Tenants trash house and leave landlady with clean-up bill

A Rockingham landlady has been left devastated as tenants left her house in ruins after their eviction for non-payment of rent.

The property’s owner, who asked to be called only Debra, arrived at the house in Cooloongup last Tuesday to find the four-bedroom, two-bathroom property in a shambles.

Rubbish, clothing, furniture, food, drink and faeces littered the floors, with the mess continuing into the backyard and shed.

Drug paraphernalia and broken glass also covered the floor, including in what appeared to be the room of a small child.

Debra said the mess the tenants had left behind was devastating.

“We are all in shock; I don’t think it has kicked in yet,” she said.

“I was expecting maybe a few couches to be left in there but nothing like this.”

Debra had been forced to evict the tenants after they stopped paying their rent.

To compound the problem, the mess left by the tenants is not covered by insurance and will cost thousands to clean up.

“We rang our insurance company this morning and only malicious damage is covered,” she said.

“We can’t claim for any of this rubble or rubbish removal.”

Debra said she had heard of similar horror stories in Rockingham and said authorities needed to give property owners more power when it came to evicting dodgy tenants.

“This is just occurring more and more,” she said.

“We need to be able to give tenants quicker eviction times.”

She also said the fact she had to keep the tenants’ rubbish for three to six months before she could legally dispose of it was ridiculous.

The relationship between tenants and landlords is regulated by the Residential Tenancies Act.