Qld's shocking tenant and landlord horror stories

A suburban battlefield is brewing between vulnerable tenants and anxious landlords - here are Queensland’s worst horror stories to emerge from the rental crisis. SEE THE PHOTOS

A suburban battlefield is brewing between vulnerable tenants and anxious landlords, as both sides are pushed to breaking point.

Tenants Queensland chief executive Penny Carr has previously forecast the cocktail of issues that will result in a tight rental market and soaring rents. The trends show no signs of slowing.

She claimed many suburbs long regarded as rental havens, such as Woodridge, were becoming battlefields between aggressive landlords and tenants scared of eviction.

The struggle between tenants and landlords has previously resulted in some horror stories across the state - here are some of the shocking tales.

MARSDEN: 2021

Ray White Marsden was approached by a fed up landlord who had a townhouse under management with another agency.

Over a year, tenants trashed the townhouse twice and the last tenant left owing thousands of dollars in rent and damages.

Ray White Marsden principal Avi Khan told News Corp at the time the owner was interstate and had no idea of the property’s condition as the previous managing agent had not completed a routine inspection.

This is what the owners were confronted with at their Marsden property.

“The tenant had abandoned the property and it was left with holes to the walls throughout, doors had been ripped off, the carpets that were only six months old needed to be replaced and the townhouse was filled with used syringes and left with rotting rubbish and infested with cockroaches,’ Mr Khan said.

FULL REPORT

CAIRNS: 2021

A Far North homeowner faced a horrifying clean-up and a bureaucratic nightmare after her rental property was turned into a drug den.

Naomi Torres, who lives on the Tablelands, rented her property at Manoora to a man she said was employed in mining — but things turned sour when she visited to discover him smoking drugs.

Then she got a call from the man’s girlfriend saying he had been incarcerated on drug-related charges — and to her shock, she was asked if other people in the home could stay there.

“I had never approved other occupants but was told, ‘well, there’s (other people) all living here’,” Ms Torres said.

“I was told by another ‘those junkies have invaded your house, it’s now a crack den and known as the place to get meth in Manoora’.

“I rang police that night and they told me I couldn’t get them out as they were invited guests of (the tenant), I would have to go to the court and get a warrant of possession.”

FULL REPORT

GOLD COAST: 2023

A woman revealed her horror after a ceiling collapsed on her while she was asleep as personal injury lawyers issued a warning to property managers and landlords about not repairing damage or hazards at rental properties.

New Zealander Melissa Ware, 49, was visiting her sister’s home at Hollywell, Queensland, in October when the ceiling collapsed about 2am.

“I was fast asleep when all of a sudden there was a loud bang and I felt an enormous weight on top of me. It was pitch black, so I had no idea what was happening and panicked,” she said.

Ms Ware’s sister said was furious because she had raised concerns about the ceiling cracking and sagging in the bedroom with their rental property manager about eight months earlier.

She said a maintenance worker had provided a repair quote after part of the ceiling had collapsed in another bedroom and narrowly missed an elderly relative.

The property was ultimately deemed unsafe, and they moved out soon after.

Ray White Runaway Bay principal Ali Mian said he was deeply sorry to hear Ms Ware had been hurt.

Slater and Gordon Public Liability lawyer Peter Adams said the incident highlighted the serious consequences of not listening to tenants’ concerns and conducting urgent repairs.

FULL REPORT

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BRISBANE: 2024

A warning left for potential tenants in a north Brisbane rental property went viral after a former tenant described the home as “cockroach infested” and the “worst rental experience ever”, with thousands of people around the world praising the former tenant for the initiative.

Reddit user u/ViolinistNatural4852 shared a post with a photo of the warning, with “the text my husband found at a rental inspection”. “He didn’t even check the rest of the house. He just left after taking the picture,” she said.

Writing in red pen on a shiny surface, the former tenant warned potential tenants there was mould in the bathroom, the window hinges were broken, the downstairs area was noisy with no soundproofing, paint was peeling in the bathroom and the house was infested with cockroaches, among other things.

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TOWNSVILLE: 2022

A landlord who was left with $10,000 in damages after her property was decimated by tenants said she had been left with little option than to sell up.

Brenda Govan owned her Mount Louisa investment property since 2009, and in 13 years she has privately rented it out four times.

