It was supposed to be a humble South Auckland rental, but now it looks like a home torn-apart in a war zone after the former tenants caused tens of thousands of dollars in damage.
Simran Gill said the tenants not only completely trashed her parents' Manurewa home but also chased the property manager down the road with a hammer before finally being evicted in a police raid.
It was a nightmare that started soon after the tenants moved into the rental in early 2017 and quickly fell behind in paying the rent.
Having been given 90 days to leave, they not only used up their notice period but stayed a further 90 days in the home before only being evicted when the five police cars came to shut down a party they were having at the house.
It took a police raid to evict the tenants. Photo / Supplied
It was then, with the police on the way, that the tenants began smashing every part of the home, breaking all the windows, kicking in doors and ripping kitchen cupboards off the walls, Gill said.
That was in December last year and since then the property has remained vacant and uninhabitable as Gill's parents wait for their insurance company to decide whether it will cover the damage.
"I've watched my parents work so hard to get their own properties, only to then see them stressed and regret what they have done through no fault of their own," Gill said.
"It's true that landlords don't get any help or protection."
The Gills' story comes after numerous landlords have been speaking out over the past week to question whether it's worth being a property investor under new tenant-friendly Government laws.
Last week the Herald revealed how Auckland landlord Nina Zhao found illegal tenants subletting in her $2 million St Helier's home, only to be told it could take weeks to evict them.
Zhao, 34, said she had originally rented her four-bedroom home as a rental to one tenant, who then sublet it to four other families who left it in a state "like a rubbish dump".
Then another experienced Auckland landlady, who did not wish to be named, revealed she had been left with a $42,000 bill to fix her home up after discovering her tenant had left behind walls covered in graffiti and mountains of trash.
And the problem is not just restricted to Auckland.
Gary Prentice from Rentals BOP in Tauranga said his agency had lost more than 20 properties in the past 12 months as clients sold their rental homes.
Damage to the property was extensive. Photo / Supplied
He said they were being driven out by the Government's plans to introduce tougher regulations that will beef up tenants' rights.
''It's the same deal with most of the landlords, they are saying it's getting into the too hard basket, and it's not worth owning rental properties any more, so let the government do it," he said.
For Gill and her family, meanwhile, the path ahead remains unclear as they wait for their insurance company to make a decision.
The delay has also left their home open to squatters, who have been doing further damage.
"Squatters were coming in and we contacted the police again, saying, 'This is still happening, we need some help because it is too dangerous for us to go back there'," Gill said.
"So the police cordoned it off, but the next day we went past and all the cordoned-off signs were destroyed and thrown down."
"My parents worked hard, they thought there would be steady income flowing in and this is what they got - it's so unfair."
