Savannah mom says apartment is overrun by termites; asks landlord for safe unit

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - A Savannah mother says she’s desperate for help after moving into an apartment that has become infested with termites.

Brittany Scott says she’s lived at the Waters at Gateway complex for about six months, but first noticed the bugs in early February. She says the problem has only gotten worse since then.

“When I go to sleep, I’m having nightmares about this termite situation,” Scott said.

Scott told WTOC the termites are spreading from room to room, and she believes attempts to address the issue haven’t solved the larger problem.

“They’re putting a Band-Aid over it, they’re not trying to rectify the situation in a whole,” she said.

Scott says Orkin Pest Control came out to treat the apartment, but she claims the termites continued to multiply. She says her daughter has woken up to thousands of termites in her bedroom.

“My daughter wakes up and there are thousands in her bedroom, on her bed, on her wall, on her dresser, everywhere in her room,” Scott said.

Scott also says pest control told her they had responded to similar termite problems in other buildings at the complex.

“He said that, yeah, I’ve been out here a few other times this week for termites in different buildings,” Scott said.

Scott additionally claims her apartment was fumigated while her family was still inside.

“Me and my children, and my husband, we were in there and they sprayed this chemical and he had on a mask. We didn’t have any mask on,” she said.

Scott says she has tried multiple avenues for help, including contacting city officials. She says she’s asking to be moved into another apartment that is clean and safe for her family.

“I would like them to move at the urgency if it was their home,” Scott said.

District 5 Alderwomen, Dr. Estella Shabazz told WTOC that this situation is not acceptable and that the apartment complex needs to make things right now.

Dr. Shabazz also told WTOC, she spoke with code enforcement Monday, saying they performed an inspection and issued a notice of summons for the infestation.

“They contacted the property, the property agents or owners, and they were non-responsive to our Code Enforcement. And when they were non-responsive, this is when our Code Enforcement issued the summons to the courts because of the terrible and non-livable condition of the apartment that is infested with termites,” Dr. Shabazz said.

WTOC reached out to Waters at Gateway to ask what is being done to help Scott’s family but had not heard back as of this report.

What tenants should know

In 2024, Georgia lawmakers passed a bill called the Safe at Home Act, which requires landlords to keep rental spaces in good repair and livable standards. Tenants can contact their city’s code enforcement office to look into concerns like this.