The Troubles of Renting: A Landlord’s Nightmare of Unpaid Rent and Property Damage

This was not the first time that Denis* and his wife had rented this 140 m2 house on the market in the Thionville area. Two tenants had followed one another, there had never been any problems. So when in December 2020 a new family showed up to occupy the property, the lease was signed with complete confidence. “I remember the day of the first visit. They came out of a nice car, the children were clean on them, the salary slips seemed to be correct…”, remembers Denis. At the time, he was far from suspecting the troubles that were about to loom.

May 2022, first unpaid rent. It is the beginning of the end. “We restarted, then we tried to recover the house, without success. » Denis talks about it to his network of acquaintances. The gendarmerie comes to ring the doorbell of bad sleepers: “No one has ever opened. Today, between bailiff and lawyer fees and unpaid debts, I am at €28,000. Insurance doesn’t work in this case. We are helpless…” says the cheated owner.

A few days ago, the gendarmes returned to hold the tenants accountable. This time, they were firm and the occupants were able to be evicted. “We stretched our backs. We wondered in what state we would find the house…” Denis’s concerns were confirmed: the interior of the accommodation was unrecognizable. Boxes, loose clothing, trash bags, damaged furniture clutter every room. The kitchen and bathroom look like garbage dumps, “and then there’s the smell of urine; that of animals and humans which has permeated the parquet floor… It’s unimaginable. There were still three children in there! »

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