Its a shame that this happens but the reality is that if you live in the city in an old building, you will have rats. There is no way around it. Sometimes the rats will become an infestation and will have to be dealt with. But you will never get rid of them. This family needs to keep all dishes clean and not have any food that isn’t in a sealed container. That is the best thing they can do.
Wrong. I live in a building that is 112 years old (old for this part of NYC). We have no rats. The building next-door has them. It has to do with how conscientious the workers are. We have 90 apartments, and we’re right next to the park, which is where they like to hang out when they are not looting garbage bags.