Jerry Springer trailer trash

Bad Tennent

Im not sure how to begin on here so I will start from the beginning.

I have a 4 year old investment home that I built with my father. I have had two previous tennents with 12 month leases on them. In Feb this year I went with a new agent and had a new tennent sign up for a 6 month lease as my husband and I had thoughts on selling it. The agent lead us to believe that the home was going to be rented to a nurse and her two older teenage daughters, and it was'nt until nearly a month later when we asked where our rent was that we found out he had put in a single woman with a couple of kids and her uncle was living with her. The tennent was put on a month in advance contract originally. After the original agent ended up giving us the run around with our rent which took us nearly two months to finally get the first months rent , I gave him the boot. I then took up with another agent and asked her to finally get things back on track for us with the rent, unfortunately the tennent kept giving every excuse to the agent why she was late or could not pay her rent and would tell the agent that she would be in during the week to pay it and never seemed to show up with any money, so when she ended up 14 days over due in her rent the agent served her a notice to vacate, we then had to go before Vcat and see if the judge would evict her. Unfortunately this did not happen as she brought her 6 month old baby into court and played on the judges emotions rather than try to see my financial position I was starting to get into trouble with. She put her on a rent order, she had to pay every friday before the end of the business day, $305 rent (paying and extra $25 a week to eventually get a month in advance. To me this seemed quite unreal as the women couldn't even manage to scrape together the original $280 a week. So that started on April 24th.

Since then I have been back not just for the rent but also the new agent found out that the tennent did not pay the original bond oweing and was just over $300 short in it. So we took her back to Vcat to try and have her lease end as she began damaging the property, however I wont get into that yet. We went to Vcat on May 8th and got our possession order to kick her out but as it was a friday we had to wait for monday to get the warrent for the police. Unfortunately the tennent then contacted Vcat and asked them if she could have another day in court to explain her position, I however did not attend this hearing and the judge granted her time to pay it, I could not believe it!, my agent told the judge that she was nearly $400 behind in her rent and by the time she paid the rest of the bond she would be over $700 behind in her rent. The judge dismissed what the agent said and allowed the tennent to get away with it. So since then she has been paying in dribs and drabs, mainly by going to charities and asking for money to pay the rent.

I am in the process of taking her back to Vcat for the rent again, as she is over 14 days as of last Sat the 13th of June, and this Saturday she will be $854.91 behind in her rent. Then on tuesday this week I received a call from my agent saying that a cheque turned up for $500 from the salvation Army, blowing my chances yet again to having her kicked out at Vcat next Wednesday.

So my current position now is that I have spoken to my bank and kept them informed on the whole situation since all this started and have recieved a letter from them which I will use in court to show the judge the current financial postion I have been forced into due to this tennent, also I have just done a recent inspection on the property which I was the subject to heaps of verbal abuse, which the agent was witness too. During the whole inspection I took photo's of damage done to the property which I will show on here. The front door was completely destroyed and her reason for this was that at 2am in the morning it fell off and that she had to put it back up with framing nails where the original screw were in the hinges, last time I checked there was no cyclones warnings for that area:confused: and the toilet cistern just came off the wall and the plumber who has certified the plumbing on the house has no idea on how to be a plumber (the plumber is my father), and there are holes in the walls that have been badly patched up they have dogs that have been chewing on the pipes for the outside compressor for the split sytem for the house along with them also chewing on the pipe that is used for the watertank that runs the pump for the toilet, there is water damage to the bathroom door and the main bedroom door has been split where they have replaced it with a different handle that is not even the original, they have swaped and broken things, and have said that they had too as the thing was originally broken to begin with, the original report states otherwise.
Thankfully I have landlords insurance!

Now my main aim at the moment is to try and get her out on Wednesday but I fear that even with my finanical position stated in the letter from the bank I will end up being told again that I am just some greedy landlord and that how dare I think of throwing out this woman on the street with two little kids in the middle of winter. My position is that I have two children and I stay home while my husband works but majority of the time it is his wage that ends up being used on paying the full morgage and we end up with around $100 a week to live on, I cant believe I have ended up sinking so low because all I wanted to do was have something for when we got older instead of bludging of the government when we my husband retires.
 
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Jerry Springer Tennent Damage

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Hi all,

There is something fishy here. Blacky built this house 4 years ago with her father and with the tenant ~$800 behind, are in mortgage repayment stress.

How did you survive when rates were higher and rents lower a year or 2 ago??

bye
 
Don't know the law in Vic.

The way I deal with that sort of tenant is to issue them with 2 termination notices - one for rental arrears (14 day notice), and a no reason notice (60 days notice - can only do when the fixed term has expired - or can issue a notice terminating the lease at the end of the fixed term)

By issuing 2 notices you cover all bases - if it becomes drawn out or if the courts side with the tenant you can fall back on the 60 day notice.
 
