Nightmare tenants trash rental apartment: 'Totally disgusting'
A US man has expressed his frustration over the sorry state in which tenants left his friend's apartment, leaving others shocked at how "disgusting" it was.
The New York State resident shared photos of the dwelling, warning others about renting a place out to the former tenants, who he said cost the landlord thousands of dollars to evict.
"If any landlord is thinking about renting to [name withheld] and [name withheld], this is how they left their last apartment, plus an infestation of fleas," the man warned other potential landlords.
"Oh and did I mention they didn't pay rent for 2.5 years and it cost over $3,000 to evict them," he added.
The photos, posted on the man's Facebook page, gave viewers a glimpse of the apartment which was littered with rubbish, old clothes, plastic bags and a variety of abandoned household items.
Five trailer loads of rubbish were eventually removed from the home, at the landlord's expense.
The post has garnered nearly 7,000 comments since it was posted, and has been shared over 3,000 times, with many equally appalled by the state the flat was left in.
'How does someone live like that?'
Many commented how "unbelievable" the mess was.
"How does someone live like that?" someone asked in disbelief.
"Omg, I couldn't imagine living like that let alone leaving a place like that," a second person commented.
Some people blamed tenants such as the couple in question for why renters have it tough.
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"This makes it so bad for us good tenants... totally disgusting," one woman commented.
"I'm struggling to get an apartment and it's hard cause people like this make it harder for good tenants to get a place," related another Facebook user.
Nightmare tenants
The author of the post found allies in fellow Facebook users who have experienced something similar, while others couldn't believe how long it took for the landlord to be able to get rid of his nightmare tenants.
"The first month fine, but by the third month, cut your losses. At that point, change the locks get movers to dump their s**t into a storage locker. Deal with the legalities later," someone commented.
"Easier said than done. There are lots of ways non-paying tenants can game the system and legally delay evictions," another person replied.
Landlord thwarted by Covid-era laws
The original poster explained that his friend was unable to evict the tenants due to laws introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic to protect renters at risk of homelessness.
In March 2020, US congress introduced various protections and economic stimulus measures as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, including a ban on landlords filing evictions against tenants in rental properties.
New York State followed suit by implementing the Covid-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act, which also stopped residential evictions and was extended until mid-January 2022.
Due to a backlog of court cases, however, it wasn't until late August that the couple was removed from the property.
The tenants also accused the landlord of stealing $7,000 from them, but the author of the Facebook post revealed this money was in fact Covid rent assistance, which was provided directly to the landlord.
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