I don't understand

We've just had to get the Sheriff to do a lock out of a tenant. It's only the second we've had the displeasure to be forced to do. The first one the result of an embezzling Agent, and all the dodgy stuff you find out along the way, like just putting anyone into a property, and not lodging the bond.:eek: That one's a long story, and ancient history now.

Anyway...back to this latest one.

It happened on Thursday and we take a quick look on Saturday morning, just to see what we're up against. They knew they were being forced out, yet we find a freezer full of food and the electricity turned off. Food rotting on numerous plates in the kitchen, something still in the crock pot. Dirty pans & dishes all over the place. Clothes & stuff all over the bedrooms, a pile of crap in the lounge room, all the usually stuff you find in a bathroom is there, in amongst a heap of towels & clothes on the floor. Great!

Now, I don't know about you, but if I knew that I was going to be forcefully removed from my home, if I didn't willingly go, by a certain date, I would make sure I had my stuff neatly in boxes. My food out of my fridge & freezer. Give it to a friend to mind, or even to have, not to sit there & rot. I would have everything packed and if not already out of the place, ready for easy removal.

So....this afternoon we decided to go there & make a start. We can't paint or do anything else until the place is empty. We were going to start boxing stuff up & take them to the garage, since we have to keep everything for 14 days. On the way, the agent calls & says that there's some charity coming on Wednesday to remove stuff, so that's great, lets just make the job easier, so we can get stuff done.

Now, this is a three storey walk up unit. I've just had a hip replacement & was making my way up very, very slowly with the help of my crutches, while Hubby races ahead with a heap of boxes. We get to the unit, and Hubby goes to tackle the bathroom while I go to one of the bedrooms. It's way too hard for me to bend down, so I get myself to the floor & sit on the floor filling up bag after bag of 'stuff'.

This is the kids bedroom. I've never seen so much 'stuff'. Clothes! Expensive clothes! Lots of them, scattered all over the place. How can one kid possibly need this much? And toys? OMG! There's a dining table in the room. On top is piled huge amounts of clothes & toys. Underneath is the same! Then there's all the other stuff in the room, including clothes (new with tags still on them) of the mothers.

I was making good progress, considering my limitations when Hubby says "That's enough! We're going before we catch something!"

Apparently he handled the bathroom fine, including finding one of the tenants used, unwrapped sanitary pads on the floor, and having to retrieve her dirty underpants from jammed in the back of the vanity! :eek:

But the kitchen was another thing altogether. Seeing the very furry concoction left in the crock pot, and the rotting food everywhere, not to mention the smell, he decided that he will deal with that if its still left there after the charity has come to help the tenant remove what is left.

So, we are now a couple of days delayed in getting started, and if the charity won't help her remove the worst of it, then we still get left with it. We need to get all this crap out and into the garage so we can fix the place up.

Now, before anyone says anything about 'tenant selection', this tenant was working when she went in there & was paying rent every week. On inspection, although she had a huge amount of 'stuff' the place was always clean & tidy. She lost her job, and just stopped paying (and cleaning, by the look of things).

Grrrrr......rant over.
 
Sounds like she's mentally unstable? But well, that's a wild guess.
Feel for you, dealt with something similar with addition of a terrible shifty PM in which I'm still dealing with. Hope all sorted and you can do the work and post pics here :)
 
Depending on Landlord Insurance., it doesnt cover cleaning. It has a distinct clause that states no liability in regards to the way a tenant lives...so cleaning is out...

with all that suff..im surprised consumer affairs arent called in, as they have to give the go ahead to get rid of the stuff..here in vic anyway...
 
Depending on Landlord Insurance., it doesnt cover cleaning. It has a distinct clause that states no liability in regards to the way a tenant lives...so cleaning is out...

Yep depends on Landlord insurance. Ive had 2 LI claims over the last 15 years and cleaning's covered. For peace of mind best get LI that covers it. Even if it doesnt, cleaners are still the way to go.
 
Skater,
We have dealt with type of tenant on several occassions.
I know how you feel.
We no longer store anything. We have added a clause to our leases, that when the lease ends, anything they leave behind is disposed of.

Put an ad on Gumtree, looking for help.
Tell them they can have anything they want...and make a list of the good stuff (new clothes...they probably stole) etc.

Rent a trailer, a dolly to move boxes up and down the stairs (we have our own) ...and just get rid of everything.
get a receipt from your helper...and use it to retain her bond.

Take pictures of everything...especially all the soiled messes...and declare everything unsanitary and noxious....State it has urine all over it, and you aren't storing anything.

Problem solved.
 
Skater,
We have dealt with type of tenant on several occassions.
I know how you feel.
We no longer store anything. We have added a clause to our leases, that when the lease ends, anything they leave behind is disposed of.

Put an ad on Gumtree, looking for help.
Tell them they can have anything they want...and make a list of the good stuff (new clothes...they probably stole) etc.

Rent a trailer, a dolly to move boxes up and down the stairs (we have our own) ...and just get rid of everything.
get a receipt from your helper...and use it to retain her bond.

Take pictures of everything...especially all the soiled messes...and declare everything unsanitary and noxious....State it has urine all over it, and you aren't storing anything.

Problem solved.

Whilst this sounds fair, I've read here on SS that you cannot alter a lease or add anything that changes their "rights". I guess dumping their stuff or giving it away could take you down a path that is painful if they make an official complaint.

