Falling maggots: Halifax tenant says standards needed for how landlords clean apartments after someone dies

This screenshot from a video shows maggots collecting in a light fixture in Brittany Miller’s apartment after an upstairs neighbour’s death went undetected for a week.Article contentA Halifax woman wants to see standards set for how landlords clean up apartments after someone dies in them, after she said she was forced from hers by the undetected death of an upstairs neighbour.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentBrittany Miller says she started to notice a smell in her apartment June 30. A few days later, police were there and told her the tenant upstairs had died. She had last seen him June 24 and suspects he died around June 26.Article contentArticle contentArticle contentHis body was removed July 4.Article contentShe said the police officer who arrived that day came in and told her that the smell could get worse, and that she should be on the lookout for seepage into her apartment ceiling from the unit above.Article content“Everyone was telling me to leave because it was toxic air and they didn’t know if he had any diseases, but I had two cats, that was my home and I needed to watch for seepage,” Miller said. “I needed to be there.”Article contentBut, Miller claims, the cleanup process for the apartment was not done properly or promptly, and the result was maggots raining down into her light fixtures and apartment.Article contentShe said she asked her landlord to have a biohazard team clean the apartment. But July 8, someone she thinks was an unlicensed contractor was brought in instead and started tossing items – including some she believes contained bodily fluids – from the third-floor balcony to the parking lot.Article contentArticle contentAfter that, she said, the contractor poured bleach over the floor in the upstairs unit and went for coffee.Article content“While he was gone, I started noticing the maggots,” Miller said.Article contentWhen he came back, she told him about the maggots but he left, she said, leaving a rental trailer full of the items from the apartment sitting in the parking lot until the next day.Article contentThe maggots came into the light fixtures but also were on the counter and in the cupboards and made their way into the apartment below her.Article content“There were little pin holes in the top of my kitchen cupboards and the maggots were dropping down from there,” Miller said. “I had shelves that were covered with maggots.”Article content Maggots cover shelves in Brittany Miller’s apartment after an upstairs neighbour’s death went undetected for a week. Miller says there should be standards on how cleaning is conducted by landlords in such circumstances.Article contentShe put bags over the lights that filled up quickly with maggots but said the fact they had also gotten downstairs seemed to indicate they were travelling through the walls.Article contentThe bag around one light fixture below the dead man’s bed filled with the larvae quickly and started spilling over.