But after her last tenants – a family of six with two dogs who for months refused to vacate the home – left it in a state of chaos, she has been left to pick up the pieces.

After sending breach notices, the tenants eventually moved out, but what they left behind shocked Ms Govan.

Rubbish was found at this Townsville property.

Filthy walls, rubbish and old clothing littering the ground, splintered doors, urine-soaked carpets that penetrated the concrete, and a “disgusting smell” was what faced Ms Govan when she walked through the house.

“ … We saw the state the property was in and it was just overwhelming,” Ms Govan said.

“My first thought was ‘how could someone live like this and how could they do this to me after I gave them a shot at finding their feet?’”

FULL REPORT

THORNLANDS: 2021

A landlord who rented out his newly renovated three-bedroom, two bathroom brick property in Thornlands’ up-market “wine streets” estate was pushed to the brink and finally sold after the address became a marked drug den.

Angry drug dealers went to the property and carved “die” in the front door before a series of police raids landed one of the tenants in jail.

“The tenants started off okay and paid their rent which was subsidised,” the former owner said at the time.

“But the final straw was after they refused to do direct debit and then could not pay.

“They left the place in a mess and it took me nearly six months to repair it and repaint it as the walls in every room were splattered with different coloured paint.

“Windows were broken, the dishwasher wrecked, and they had put holes in every fly screen.

“We found remains of a dead rat under the kitchen sink along with a range of stolen goods.

“It was time to sell.”

FULL REPORT

WOODRIDGE: 2021

A family of eight, including five children and a grandmother, who had been renting in Woodridge for 25 years were evicted when their lease rolled into a month-by-month contract.

When they finally found a new rental, they had to endure weeks without a roof in parts while it was repaired.

“We were forced to find a new home within two weeks, which is very difficult for us because we have five kids who go to school in the area and there are no suitable properties on the market,” renter “Edward” said at the time.

“When we finally found a place, which was $70 more a week than what we had been paying, the landlord had to fix the roof and half of the house was covered in tarps in the middle of winter and there was no power in some rooms.

“The place was filled with dust while the work was taking place and we had no idea how long the renovations would take.

“We could not complain because we were actually lucky to get a place.”

FULL REPORT

BRISBANE NORTH: 2021

After receiving an eviction notice at the end of their lease, renter “Janine” and her family applied for 12 rental properties without success.

The real estate agent immediately re advertised the rental home in Brisbane’s northern suburbs with a substantial rent increase.

Janine described trying to find another home for her family as an absolute nightmare.

“We had lived in our home for nearly three years, made good friends in the community, and our neighbours are like family. Now we have had to leave, for no good reason,” she said.

“We would have happily paid the extra rent if it meant avoiding the hassle of moving, especially with a young family.

“The real estate agent never raised any concerns with us until the last inspection. Then, they complained about the state of the house as we had baby gates and other children’s items out.

“It just doesn’t seem fair that a property manager can push us out of our home when we’ve done nothing wrong. I can’t think about what might have happened to us if we hadn’t been lucky enough to find another house. It’s just too scary.”

FULL REPORT

YARRABILBA: 2021

Renter “Carol” had lived in her Yarrabilba home for three years. Every time her lease was renewed, she asked for ceiling fans to be installed in the family and lounge room as the bedrooms already had them.

Each time she was knocked back.

In 2021 her landlord wanted to increase rent by $40 a week from $360. But Carol and her husband said they could not afford such a substantial increase on fixed income pensions.

They were finally able to negotiate a $10 a week increase, but only for six months.

FULL REPORT

MORETON BAY: 2022

A foul smell alerted a Moreton Bay region landlord to call the police and ask them to check inside her property, afraid she would find something dead inside.

“Lisa Williams” would later discover her tenants had destroyed and abandoned her house, leaving it covered it in faeces.

Ms Williams, who chose not to use her real name, owned a home in Burpengary which she privately rented to a couple with three young children in December 2021.

She became worried when they started to miss rent payments and failed to show up to several inspection appointments.

Faeces were discovered on the floor on the Moreton Bay property.

After an “atrocious” smell started seeping from the house she decided to call the police, expecting the worst.

When she walked inside, Ms Williams found the house trashed, floors splattered in faeces, mounds of rubbish, paraphernalia, and “god knows what else”.