It would be good to hear if adding that clause would stand up if they made a complaint (but I doubt the landlord would get away with it).
 
Now, I don't know about you, but if I knew that I was going to be forcefully removed from my home, if I didn't willingly go, by a certain date, I would make sure I had my stuff neatly in boxes. My food out of my fridge & freezer. Give it to a friend to mind, or even to have, not to sit there & rot. I would have everything packed and if not already out of the place, ready for easy removal.

If these people can't even pay rent then I wouldn't imagine they'd show the initiative to pack their stuff up in preparation to be removed from the property.
And as far as all the crap, sorry 'stuff', there's a reason why these people rent and probably will do for the rest of their lives.
 
Skater, I recall when my parents had some tenants do a runner, we had to (by law in Queensland) store anything worth more than a certain amount. These young ladies in their mid 20s left mostly things worth less but there were personal things (cheap jewellery, credit cards, clothes) that we stored anyway, just in case they did come back.

I'm guessing you have a monetary limit under which you can simply chuck things out? And I would be selling anything of value after the time elapses rather than dumping it. You might as well get something back.
 
Whilst this sounds fair, I've read here on SS that you cannot alter a lease or add anything that changes their "rights". I guess dumping their stuff or giving it away could take you down a path that is painful if they make an official complaint.

It would be good to hear if adding that clause would stand up if they made a complaint (but I doubt the landlord would get away with it).
When my last tenant left a bunch of stuff in the house I just got her to sign a statement that none of it was hers. I kept the signed statement until the complaint period was up but I never heard from her again.
 
When my last tenant left a bunch of stuff in the house I just got her to sign a statement that none of it was hers. I kept the signed statement until the complaint period was up but I never heard from her again.

That is fine if your tenant is around to sign it...

In our case, they skipped and stopped answering their phones. Your idea is good though if they are cooperating and will sign it.
 
Now, before anyone says anything about 'tenant selection', this tenant was working when she went in there & was paying rent every week. On inspection, although she had a huge amount of 'stuff' the place was always clean & tidy. She lost her job, and just stopped paying (and cleaning, by the look of things).

Grrrrr......rant over.

Could be depression... she went from being able to afford excessive amounts of nice things for her kids, to not being able to afford her basics. Just a thought
 
Any landlord insurance policy in place?

Isnt it better to get professional cleaners in to all that stuff?

There's insurance, but that doesn't cover cleaning.

It's not the cleaning that's the problem. It's the 'stuff'. By law we have to store it for 14 days, and it's everywhere. We were going to just move it to the garage, so we had access to paint & tidy up.
 
Skater,
We have dealt with type of tenant on several occassions.
I know how you feel.
We no longer store anything. We have added a clause to our leases, that when the lease ends, anything they leave behind is disposed of.

Put an ad on Gumtree, looking for help.
Tell them they can have anything they want...and make a list of the good stuff (new clothes...they probably stole) etc.

Rent a trailer, a dolly to move boxes up and down the stairs (we have our own) ...and just get rid of everything.
get a receipt from your helper...and use it to retain her bond.

Take pictures of everything...especially all the soiled messes...and declare everything unsanitary and noxious....State it has urine all over it, and you aren't storing anything.

Problem solved.
We've got a large trailer. As soon as we've got the go-ahead, anything left will be taken to the tip.
 
I'm guessing you have a monetary limit under which you can simply chuck things out? And I would be selling anything of value after the time elapses rather than dumping it. You might as well get something back.

Can't throw anything out for 14 days. After that we can get rid of it. There's not a lot of value (to sell, that is), but if there is, then I'm happy to chuck it on eBay, so long as it's not too large. I don't need all their crap at my place.
 
When my last tenant left a bunch of stuff in the house I just got her to sign a statement that none of it was hers. I kept the signed statement until the complaint period was up but I never heard from her again.

This is what happened with the first one. She took anything that she wanted & the PM got her to sign to say that what was left could be disposed of which included a heap of furniture. So, we got rid of it all.

But......several weeks later she rang the PM. She was in a real state! Apparently her 'friends' had stored all her good furniture and anything of value for her, then they did a midnight runner & took all her stuff with them. She was left with nothing. She now wanted the rest of her furniture.

We were covered. We had her signature and it was past the date that we needed to hold for anyway. The PM was in stitches when she rang to tell me.:)
 
It's the 'stuff'. By law we have to store it for 14 days, and it's everywhere.

Yep I picked up a nice home theatre system 5 satellite speakers & amplifier when my 2nd tenant was deported for myself. Along with some furniture and a lot of other household junk the cleaners disposed of at the tip.
 
Yep I picked up a nice home theatre system 5 satellite speakers & amplifier when my 2nd tenant was deported for myself. Along with some furniture and a lot of other household junk the cleaners disposed of at the tip.

Hehe, if this were Facebook, I'd 'like' that.

In our first IP, we had a tenant do a runner & left a heap of junk in the shed. The kids were little back then & weren't really impressed with the whole 'help mum & dad' thing, until one of them spotted one of those huge tin money boxes that had been cut open, and all the gold coins spilling everywhere.

All of a sudden they were very keen to help (and keep the spoils).
 
I feel for you as we had one like this last year. I would regularly walk out and cry on the steps, not because of the mess or amount of work but because this guy had his 6 kids living this way. The youngest was only 3.
I do think he was overwhelmed by his situation, so maybe your tenant was too. Doesn't make it easier for you though.
 
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