Nightmare tenant whose home had dog mess on the floor, was stripped of furniture and kitchen appliances and had a cannabis farm in the loft

Visitors to the two-bedroomed house in St Helens was confronted with a sickening stench because there was dog mess all over the floors after the single male lodger left his pet unattended for several days while he went away.

The house was a mess and matters deteriorated when it was discovered that furniture, kitchen appliances and fittings had gone missing and there was evidence of drug plants being grown in the attic.

The tenant had also fallen £2,000 in rent arrears and it cost the landlord a lot more money than that to rectify all the damage, including replacement floor coverings, and replace the stolen items.

LegalforLandlords was called in by the letting agency when when rent arrears hit two months, with a court application made and a hearing subsequently set.

But while awaiting the court hearing, events went from bad to worse. Several visits to the address by the police uncovered both unhealthy and illegal activities.

On one of the later police visits, it was realised that the pet dog had been left on its own in the home for some time, with excrement carpeting the floors everywhere, including the kitchen, along with towers of empty dog food packets and waste and grime throughout.

The vomit-inducing smell inside the house left the managing agent and the LegalforLandlords team struggling to breathe.

Unfortunately for the landlord, matters deteriorated further when a more thorough investigation found the entire property had been stripped of its furniture and light fittings and all the kitchen appliances were gone. It was then that the remnants of a cannabis-growing operation were found in the loft, complete with water hoses and grow bags.

The landlord was left with rent arrears of almost £2,000, plus significant expense to clean the property. All floorcoverings had to be replaced, along with stolen furniture and appliances.

Sim Sekhon, managing director at LegalforLandlords, said: “This is yet another case where the landlord was left poorer in both time and money as a result of a problem tenant.

"While we’re pleased to have been able to assist in regaining control of the property, we’re keen to illustrate the need to protect landlords’ interests in tackling rogue tenants and holding them to account – this case might be shocking, but it unfortunately isn’t as rare as you might think.

“We need robust measures to support landlords to regain control of their properties, with speedy legal recourse via the courts – in some areas landlords are forced to wait months for a hearing, while issues worsen and the bill to rectify damage edges higher and higher.

"It’s a hugely stressful situation to be in. Had Section 21 been abolished, in the absence of rent arrears it’d be more difficult still to help landlords in situations like this, which just can’t be right.”