Tulsa Woman Says Apartment Complex Is Responsible For Rat Problem

A Tulsa woman says her apartment complex is not doing enough after she says rats damaged two of her cars.

Amanda Larrew says rats caused more than $4,000 worth of damage to her BMW and about $400 worth of damage to her Dodge Dart. Now she’s asking her apartment complex, the Mansions at Riverside to pay for repairs.

"I'm beyond frustrated. To the point where I have to reach out to the news," said Larrew

She says she first started noticed a smell while driving her BMW.

"The check engine light went on started losing power and it kinda worried me," said Larrew.

She says she dropped her car off at a nearby dealership who confirmed her suspicions.

"They confirmed it was rodent damage they found pizza, cookies, burned trash, rat poop and lots of hair inside the motor bay," said Larrew.

Larrew has documents she says are from the dealership. One of the documents says that rodents chewed the knock sensor wiring. The documents also say that several leaks were found. Shortly after, Larrew says she was driving her other car, a Dodge Dart when she smelled something similar.

"There was burnt trash there was feces in the bottom it smelled awful," said Larrew.

She says the dealership cleaned, disinfected and inspected her car several times costing hundreds of dollars. She says the apartment complex put out mouse traps, poison, and flyers but she wants more to be done.

"I would like to see some compensation for my vehicles because the two parking spots that I pay $30 a week for I can’t even park my vehicle out front," said Larrew.

Amber Carpenter, the Manager at The Mansions at Riverside says they are doing everything they can with the information they have.

“The Mansions at Riverside takes these matters seriously. Despite not having ever received any similar complaints from other residents or employees, upon learning of Ms. Larrew’s complaint less than two weeks ago, we immediately took several steps to help mitigate any potential problems. While we can appreciate Ms. Larrew’s concern, we still have not been provided the information needed to properly investigate, nor substantiate any of her claims.  Nonetheless, in the spirit of strong resident partnership, we have offered Ms. Larrew several options to terminate her lease four months early, as it is our understanding she is moving out of state. While we continue to investigate this matter, we have engaged our management team and other staff to help ensure that the happiness and well being of our residents remains our paramount focus,” said Carpenter in a statement.