundry room and a yard. There is so much space!

The WORST thing about the apartment was that it was infested with rats when we first moved in. We noticed immediately upon moving inland the landlord tried to insinuate that the rats moved in at the same time we did and REFUSED to give us any kind of rent abatement. After a couple of months, and 18 dead rats later, I hired an attorney who advised me to withhold rent until it was taken care of. These were not mice. These were GIANT RATS. The second worst thing is that the apartment is not insulated properly and your electric bill will be $1,200 a month during the winter months and it will STILL be freezing in there. So you are essentially paying astronomically expensive electric bills and you are still freezing your butt off in there. Also... the yard seemed nice at first, but you will soon see that it's a giant haven for rats. It snowed a few days before we moved out and there were tracks and yellow snow all over the yard and we don't own any pets. Not to mention the fact that the rats destroyed a beautiful outdoor couch we had out there and chewed up the cushions to use for nesting material. This is beyond the landlord's control because the rats are nesting in the diner and also in the deck of the apartment next door. I would be remiss ing I didn't mention the insect infestation. Because when these rats start dying in your walls, beyond the awful smell, there are hundreds of maggot flies born from their rotting carcasses. So there were hundreds of flies everywhere for months. I will say that the landlord eventually sealed up almost all the ways they were getting in, so the last year, we would only see a dead rat every couple months instead of the twenty something within the first 6 months, but they are still getting in.

Re-insulate the entire apartment. There is no reason that the apartment is colder than the outside temperatures. Knock down all the dry wall in the basement and seal all the holes where th erats are getting in.