“The smell was absolutely atrocious,” Ms Williams said.

“There were holes in doors everywhere, decking boards had been split, paint was spilt all over the timber floors inside, skirting boards were ripped off.

“I also found s***loads of letters saying they owed SPER debt and Energex bills.

“There were bongs in there, it was full on.”

FULL REPORT

REDBANK PLAINS: 2022

Video footage emerged on social media of two properties at Redbank Plains and Lowood, west of Brisbane, which showed a trail of destruction left by the tenants on inspection day.

The videos, shared to social media platform TikTok, went viral with more than 120,000 views between them since being posted.

News Corp obtained the footage and been granted permission from the property manager who took them.

The property manager said the tenants had “trashed” the Lowood property and eventually had to be evicted by police.

Holes were among many issues at this property.

“We tried to send them breach notices but they ignored them and took about 15 weeks for them to be out of the place,” the property manager, who asked not to be identified, said at the time.

The property manager said the “shocked” landlord was based in Singapore.

“It’s only one aspect of the rental crisis, you have people offering six months’ pay in advance and people offering much more than the asking price, it’s crazy,” they said.

The footage showed the trashed rental properties were left with layers of filth including kick and punch holes in the walls, rubbish strewn across the floods, and cupboards and toilet seats ripped off.

FULL REPORT

CHINCHILLA: 2019

Penny Jakab began to sob uncontrollably when she looked at the text messages from her husband.

She had an inkling the tenants of their Tara property were going to cause them trouble after they stopped paying rent three weeks into their lease period.

But the mother of four didn’t expect to find their family home of five years gutted and abandoned, leaving them with thousands of dollars of damage.

“When I saw the photos Sam had taken I was inconsolable, then I was fuming and now I just want to put this whole nightmare in the past,” she said at the time.

“I’ve cleaned a lot of abandoned rentals in my time as a business owner in Brisbane - but this was just repulsive.

“There was blood on the walls, dog poo smeared into the floor, the carpet and wooden panelling has been taken, the septic system was pulled apart leaving human faeces everywhere and a majority of the furniture we provided is now destroyed.”

IMAGE GALLERY

TOWNSVILLE: 2023

A Queensland landlord whose property was ‘abandoned’ listed his former tenant’s belongings on social media.

But he wasn’t planning to make any major profits from the sale – just “enough for a carton”.

Located in Townsville, photographs on Marketplace showed rooms packed high with crates and boxes full of random items, books, pots and pans, a damaged couch with what appear to be two TVs and three remotes, pedestal fans, eskies, and rubbish and dirt everywhere.

“Abandoned rental property. Everything to give away or small donation appreciated for better items. Hoping to get enough for a carton,” the listing said.

FULL REPORT

ROCKHAMPTON: 2023

A woman who broke her lease after claiming a mouse invasion caused her whole family to get sick said her real estate agent was still demanding rent.

Harlyn Paislee moved into a Norman Gardens home in Rockhampton in Central Queensland more than eight months ago.

Upon arrival Ms Paislee said she noticed a big hole underneath the sink which she reported to the real estate agent but was unsure what caused it at the time.

In March, she realised rodents were nesting there and in the roof.

The problem evolved into an awful stench, hearing mice and rats in the roof, rodents chewing through clothes, cords, furniture, mattresses and towels and then finding dead rodents in cushions.

“We started to have mouse poo and urine on everything,” Ms Paislee said.

“There was heavy urine on the stove tops, on the dishwasher, on plates, pans, closed packets of food.

“We ended up getting sick, the house stunk, and we were breathing it in.”

FULL REPORT

GOLD COAST: 2020

One Glitter Strip unit was piled so high with rubbish it was almost reaching the kitchen bench top.

A smoker had lived in the unit and the kitchen sink was left looking like an ashtray.

Cleaning company BIO Busters managed to get the kitchen back to scratch but the walls and floors would need replacing.

The strangest thing BIO Busters say they found while cleaning were tonnes of canned food that had their labels removed and covered with paper.

FULL REPORT

GLADSTONE: 2023

A Victorian woman who bought an investment property in Gladstone more than 10 years ago in July 2023 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’.”

FULL REPORT

Originally published as Qld's shocking tenant and landlord horror stories