Landlord Investigated By CBS 2 Facing More Rat Issues

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A man says his Lakeview apartment is infested with rats and his landlord is not fixing the problem. CBS 2 has learned he's not the only one who has complained to the property management.

Jason Paskewitz said he has spotted rats in his home four times since mid-April. He said it's gotten so bad he has stayed with a friend, and Monday night he planned to book an Airbnb.

"I am from New York City, and I have seen some big rats in my life," he said. "I have never seen anything as big as what I saw that ran over my leg in my living room, next to where my children sleep. That was on Friday night."

Friday night was just the most recent sighting. Last month, he captured video of one of the uninvited guests scurrying across his kitchen floor.

The building, run by Beal Properties, is at Oakdale and Clark.

Paskewitz said the property managers have sent exterminators and maintenance workers to the unit.

They've laid traps and plugged holes, but the rats keep coming.

Paskewitz said he's paying more than $1700 per month in rent.

"I want out of my lease, and I want a full refund of the four months rent that I have paid since I lived there," he said. "I have been paying to live in a rat's nest."

Early this year, CBS 2 discovered Beal Properties reached a $100,000 dollar settlement with a former tenant who was bitten by a rat at another one of its Lakeview apartment buildings.

The Metropolitan Tenants Organization said last year it got 70 complaints about Beal Properties.

"About half of those were repair calls particularly related to rats," Phillip DeVon of the MTO said.

Beal Properties declined an on-camera interview request Monday but said it is working with Paskewitz and considering letting him out of his lease.

The company said a building engineer has responded each time Paskewitz has called. It said the engineer has not actually seen the rats in person in the unit, but staff members have seen the video from Paskewitz.