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. 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!
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.
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!
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.