TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The outside of Sarah Densmore's apartment is adorned with Christmas lights, tinsel and more, evoking a feeling of cheer and warmth. But inside, the furniture, Christmas tree and appliances are piled in the middle of the room. It's been like this for the last several days — the furniture shrouded by the faint smell of bug spray.
Because surrounding the appartment — in nearly every baseboard and cabinet — are cockroaches.
"It's just crushing," Densmore said. "As a single mom that is working 40 hours a week with six kids to be doing all of this and regular living, it's unbearable."
Densmore spends her mornings and late nights scrubbing her house, trying to get rid of the bugs. She vaccums the roaches as much as she can in an attempt to make the cabinets look less like they're moving. She said she's tried countless times to get the property managers to fix the issues but so far, nothing has changed.
"I am stuck," she said. "I don't have options to just break my lease and move."
Her kids are worried to use the bathroom and eat in the kitchen.
"I don't like seeing bugs all the time and our mom like vacuuming everything," Veta Roth, Densmore's daughter, said.
The property management company, Scotia Group Management LLC, sent a pest control company out to the property. According to Densmore and her neighbors, the exterminator sprayed in the apartments, spending less than 10 minutes in each apartment.
"They stayed for about five minutes and then left," Densmore said. "My understanding was that this was going to get rid of the problem and it didn't even get rid of a tenth of the problem."
Scotia Group Mangement told KGUN9 that the health department "was out at the property today. He completed his investigation and has informed me that the complaint is being closed as he found no violations."
But the Densmore said the inspector didn't go into the apartments. She and her neighbors filed a complaint with code enforcement and they're waiting to hear back. I spoke with code enforcement who said they need the specific unit number to have an inspector come out to the property.
"We made service requests, making calls showing up in the office," she said.
Some of her neighbors wanted to stop paying their rent. Ward 3 Councilmember Kevin Dahl said that is a last resort and should be done carefully with the advice of a lawyer.
"Code enforcement is one of the ways that we keep people safe and please contact the Ward 3 office," she said.
As for Densmore, she's being moved to another apartment on the property, but the issues are already following her. As this story develops, KGUN9 will continue to monitor the housing issues in the neighborhood.
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Tina Giuliano is a reporter for KGUN 9. She is a native Arizonan and grew up in Scottsdale. Tina is passionate about storytelling and is excited to work telling Tucson's stories. Share your story ideas and important issues with Tina by emailing tina.giuliano@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
