I thought that I would be the first (sucker) landlord to post a story about the tenants from hell. Earlier in the summer we decided to rent to a young couple with a two year child. The guy had good credit the girl was a deadbeat. Right after they moved in the problems started. Since the couple moved from quite a distance I had no way to know what their living habits were. The first month we came to do the inspection. That's when I realized the guy was a complete idiot. Before we arrived to do the inspection the tenant complained of a water leak and that he had a professional plumber come out and fix. I asked for the receipts so I can reimburse him for the expense. That never happened. Two months down the road I came to the house on a preset appointment to spray for pests. When I got there I discovered the guy tearing out drywall. He tells me it was mold and he "fixed it." I also discovered malicious damage to the drywall so I called the sheriff to file a report.
My next step was to get them out by filing a dispossessary.
When we got to court I brought pictures, receipts, police reports also evidence of other malicious damage and violations of the lease to long to mention here. Guess what?
The magistrate sided with them. I lost. The good part is they moved out on their own a couple of weeks later. When they moved I was able to access the property to find out what really happened. They had a dog. They would allow the dog access to the crawlspace. the pet took the vapor barrier as a toy. He started digging and removing the covering. When the rains came this allowed moisture to come in from the crawlspace thus affecting the living space with some mold especially that time of year (summer). I was glad to see them go but I had to spend thousands on rehab, pest control and crawlspace encapsulation.
(Seems as though they brought with them and infestation of German cockroaches,ugh!)
I did find an attorney and I am hoping to recover through the courts and to steer clear of the Magistrate court. Did you know there is no requirement by law in Georgia to become a magistrate other than residency?
