STOP THE GOATS

TENANTS FROM HELL PARTY IN LUXURY HOME WITH PET PIG AND GOAT

A DARWIN landlord was left thousands of dollars out of pocket after a tenant allegedly partied with a pig and a goat in his brand new luxury home and trashed the place.

The Stuart Park property owner, Jeremy Grosbois , said Northern Territory landlords needed more rights.

He said it took more than a month to evict the tenant, who he claimed had stopped paying rent and damaged furniture, walls, lights, fly screens, blinds, ceiling fans, bathroom basins and floor tiles.

Mr Grosbois said the tenant cost him more than $14,000 in outstanding rent payments and repairs.

‘‘I heard from other residents the tenant had a live pig or goat in there,’’ he said.

‘‘I believe it was during one of their parties, they were toying with the animal(s).

‘‘ Furniture needed to be dumped due to damage. I had to throw out four beds and mattresses and the house is still being repaired.’’

Mr Grosbois made an appli- cation to the Commissioner of Tenancies to evict the tenant, who had been living in the home for eight months.

His request was originally denied but 10 weeks after the first hearing the decision was overturned.

‘‘( The tenant) didn’t pay rent the entire time and there was nothing I could do about it,’’ he said.

‘‘Effectively my tenant was a thief, he stole $10,000 in rent money and left thousands in maintenance bills. If you were to go into a shop and steal this much money and vandalise you would be criminally prosecuted and most likely given a jail sentence.

‘‘I just think the whole process needs to be changed in the NT. I’ve found the legal system is a lot more lenient to the tenants than homeowners. Renters wonder why landlords are so discriminatory towards stereotypes when they apply for a rent application — it’s because they have no power to act on issues when it all goes terribly wrong.’’

Mr Grosbois said that he was making a claim through his insurance company.

Tenants’ Advice Service and Darwin Community Legal Service solicitor Abhishek Jain said landlords and tenants had rights under the NT Residential Tenancies Act.

‘‘This law seeks to fairly balance the rights of landlords and tenants,’’ Mr Jain said.

He said a tenancy could be terminated mid-way by either party if the other was in breach of the agreement.

‘‘This can include for such matters as at least 14 days of rent arrears by the tenant, failure by the landlord to attend to repairs and maintenance requests by the tenant in a timely manner, or any other breach by either party.

‘‘A minimum of seven days’ notice of the breach is required to be first given followed by an application for termination to COT within 14 days thereafter.’’

COT provides tenancy factsheets and advice to landlords and tenants. Tenants can gain legal advice and advocacy from

the Tenants Advice Service of Darwin Community Legal Service on 1800 812 953.