Possibly Dumb Pest Control Question [IL]
Sorry if this is an obvious answer but I'm a first-time renter and very freaked out at the moment.
I live in a "refurbished" old farm house that has been split into two apartments, one on the top floor and one on the bottom. The house in incredibly drafty and none of the doors fit correctly, but it has charm and is in a great location so we would like to stay.
However, the house also has a fairly expansive unfinished basement that is horribly unclean, unsafe, and unsanitary. They got halfway through renovating it and lost their permit from the city, so left it as it was. There are piles of rubble and garbage all over the place down there. Luckily, I never have to go down there unless the breaker trips. The problem is that the space is an absolute breeding ground for pests, primarily roaches but centipedes and other things too, which then crawl up our pipes or under the back door and into our apartment.
Here's the question: In our lease, it says that we are liable for all pest control measures are the responsibility of the tenant, and that we are explicitly responsible for keeping the place in "clean and free of debris to deter pests". When I had this problem last year, the landlord directed me to buy traps, which I did because I didn't know any better. The problem is much worse now; these roaches are the size of dogs and I'm on the verge of a mental breakdown. Is there anything I can or should do to get her to deal with the situation? Can she still argue that it's our fault if the pests are coming from a part of the house that we don't have access to? I know it's kind of a silly question but I'll take any suggestion.
The property is owned by a management company in Chicago (we are downstate), so we only see the landlord when someone new moves in upstairs. Again, I really want to stay but I am typing this hands shaking because I just saw the biggest roach of my entire life.