“TENANTS from hell” have driven a Wagga woman to despair.
Smashed windows, trashed furniture and rubbish strewn in every which room of the Turvey Park home only makes worse the two nightmare years of unpaid rent and a current legal battle over water expenses.
The landlord, who wished not to be named out of fears of reprisal, has spoken of the perils of renting after trying to evict the privately-arranged tenants of more than three years.
“I haven’t stepped foot on the property for two years because I was threatened by the tenant’s boyfriend,” she said.
The tenant was told to leave the property in September, but she failed to do so and the case was taken to a tribunal in October, in which the tenant was evicted.
After several weeks of resisting, the tenant finally moved out last week.
The landlord has had the house for 16 years and only rented it out in the last seven.
“They owe me a lot of money,” she said.
“I’ve never had any problems with tenants.
“It really is an injustice.”
Walking around the property, the owner, choking back tears, counts five windows that have been ruthlessly smashed and taped up with peeling sticky tape.
Bricks are chipped, holes plaster most of the walls and “every light bulb is gone”.
Drug paraphernalia is dumped next to children’s toys, the new kitchen is damaged and the floorboards are scuffed and scratched.
Mould covers the entire roof of one dank bathroom, the garage door is buckled and guttering on the new carport hangs loose.
Rubbish piles dot the back yard, while clothes remain in cupboards, food wrappers stick to your shoes and thick dust lines ceiling fans that haven’t been touched in years.
“I just can’t believe this is how they lived,” she said.
The woman now faces the dire decision whether to rent it out and risk the repeat of a nightmare or sell it and lose the sentimental memories she made in her nine years living in the home.
“I am in limbo,” she said.
“I don’t know what to do.
“She’s put me in that much debt.
“It’s bad because I’m attached to this home.”
Her experience of renting has triggered a warning to other would-be landlords looking to fill their their properties with new tenants.
While she said renting privately “has just as many legs to stand on as a real estate”, checking references was vital before signing any tenants.
“(If i rent it out again) I want fantastic references that I’ll triple check,” she said.
“I’m just glad they’re out.”