I have issued a 90 day notice on the tennent which will end the contract of the lease on the 3rd of August, but with the 14 day notice are you telling me I can issue another one to the tennent even though she is on an order to pay? Will this help me when it returns to Vcat?
 
Don't have any advice for you, other then to make sure you document 'everything' (no matter how small). Hopefully you have them out soon and your LL insurance covers the expenses. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.
 
I cant believe I have ended up sinking so low because all I wanted to do was have something for when we got older instead of bludging of the government when we my husband retires.


Hi Blacky,

Hope all of this works out for you very soon.

I'd focus on getting the tenant out asap. Does your insurance include loss of rent? If so that will help to recover some of your costs. I know mine does up to an amount of $5000. The insurer will pay up to this amount after the tenant has been evicted.

Furthermore, they will continue covering the weekly rent while they repair the property.

I'd check my insurance policy and see if yours has similar terms.

If this is the case, all is not lost. Could you access credit from credit cards until the tenant moves out just to get you through, then pay the money back with the insurance pay out?



Regards Jason.
 
Does your insurance include loss of rent? If so that will help to recover some of your costs. I know mine does up to an amount of $5000. The insurer will pay up to this amount after the tenant has been evicted.

Furthermore, they will continue covering the weekly rent while they repair the property.


Yes my insurance does cover loss of rent lucky but only if there is 4 weeks behind in this. But the way I seem to think the situation will play out according to her track record is she will stop paying rent at least 2 or 3 weeks before the end of the lease is up, leaving me with that as a loss and another say 1 to 2 weeks to get the tradies in to repair the damage done. I still cant believe it's only had 3 sets of tennents in it and it needs replastering with all the damage done to the walls and a whole new paint job... if I ever had to build another one it will be concrete walls no windows a couple of skylights and a steel door for the front an back along with some sort of concrete kitchen so they cant damage it.... ohhh and a drain in the centre of the floor and after they leave I can get a fire hose in to hose it all down once they are gone...:D
 
It sounds like you weren't given the option to approve the tenant. The PM should take some responsibility if they put in a tenant that was not suitable. Especially if they were listed on the TICA database. You could pursue them for some compensation.
 
In regards to an insurance payout for loss of rent, you might have a bit of a hard time, considering you dont hold any bond.
Boods
 
It doesnt sound like your PM is presenting a very strong case at VCAT as this is an open and shut case. At the very least the PM should have obtained an adjournment so that the hearing can be rasied again straight away without having to wait for the 14 days to lapse.

In cases like these i ALWAYS ask the tribunal member when they are giving the tenant a payment plan to allow the case to be reheard straight away if the tenant does not make those payments. I also always ask for a possession order to be granted anyway. Landlords/Agents have 6 months to serve the warrant of possession, thus it can be used to hold over the tenant to make sure they pay, and if they miss a payment then you can serve the warrant.

If VCAT fails to give you a WOP at your next hearing then i believe i would be writing a letter of complaint to the head of VCAT.

If you PM does get the WOP, make sure they send it off to the police THAT day to get things moving as quickly as possible, the police will generally take the full 14 days to actually serve the WOP on the tenants. ANd byt he sounds of things it looks like you are going to lose enough money as it is.
 
It doesnt sound like your PM is presenting a very strong case at VCAT as this is an open and shut case. At the very least the PM should have obtained an adjournment so that the hearing can be rasied again straight away without having to wait for the 14 days to lapse.

In cases like these i ALWAYS ask the tribunal member when they are giving the tenant a payment plan to allow the case to be reheard straight away if the tenant does not make those payments. I also always ask for a possession order to be granted anyway. Landlords/Agents have 6 months to serve the warrant of possession, thus it can be used to hold over the tenant to make sure they pay, and if they miss a payment then you can serve the warrant.

If VCAT fails to give you a WOP at your next hearing then i believe i would be writing a letter of complaint to the head of VCAT.

If you PM does get the WOP, make sure they send it off to the police THAT day to get things moving as quickly as possible, the police will generally take the full 14 days to actually serve the WOP on the tenants. ANd byt he sounds of things it looks like you are going to lose enough money as it is.


Thankyou for your information, I went back to Vcat on the 24th of June yesterday and the tennent as usual did not show up for the hearing, the possession order has been granted and I have contacted Vcat just a couple of minutes ago and they are sending the warrent out to the agent by the end of the business day today. I have worked it out that if I can get the police to serve the warrent about 5pm on friday then I have been told that it is considered the first day and the police can then come back on the 3rd day to have her out of the property, so sunday she should technically be out of the property, so we'll see what happens!

Thankyou so much for everyones replies it makes me feel not so alone out here:):):):)
 
Well Im back to Vcat today at 2pm as the tennent has asked for a review as she did not show up to the last hearing, she has not paid any money on the account and has rang to tell the agent that she has a check coming today to put against her account, what a joke, so keeping my fingers crossed today and hope to have the warrent put back in force to finally once and for all evicted! Will keep you posted!;)
 
What a cat fight! I would be tempted to go to the house, break into my own property and chuck all her crap out on the lawn and change the locks! Yes i know you can't do that but it would be tempting to do so! Thankgod i don't have problems like this with my tennants! Maybe you should take your kids with you next time to court and explain to the magistrate how your struggling to provide for them as your constantly trying to keep up with your mortgage repayments as your tennant seems to think its a free ride! I work in a court house & see individuals using their kids as a get out of jail free card all the time! It's BS! Good luck with it, hope u get that warrant!
 
