‘We’ve got nowhere to go’ couple facing homelessness after landlord requests police warrant

A police warrant has been issued for the forcible removal of two tenants from a Gympie house, after they refused to vacate until they found somewhere else to live, which has proved impossible after being turned down for 20 rentals

A police warrant has been issued for the forcible removal of two tenants from a Gympie house, after they refused to vacate until they found somewhere else to live, which has proved impossible after being turned down for 20 rentals​

A dispute between two renters and their landlord has gone to extremes, with the landlord requesting a police warrant to forcibly remove the couple from the house, Gympie Magistrates court heard on Wednesday.

The court heard tenants Rhonda Hammond and Kevin Boyce had originally leased the house from landlord Robert Pike between March 2018 and March 2019.

Since then, they had renewed their lease with Mr Pike on a month-to-month basis.

The court heard on Wednesday Mr Pike requested the couple leave the property after discovering a breach of the tenancy agreement.

But Ms Hammond and Mr Boyce, afraid of homelessness, refused to leave until they found somewhere else to live.

Magistrate Kurt Fowler said the couple accepted they had received a note to vacate.

“You’ve indicated there’s a difficulty securing somewhere else,” he said.

Ms Hammond said so far the couple had been rejected for 20 rentals they had applied for.

“That’s not including ones from Century 21,” she said.

“They completely ignore us.”

She said the house they were living in, owned by Mr Pike, was being sold by Century 21, but they were still being ignored.

Mr Boyce said he and Ms Hammond had been looking for another place to live since they received the note to vacate.

“We’ve got nowhere to go,” he said.

Mr Fowler approved the application to allow a warrant to remove the couple from the house, which will come into effect as of May 22, 2021.

The couple were ordered to vacate the premises by Wednesday, and should they still be on the property between May 22 and June 5, they will be forced to vacate the property by a police warrant.