To want to tell these people to tidy up

[Smarterthantheaveragebeaver]

Im aware that this is probably U and that some will want to wedgie me with my judgy pants.

An elderly lady in my road has recently moved to a care home as running her own house has become too much for her. She has no living family. Care has been arranged by the girlfriend of her son who was killed in a road accident 40 years ago, but the GF has always kept in touch.

Her house, that she owns and has lived in since it was built in the 1950s is being rented out. This covers her care fees.

She is very houseproud and her house has always been immaculate - garden and hedges neat and mowed, windows cleaned regularly, etc. Due to her age (she's in her 90s) she had help with the garden but loved to potter in it and it looked gorgeous every summer.

A family have moved in and within about 5 weeks it's become an absolute tip. Broken furniture piled up in the front garden, dog turds in the grass, bins overflowing and rubbish strewn around and piled up in the porch. I was a bit to see piles of coats being hung on hooks that have been fixed to the outside of the front door (bearing in mind that there's a downstairs cloakroom just inside the entrance of this house!). The blinds in the windows and the garage door have been trashed and the place is generally becoming a bit of an eyesore.

Fair enough, people are entitled to live however they choose. But I hope it's not just me that thinks these people should have a bit more respect for someone else's property? If the lady that lived there ever sees it, she'll be heartbroken. It is still her house, It's not as if she's a buy to let landlord IYSWIM.

The local council has a number that you can call to take bulky furniture away so there's no excuse for it to be festering in the front garden!

[TheSweeper]

So tell the letting agent and the dead son's girlfriend?
No, it doesn't sound nice, but I fear the poor old lady will never see it again, anyway.

[woowoo22]

Yuck
YANBU
Won't the coats get wet?
Phone any contacts you have and get them to sort it out. Think tenants need to keep it in a reasonable state.

[raawwhh]

It must be hard to see.

However, YABU the lady is now a landlord. The property is no longer her home. The letting agency will have to ensure that the tenants are acting within their contract - which they may not be if they are leaving furniture in the front garden - but on the basis that they are breaching contract not that the house is no longer immaculate.

FWIW, I currently live in a flat that is let out by a guy who has moved abroad for work. The property is fully furnished and his dad has come over to do maintenance for us a number of times. I would have been particularly aggrieved if he had mentioned the state of my house keeping not that he would have, I have clean issues and keeping HIS SONS flat clean.

[Smarterthantheaveragebeaver]

There's no letting agency. Its's been organised privately by the GF.

[LadyDeirdreWaggon]

Contact the council's environmental health team. They can serve something called a Section 215 notice requiring untidy land to be cleared up. If it isn't done within the agreed period the council can do the works themselves and charge the tenants.

[woowoo22]

rawwhhh why would you be aggrieved? It isn't your house. The OP mentioned dog shit and used the word trashed, which is a very strong term. Any LL would be incredibly hacked off surely.

Not simply a case of not hoovering it seems.

The tenants have a responsibility to keep the house close to the original state they got it in and not cause disrepair other than normal wear and tear?

Anyway, I think you should contact the council as a pp said, the dog shit is just disgusting as is the rubbish being outside.

[KingJoffreyFanciesDarylDixon]

I need to know more about the coats being hung on the outside of the door.

The actual door? Not on a wall under a porch bit? That's pretty weird. What does it achieve?

[Eustasiavye]

I think it's sad when people cannot be bothered to mow a lawn when they are lucky to be provided with a beautiful garden.

I would ring the gf.

[raawwhh]

woowoo It's not my house - but it's my home by contract. I used that example to change how the OP saw the property - It isn't my LLs home and it is unreasonable for a LL to comment on the state of my house keeping unless it, as you said is causing damage to the property.

However, that is not the question the OP asked and that is not how she phrased it.

The OP needs to get it out of her head that its her LLs home - it isn't. If the neighbours are causing an unsightly mess - report it to the council or the LL. As I have stated the LL is perfectly within their rights to bring up any issues due to breach of contract.

The OP would be unreasonable to tell them to tidy up. It's none of her business.

[hiddenhome]

Many people live like pigs

[woowoo22]

Okay I see what you mean now.

[woowoo22]

And yes to more coat info, am I missing a "lifehack" ??

[BeaufortBelle]

If I had tenants who treated a property like that I'd be horrified and would be unhappy about how other people in the road perceived the impact on the community. They would be in breach of their lease and I would take steps to enforce the terms of the lease.

[Lucked]

Do you mean the jackets are in the porch?

[ladygracie]

I am also intrigued by the coat hook thing (totally missing the point of the thread I know) - more detail is needed here. If you feel you must do something then can you contact the girlfriend who has organised the letting?

[KingJoffreyFanciesDarylDixon]

Can you take a photo of the coats?

[AntiHop]

I'd tell the gf. It sounds like they are in breach of their contract.

[Smarterthantheaveragebeaver]

Im well aware that it's no longer her home. However, it's still her house (and after living there for over 60 years she might well still see it as "her home") The owner is in a home locally, so theres every possibility that she way want to be driven past and take a look at her garden, for example.

The point I was trying to make wasnt about whether or not theyre breaching contracts or whatever, its about respect for another person's property.

KingJoffrey - the actual door - coats are in a glazed porch. There's a cloakroom (which is bigger than the porch, my house has the same internal layout) on the other side of this door. And also a wall next to the door with plenty of space to hang stuff (opposite site of the cloakroom wall, as it happens).

Garage door was trashed because they couldnt find the key, so just bent it back so that they could get in and open it from the inside.

[DejaVuAllOverAgain]

Wrt the bulky rubbish, I once booked a collection in November and it was January before they came to collect it so the tennants may have booked one and still be waiting.

YANBU about the rest of it though.

[woowoo22]

Don't understand about the coats. Are they inside?

[KingJoffreyFanciesDarylDixon]

Some people are just odd.

There was a thread on here a while back where some tenants were doing mad shit to someone's house; they sold the dishwasher and put a dog crate in it's place, took up the posh ceramic floor tiles, sold them and put down lino and spray painted the radiators blue. Proper nuts.

Forget the outcome though.

[raawwhh]

KingJoffrey That's just bizarre. They would have had to pay for it in the end out of their deposit so can't see the point of selling stuff. I think some people are just a bit unhinged.

I personally, want all my deposit back when I leave my current property. I don't see the point in losing it for silly things.

[SaucyJack]

YABU then if you think it's about them having respect for someone else's property.

It's their home now- not the land lady's. They can live how they like as long as they're not damaging the fabric of the property or the fixtures and fittings.

If you have genuine concerns then take them up with either enviro health or SS.

[KingJoffreyFanciesDarylDixon]

That's assuming their deposit covers the damage.

How much do garage doors cost? We paid £150 just to get ours repaired, never mind replacing it if it's bent.

And front doors are pricey. If they've drilled holes in it for hooks it'll need replacing.

Assuming a deposit is £800ish it won't stretch very far.

[Mouthfulofquiz]

I would call the enviromental health dept. I have done the same recently regarding a house opposite - beautiful house but starting to deteriorate. Turns out owner has gone into a home and it has been unoccupied for over a year. Such a waste. Council were very helpful.