A devastated landlord who fought a legal battle to regain possession of her rental property was left with a £10,000 bill after it was left trashed and covered in animal faeces.
Angela Leeming, 62, a grandmother-of-one, found dog and cat faeces on the furniture and mounds of litter piled high in every room.
The tenant, a single mother-of-three in her 30s, also left the house with alcohol bottles strewn everywhere, as well as mouldy food and old clothes lying around.
Angela Leeming, 62, a grandmother-of-one, found dog and cat faeces on the furniture and mounds of litter piled high in every room
Mrs Leeming’s three-bed terrace house was left in a filthy state by the tenant who lived there
Mrs Leeming spent thousands of pounds with mechanic husband Tom, 63, decorating the three-bed terrace house to a standard she ‘would want to live in’.
However the couple from Colne, in Lancashire, have been left with a bill for more than £10,000 in court costs, damage repairs and lost rent since the tenant stopped paying rent in March last year.
She has now been evicted through a court order.
The first-time landlord is calling for a change in the law to give landlords more power to recoup losses when a house is damaged and to evict problematic tenants quicker.
Mrs Leeming, a mother-of-two, said: ‘My husband has had difficulty sleeping and it has put a lot of pressure on him as well as myself.
‘The smell in the house is absolutely horrendous. It is awful – the tenant cannot tell me they did not smell it.
‘There was animal faeces everywhere. It was on the carpet and draws.
‘It had even got into the underlay. I can’t see why people would leave it in such a terrible state.
‘This is a really big issue because the landlords have no rights but the tenants do.
‘We were tempted to sell the house off and move on but as my husband said it would mean the previous tenant had won.
‘We will carry on going and hopefully the home will be taken on by loving tenants.’
Mrs Leeming said: ‘The smell in the house is absolutely horrendous. It is awful – the tenant cannot tell me they did not smell it’
Problems with the property started when tenant, who moved in on September 2016, defaulted on the rent.
Despite warnings she still refused to pay. Two written warnings were sent to the tenant who refused to move out.
The couple applied for a court order to gain possession of the property and when they returned with bailiffs, the tenant had disappeared.
Mrs Leeming, who rented out the property with her husband Tom, 63, said: ‘I feel like we are the victims.
‘Despite winning a court order we’ve had to pay all the costs and fees because the tenants could not afford it because of their financial situation.
The mother-of-three had to spent thousands of pounds decorating the house after the tenant left rubbish strewn everywhere
Mrs Leeming has been left with a bill for more than £10,000 in court costs, damage repairs and lost rent since the tenant stopped paying rent in March last year
‘Landlords have no rights. There are lots of schemes landlords have to adhere to and follow to protect tenants, yet there’s nothing for us.
‘I know not all landlords are good but my husband and I are caring genuine people.
‘It’s just not fair. My husband and I left the house in a condition we were happy to live in. It was immaculate.
‘On three occasions she was given 14 days notice to leave and she ignored it.
‘To me tenants should just get one warning as all the legal work can become expensive.’