Casselberry woman claims apartment management not fixing snake infestation

73-year-old woman says Regency Oaks Apartments told her case closed

CASSELBERRY, Fla. – A Casselberry woman said her apartment is still infested with snakes after the complex says it solved the problem.

News 6 went back to Jan Perillo's apartment Friday. Minutes from when we entered her unit, we saw snake skins and found a snake slithering in her dining room.

"I just know I have to move," Perillo said.

The 73-year-old said the slithery reptiles started showing up on Monday. They were coming out of her walls and hiding under her furniture.

Perillo said she called and emailed her apartment complex, Regency Oaks Apartments, to tell them about the infestation. She said the management finally sent an exterminator to her apartment on Thursday. Our cameras were there when he caught a little snake, but Perillo said at least three more got away.

"That makes 14 we know of and three we know got lost," Perillo said.

Perillo's daughter, Bonnie McGrew, told us the complex called her mother this morning and told her they have solved the problem.

"It's completely taken care of, as far as Regency Oaks is concerned. That makes me very angry," McGrew said.

But Perillo and McGrew said the problem is not solved since News 6 found more snakes and snake skins. A News 6 photographer got on his hands and knees to get results and remove it from her apartment.

"You think it's solved? You just saw that snake," Perillo said.

News 6 called and emailed the leasing office to get answers. We also went to the office to speak to the manager. The door was locked, even though the signs said they were open. We saw employees inside, but they did not answer the door. Someone eventually drew the blinds and refused to answer our questions.

News 6 received an e-mail response from Regency Oaks Apartments at 5:20 p.m. Friday. The statement from the apartment complex is as follows;

"Please allow this to serve as a response to your story concerning the Casselberry home.  Our information at this time is the tenant reported seeing a snake on Wednesday afternoon.  We immediately sent Pest America to investigate. Pest America inspected the apartment that same day and found no evidence of a snake.   The next day, we sent Dr. Critter Wildlife Control, in addition to our own maintenance crew, to further investigate.  At that time, several nonpoisonous baby snakes were found.   It was not 13 as has been reported.  Wildlife Control advised there are a number of ways a snake can enter a dwelling including being inadvertently transported in a box or entering a dwelling through an open door.  We are continuing to investigate how it happened in this instance, but note there have been no snakes found in any other units on the property. Wildlife Control has confirmed the problem is corrected and this information has been communicated to the tenant. " 

Perillo said she is scared to go back inside her apartment. She tells News 6 she hasn't had a good night's sleep since the infestation started.

"I cannot live here. It's going to be hard just touching my stuff when I get out of here," Perillo said. "I don't know what I might be taking that has a snake in it."

Her daughter refuses to let her mother live in the apartment until she said the problem is really fixed.

"Make this right for my mother," McGrew said.
 
Perillo is staying with her daughter until she can figure out what to do. She is hoping the complex will step up, acknowledge this is still a problem and fix it. Otherwise, she told News 6, she is considering taking legal action.


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