Tenants trash house to tune of $10,000

[muppet]

Tenants trash house to tune of $10,000



Last updated 05:00 03/06/2011



TRASHED: The landlords of an Aynsley St flat survey some of the $10,000 worth of damage to their property.

A Timaru couple in their 80s are devastated that their rental property has been trashed by young tenants, causing $10,000 worth of damage in just eight weeks.
Yesterday they were finally able to get into their Aynsley St house after the Tenancy Tribunal evicted the tenants, understood to be only 16 and 17 years old.
They discovered holes in the walls, panels kicked out of most of the wooden doors, cigarette butts littering the entire inside of the house and dog faeces.
The home had been furnished, with most of the furniture now damaged, while glass littered the backyard, along with the remains of bonfires, and little chance of insurance to cover the damage.
The landlords became concerned after an out-of-control party on May 14.


Read more at
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/5094...tune-of-10-000

[eri]

the damage bill should be added to their student loans

pursued relentlessly

and follow up stories run in the media once a year

so the country can all learn a little from this reality show

[TheLiberalLeft]

Puts the $5k damage over 4 years on my place in perspective.

[Tan]

Shows the value of having a property manager for some people (No, i'm not one!).

I have been reading my insurance policy over the last couple of years too. It's amazing what you find in there.

[speights boy]

Why is this 80+ yr old couple in the business of being landlords to student scumbags?

Sell up, put the money in the bank, or spend it, or sell the house to the daughter.

[cube]

What's the age limit for being a landlord, Speighty?

[cube]

The house is (hopefully) mortgage free - take out a small loan, fix up the damage, and move on.

The next tenants may have a p-lab and blow up the kitchen, and cause the rest of it to be condemned!

[speights boy]

What's the age limit for being a landlord, Speighty?

For this couple; about 5 years ago.

We ended up putting an ad up at the South Canterbury Community College and were contacted by a young man there," the man said. The student was 18 and the other two flatmates were also said to be 18.
"They seemed nice."

We are devastated. We won't get insurance because we didn't know we needed to have separate insurance for damage by tenants. "It is so frustrating it takes so long to get tenants out

[Kaos]

Can relate to this. It sux! Last rental I let a friend move in and she trashed the place, had no idea she was like that. Now she's wanting another rental property, and she got her ex husband to butter me up....Told her she can use me as a reference....so when other landlords ring up to enquire I'll tell them the truth.

[WGN ex-property manager]

Tenant screening! Tenant screening! Tenant screening! Tenant screening! Tenant screening! Tenant screening! Tenant screening!

If you can't do it right yourself, them employ someone who can.

This stuff simply doesn't happen if you get good tenants and parental guarantees for the under 21's

[drelly]

Even with tenant screening, tenants that age... it's like rolling dice where the odds are stacked against you! I won't rent to teenagers again. Even if they're nice kids, they're still naive enough to cause problems.

[WGN ex-property manager]

Even with tenant screening, tenants that age... it's like rolling dice where the odds are stacked against you! I won't rent to teenagers again. Even if they're nice kids, they're still naive enough to cause problems.

Parental Guarantee's, and screen the parents (do they have nice professional jobs so they can pay to refit a house rather than suffer the stigma of ending up in court).

But yes, I'd rarely rent to such young tenants, and only in a property targeted at the flat share market.

4 x 18 year old's with no previous landlord reference and no jobs is not a great bet.