Gladstone home left in ruins with family ‘living in squalor’ evicted
A woman who bought property in central Queensland was left gobsmacked with a whopping $50k repair bill after ‘dreadful tenants’ did the unspeakable. SEE THE PHOTOS
Gladstone
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A Victorian woman who bought an investment property in Gladstone more than 10 years ago has faced a shocking repair bill after tenants from hell trashed her home.
Only wanting to go by the name Sharon, she said it was time to speak out about bad tenants considering the current cost of living crisis.
She first went into investment to help others who could not buy a house but now all she wants to do is get out of the market.
Sharon bought the property in 2012 because of the industry boom in Gladstone, it was managed by an agency before she decided to rent it privately after 2015. Until the house was vacated in May 2022, Sharon experienced a series of ‘dreadful’ renters, the last of whom left the house in nightmare condition.
She grew suspicious when the tenants stopped paying their rent, and asked her regular gardener to take some photos.
“The gardener who had been working at the property for years sent me photos that he took with his wife,” Sharon said.
“They told me ‘the house just needed to be blown up’.”
More than $50,000 was left in repairs, including the installation of a new air conditioner, the removal and replacement of all the floorboards; repairing holes in the walls and the removal and installation of a new kitchen.
“The house was full of rats. Even when I went in after it was cleaned, there were still rats. The shock didn’t hit me as much until I saw the home in person because I couldn’t smell it. One step into the house and I smelt it, and that’s when the shock really hit me. I couldn’t imagine what it smelt like before.”
After a lengthy eviction process, Sharon was met with horrific scenes and has spent over a year repairing the property.
“When I saw the photos I was shocked, but I was also numb,” she said.
“Before I came up to see the house, I had someone come in and clean it because I just couldn’t bear to see it.”
“If I had actually seen the house like that, I would have just broken down. I kind of shielded myself, because when you look at the photos you don’t get the whole impact... it was just too much for my brain to take in.”
From difficult agents to tradies and tenants, Sharon had been struggling with the property since she bought it.
The tenants were a family and had an unapproved dog living in the home, and the house was riddled with dog and human faeces all over the walls and floors.
The extent of damage made the property unliveable. Sharon said the family lived in the property for about two years and for a large period of that she had been unable to evict them because of the changing legislation during Covid-19 lockdowns.
“The only recourse I had was to apply to Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) to vacate them, which took two to three months where I lost more rent. They left the property in the time it took to get a QCAT hearing.”
“I didn’t know how to react, because you can only handle so much shock. I had been receiving shocking news about this property for almost 10 years.”
Gladstone Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) Zone Chair Alicia Williams said it was normal to experience changes such as job loss or domestic issues during the course of a tenancy when renting privately or through an agency.
She also added that these living circumstances could be hidden during routine inspections.
“Ultimately, people don’t respect other people’s things. Irrespective of whether a tenant is renting a property privately or through an agency, they are legally obligated to look after that space,” Ms Williams said.
“Tenants like this jump between private rentals. The benefit of a real estate is that we have access to safety nets and trigger points so we can be aware of these repeat offenders more quickly, and it helps our landlords avoid these sorts of people.”
Ms Williams said she believed that current rental bonds were not sufficient, given the cost of living and replacement values.
Sharon’s problems with the home are continuing, as she has been trying to sell it but to no avail.
“The reason a lot of landlords go into these ventures is to help people. If it was up to me, I would just want a nice house with good tenants. I wanted to help people so they have somewhere to live, but I can’t handle the stress of this anymore.”
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