WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — Renters in Northeast D.C. are dealing with an infestation of mice. People who live in Dahlgreen Court apartments say it’s compromising their health.

A mouse near trash cans isn’t out of the ordinary to see in D.C., but it is inside an apartment building.

DC News Now saw one mouse scurry across several trash cans inside the trash room on Tuesday.

“You go to the trash room to put your trash there, you can’t get in. Everybody puts trash on the floor because they don’t have enough containers,” said Kudirat Oseni.

This is what the trash room looked like on Monday:

On Tuesday, it was cleared out, but there were two holes in the wall.

“They are in the walls and they are also in the duct system. So when you turn on your air and you turn on your heat, you know all of the feces and urine inside of the duct systems will blow throughout the units,” said Donta Waters, president of the tenant’s association.

Just three days away from his apartment, mouse droppings covered Waters’ kitchen counters.

“It’s all over my sofa, you know what I mean. I find feces on my pillows, all in the windowsill, all on the floor,” Waters said.

That wasn’t the only issue. Pictures from February also showed mold inside and a sewer drain covered with a piece of wood.

DC News Now took the elevator that violently shook and made noise when it stopped. Its inspection certificate expired on September 30, 2021.

“See that? That’s what we deal with man,” said Leon Lightfoot Jr.

Tenants actually sued the management company in 2018 for many of these issues and settled with it after several years.

“Getting money is not as important as getting your health back,” Oseni said.

Waters said things haven’t changed much.

“The more and more I’ve reached out to the management company. The more and more that activity retaliate against me as the president of the Tenant Association,” Waters said.

When asked about these issues the owner of the building said in a statement “We recently conducted a deep cleaning/extermination of the community. Our pest control company has also been consistently performing treatments on a regular basis. We take these complaints very seriously and we will contact our pest control vendor and conduct another evaluation of the property this next week.”

When shown the statement, Waters said, “That’s a lie the exterminator visited my unit twice in two years.”

Oseni said she has seen pest control before but isn’t satisfied.

“They come in they give you this little glue for mice. You can go to one Dollar Store and get that, right, and this is what I’ve been doing,” Oseni said.

“What I want to happen is for them to get rid of the mice. Fix all the violations that’s in each unit in the building and especially the HVAC,” said Yolanda Vibes.

Separately from the lawsuit in 2018, Vibes took the owner to court over her HVAC problems. She said the judge ordered them to fix it.

“As of today, they have not fixed it. Now that is filled with mice. When I turn on my heat, my A/C, everything, I smell it,” Vibes said.

Moving out isn’t an option for many who live there.

“The rent is extremely high. You know, you could easily pay two $3,000 for a one-bedroom,” Waters said. “I can’t afford that. And many other residents that are living here, cannot afford it either.”

Neighbors just want accountability.

“We are fighters that’s not gonna give up, you see, and we’re gonna have you accountable for what you supposed to be accountable for,” Lightfoot Jr. said.

A spokesperson for the D.C. Office of Attorney General said, “Our office has received complaints about the property and we are following up on those complaints.”