Tenants from hell leave landlord with £10k damage, rent arrears and rats in the boiler!
A landlord in Plymouth has been left with £10,000 worth of property damages after renting to the ‘tenants from hell’.
The three-bedroom property had been the home of a young family for just five months, when their landlord attempted to evict them after falling into rent arrears.
After serving an eviction notice on the Plymouth family legal proceedings took one year for Nick Saunders to eventually recover this property; leaving a trail of filth, property damage and even rat-infestation behind them!
Making the age-old mistake, Mr Saunders met the prospective tenants and after paying the £300 deposit required was confident that they were ‘decent people’.
Very little or no tenant referencing was carried out, as the truth soon became clear when it emerged that the couple didn’t have jobs (as stated in their initial application) and had lied about their three dogs; having claimed they only had one.
Photos of the property show everything from ripped up carpets and piles of cigarette butts to dog faeces.
Mr Saunders said: “You literally couldn’t breathe when you went into the house because the smell was so bad.
“The dogs were allowed to urinate on the floors, they had taken all the carpets up and when we finally got rid of them, we found two rats in the boiler.”
Original image source
Considering unpaid rent and property damages cost UK landlords £5.4bn every year, this story highlights the ever increasing need for landlords and letting agents to understand the importance of thoroughly referencing their tenants before granting them a tenancy.
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