Jane Grundmanis has a large pile of garbage to clean up at her Fourth Street rental property in Sidney.
Bags of a former tenant’s belongings, trash, kitty litter and other discarded items were left at the back of Grundmanis’ house following a recent eviction. She says she’s not sure why the former tenant (who she did not name) left this way, considering she’d given the person four months’ notice to find a new place to live.
“I was only legally required to give two months’ notice,” said Grundmanis, “but I know the rental market is tight and I wanted to help out where I could.”
She said she is moving into the basement suite of the house, leaving the upper floor rented to another individual, as she makes changes in her own life. Now, she’s faced with piles of garbage to clean up and a list of extensive repairs to the interior of the home.
The former tenant moved out on Sunday, April 2, after having lived in the bottom suite of the house for around 14 years. Grundmanis has already started to make repairs to various holes in the walls and doors and had pulled up the carpeting. She said while the house itself is dated, its current condition is much worse that it should be.
Grundmanis is now left holding the bag when it comes to the cost of repairs and cleaning up the yard. She said the tenant did not get their damage deposit back. Whether she can recoup any other costs, Grundmanis said she’d considering small claims court. She worries, however, that collecting — should she win a court case — might prove problematic, making her wonder if going that route is worth the effort.
She mainly wanted to use her story to warn other landlords to take care when it comes time to evict a tenant. She said trying to do it right, legal and in deference to a tenant, might not work out they way they hope.