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VIDEO: Giant, 'Smart' Rats Terrorize Family In CA

CARMICHAEL, Calif. (CBS13) — A Carmichael family says they're being terrorized by giant rats in their apartment. The family and the apartment managers have made numerous attempts to get rid of the rats, but so far they haven't been successful.

Marjourie Parra is brought to tears thinking about the conditions that her three young boys are living in.

"I see the rats just playing in here like they own the place," said Parra, "It hurts me because I really try to be a good mother."

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A motion-activated home security camera has captured the rodents crawling in her kitchen at night. Parra says they first heard the rats in their walls.

"These walls are very like (scratching noise), so you can hear that," said Parra.

The rats have left multiple holes in the walls all over her home and chewed through her carpet, her dog's bed, and her boy's soccer ball. They've also come close to her sons.

"A rat ran through my legs, and I got scared," said Parra's son.

The apartment management has put out multiple traps, but the rats have learned to evade them.

"They're so smart that they don't eat the bait."

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Management tells CBS13 it has been working every day to try to solve the situation. The complex has several dozen units, but Parra's is the only one with such a big problem. Management encourages all residents to try and eliminate food sources, and say they are working with a pest management firm to come up with a permanent solution. But, Parra wants more to be done.

"'I've been asking for help to sanitize and they haven't helped me at all."

She just wants to get rid of her unwanted pests.

"I didn't make the rats come here; it's not my fault that they didn't take care of this," she said.

According to state law, it is the landlord's responsibility to make sure a unit is clean and sanitary, and must immediately address a situation if a tenant complains about rodents. A tenant also has a responsibility to keep a property free of garbage or other things that may encourage rodents, and they can't sue a landlord to get a deposit back or end the lease if they are found responsible for the rats.

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