QMy apartment building has been experiencing a mice infestation for months. The management has set traps. This week, they entered every apartment to do something, although I'm not sure what.

What can I do as a renter to prevent these critters? I am going to replace my trash bins with ones with lids and be very clean. But I cannot go through my apartment looking for every nook and cranny where I could put steel wool because there are a lot of these holes. The building is from the 1950s , and my apartment probably has not been renovated since the early '80s. The mice like to hang out near the heating unit, which is inaccessible because it is behind a metal grate.

Also, what should I expect from management? -- Washington AIf you are curious about what management or an exterminator is doing in your apartment, you should ask. Because management is already dealing with the problem, what you should expect is that it continue to work to rid the building of mice.

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If you are concerned the mice are gathering around your heating unit, you should alert management of this. Make sure it has set traps or plugged holes around the areas you cannot reach.

Landlords can prevent rodent infestation by sealing off dryer vents, utility lines, electric lines, phone lines and gas lines.

Because mice carry germs, they are a threat to your health. Your landlord is obligated to respond quickly and adequately to the problem.

When you know there are mice in your unit, the problem may already be serious. Usually people do not realize rodents are in their midst until they find droppings. A mouse's hair, urine or tiny feces are so difficult to detect that residents who are not aware there are mice could easily breathe in or eat germs without knowing it.

You do not have to wait for professional help to ward away the mice.

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The first key to keeping out mice is to maintain a sanitary environment. Jimy Loayza, an exterminator for Germantown's Pest Control Club, recommended: "Keep the place spotless, the sink free of water. Don't leave food out. Mice need water. They need food. . . . Just one little Cheerio would last them a long time."

As long as mice are hooked on your leftovers, they will not leave your apartment. So, keep all food in sealed containers, keep the countertops dry, and make sure you use trash cans with lids.

Also, if you have pets, Loayza said, don't leave their food out. A mouse will steal that food, hide somewhere and feed off it for a long time. Mice also enjoy animal feces, so dispose of your pet's waste effectively.

Loayza gives other tips for warding off mice on your own. His main advice is to wage a concentrated effort to keep mice out of your unit via mechanical traps. You can find easy-to-set plastic snap traps at a hardware or grocery store. When you have the traps, put peanut butter on them, and place them around the apartment without setting them. In a few days, after you have gotten the mice accustomed to the peanut butter treat, Loayza said, you will have better success catching mice.

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The best placement for the traps is near walls (set the trigger so that it springs toward the wall) as well as in any places where you have seen mice scurrying.

If mice are in your apartment, Loayza said you will start catching them frequently, possibly up to six or seven a day. You should continue placing traps until you don't catch any more mice.

Once you go a week without catching anything, then you can attack the gaps, cracks and holes -- mouse passageways -- in your apartment by plugging, caulking and sealing them with steel wool. Loayza recommends looking at places where mice can penetrate the walls, including the areas around your water pipes, gas or electric lines. Also put weather stripping under the doors in your unit that lead either to the hallway or to the outside.

Once you have done this, Loayza said, continue placing the peanut-butter-baited traps around your apartment because there are probably baby mice even after your initial round of mice-catching.

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"They're there. Mice don't live that long -- they can live up to 18 months in your apartment -- but they have babies. Babies will grow up real fast, so you have to keep setting traps until you don't catch anymore," he said.

Although winter is the big season for mice, if your building is infested, mice already living there will probably stay even when warm weather comes.

Mice can live well in apartment buildings for a long time. Unfortunately, even if you are the cleanest person in your apartment building, they may try to prey on you.

In multifamily buildings, your neighbor's unsanitary digs could attract mice to your unit because a mouse routinely travels about 50 feet from its nesting area. If a mouse hangs out and feasts on one tenant's trash or in the communal trash bins, chances are good that it will check out next door, too.

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But the good news, Loayza said, is that his method of eliminating mice works well even for nonprofessionals.

"Even if there's a bad infestation elsewhere in the building, you can still keep mice out of your own unit if you seal it off really well," he said.

My landlord owns several units in the apartment complex where I live. I pay low rent ($825 a month, utilities included). The problem is that I feel he thinks I should put up with some things just because my rent is low.

My fridge has conked out three times in the past three months, and he told me he doesn't want to call in a repairman and pay $200, so he is basically having me defrost every time something goes wrong. He has mentioned the fact that my rent is low.

He also thinks I am responsible for finding a new tenant. Shouldn't he pay to fix the fridge and to place an ad in the paper? -- Arlington

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Just because your rent is low does not mean your landlord can shirk his duties. That goes both for fixing a broken refrigerator and for finding a new tenant, unless you have made another agreement with him in your lease. Your landlord has every right to raise your rent if you are not in the middle of a fixed tenancy. If he chooses not to, that does not mean you have any fewer rights as a tenant.

Stand up for your rights. If he continues to ignore real complaints -- and a broken refrigerator is a real complaint -- then report him to your local housing office.

Unless you are planning to break your lease, you should not worry about finding him a new tenant. You will have a good case should he decide to hold your security deposit to retaliate against you for not playing by his rules. Remember, laws govern landlords, so a landlord who ignores those laws is liable for his actions.

Do you have questions, comments or ideas about apartment life? Contact Sara Gebhardt via e-mail at aptlife@gmail.com or by mail, c/o Real Estate Editor, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071.

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