Thankyou Nikolina for your reply!

As for the tennent I HAVE FINALLY GOT HER OUT! This tuesday on the 7th of July at 2pm she will be escorted from the property by the police, THANK GOODNESS!

We went back to court on the 1st of July and when the judge asked her for her reason for not attending the court, she made a lame *** excuse for not coming and had all her dates confused and the judge totally caught her out lying was simply brilliant, but what definately hung her was the fact that during my last inspection of the property she bragged to the agent and myself along with her boyfriend and said that she would never get thrown out with Vcat and trust me when the judge heard that from the agent and myself he was not impressed... lol, the funny thing was I had to take my son who is only 5 into court with me as he was a bit under the weather and everytime he did make too much noise in the court I had to ask him to be quiet and I think that helped also in making the decision as well, the judge finally was able to see my side in all this and that I had kids to care for and morgages to meet each month as well.
So when all this was concluded the judge sided with me finally and she really cracked it with the judge and began screaming at him, he asked her to leave immediately otherwise he would have the police escort her out and then the idiot turned around and said to me in front of the judge that she would smash in every window , door, wall, kitchen, split system, the whole thing, to which the judge replied " if you do charges will be laid by the landlord and you will serve time! Now get out of my court!"

So now all I have to do is wait till tuesday and I will see how the property fairs.

Will keep you posted!:D
 
Blimey - glad to hear your getting her out at last.

Certainly makes me think twice about getting another IP. I know there are plenty of great tenants out there, but not sure how I would cope in your situation.

We took a chance on having 3 18 year old lads as tenants when we moved from the UK. We lived in that house for 7 years and the thought of renting to 3 young lads was terrible, however, tenants were few and far between at the time so we took the chance.

Luckily for us they have been the best tenants EVER. They are still there, (although one is moving out soon), they have been in 18 months and we could not have asked for better. Just hope we are as lucky when we purchase our first Australian IP.

Hope your woman doesn't cause too much further damage before you get her out.
 
Out at last!

Finally I got her out on tuesday at 2pm, I arrived at the investment at 10 to 2pm and noticed the front door ajar, I went around the side of the house and was able to see through the windows, she had abandoned the property leaving holes in the walls like she promised she would do:mad:. On top of that we found the back garage door open along with two windows that had been broken into. A couple of minutes later the police showed up and my agent. We then went through the property together and found that nearly every wall down stairs had a hole in it along with a hole through the bathroom door. The place had been left with rubbish taking up about half the garage and the smell discusting. The toliet was stuffed with paper along with s*** and the spilt system nearly was jumping off the wall when we turned it on, have no idea what they hell they did to it, they ripped down our side fence and that was no where to be seen, and left behind a few of their belongings. I was so angry but then like my dad said it can be fixed so dont worry! I would have loved the chance to take the stupid little twit out behind the garage and given her a good slappen like I told the policeman(Jack) his reply was that he would have let me...lol... I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels like this! Anyway when it comes to the next tennent I have advised my agent that I would like to sit down with her when she is interviewing the next set, I think only then will I be happy to let out my property again!
 
Im not a very vengeful person, but I would make it my duty to have charges laid, put her in prison and to be there when she has to face court......

What utter human trailer trash, they should be put down like a dog.
 
I would think that the court where she threatened to damage your property might be of interest to the police. I also would see if the police can do anything about charging them.

I know when we had a tenant damage a house, the insurance company were most interested in getting the forwarding address for the girlfriend who was on the lease as well. She will be paying for his damage for quite a while and hopefully will have given the insurance company his details so they could chase him up as well.

Onwards and upwards. You just struck a crook tenant, which we all do from time to time. They are not all crook, so don't let it put you off.

Better luck next time. Perhaps consider landlord insurance if you don't have it. Over the years, we tend to decide whether or not to insure, depending on the quality of tenant. If we have any doubts, we make sure we take out the insurance, but for a tenant who is rock solid, we don't worry.
 
. ! Anyway when it comes to the next tennent I have advised my agent that I would like to sit down with her when she is interviewing the next set, I think only then will I be happy to let out my property again!
I don't like your chances on that one;)Just one question why would you employ the same "agent",after all that's what you pay them for to look after your investment??,i would not like the job of assessing the damages by the photos so far as they have let this property slip into the unknown, at least they did not pour pre-mix concrete down all the drains ihave seen and worked on properties many times like that and you don't get much for 10k when that happens,nothing like the smell of a jackhammer when it hits the blocked-solid-waste- pipes..
willair..
 
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