General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSpiders, sewage and a flurry of fees - the other side of renting a house from Wall Street
EYEBROW: Invitation Homes, the largest landlord of single-family houses in the U.S., boasts of providing a uniquely worry free experience. Tenants don't always agree, and critics of big money's push into the business say complaints about skimpy upkeep and excessive fees show the company puts investors first.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ESPARTO, California The rental home seemed so beautiful when McKayla Ferreira first laid eyes on it. The roof had three gables, fruit trees grew in the backyard, and the front porch gleamed with a fresh coat of paint.
Then Ferreira moved in.
First, she noticed water leaking through the bathroom and kitchen ceilings. Then she found a furry black mold spreading across the walls and raw sewage sluicing through the crawl space. Worst, to her, were the black widow spiders swarming her kitchen cupboards and linen closets. Those spiders were so big you could hear them, Ferreira said. They sounded like fingernails scraping a table.
Ferreira called her landlord, Invitation Homes Inc, a creation of private equity giant Blackstone Group LP. The spiders were a housekeeping issue, the company representative told her, and she should clean the place up. Invitation Homes wasnt enthusiastic about fixing the leaks, either. Two months passed before it sent someone to cut through the ceiling and fix the pipes, Ferreira said. Then the company took seven more months to patch it all up.
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-housing-invitation/
Spread it far and wide -- stay away from these cockroaches.
maddiemom
(5,106 posts)but "black widow" spiders? Aren't they very small?
Lochloosa
(16,061 posts)The body length (excluding legs) of the mature female is 813 mm (0.310.51 in), 36 mm (0.120.24 in) for males.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latrodectus_mactans
Silver Gaia
(4,542 posts)I've seen plenty of them out in the yard, but NEVER in the house. They don't really like being indoors, which makes me wonder what kind of spiders these were if they were in closets and cupboards. Regardless of what kind they were, it's not a housekeeping problem. It's a maintenance problem because: how are they getting in? Are cracks caulked and do doors and windows have weatherstripping? Do windows have screens? Lots of issues there, regardless of what kind of spiders.
csziggy
(34,133 posts)Black widow spiders can be up to 1.5 inches long, legs included.
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/urban/spiders/black_widow_spider.htm