Sudbury tenant battles persistent cockroach infestation, urges building-wide fumigation

Miranda Thornton, a Sudbury renter, says a long-standing cockroach problem has forced her family to eat outside and is pushing for whole-building pest control.

Since moving into a downtown Sudbury unit in 2020, Miranda Thornton has endured a chronic cockroach infestation that annual fumigations by Whitehall Apartments have failed to eradicate. The problem has escalated, leaving her and her teenage son forced to eat meals outside and causing significant stress and mental-health strain. Thornton filed a petition, signed by roughly a dozen neighbours representing about a third of the building, urging the landlord to treat the entire complex; Whitehall’s legal counsel refused comment because of an ongoing legal matter.

The building’s property manager warned that stored belongings create hiding places for pests, while Thornton says she has relocated items to allow treatment. Pest-control specialist Rhonda Lalonde explained that severe infestations often need a “flush-out” approach and sometimes require whole-building interventions. Another tenant, Joan Mulcahy, acknowledges seeing some roaches but says the issue is less severe in her unit. The dispute coincides with Thornton’s pending Human Rights Tribunal mediation and highlights challenges faced by low-income renters dependent on ODSP.