A nightmare for a mother and daughter is finally over as the tenants who have made their lives hell for the past five years were finally evicted last week – owing them tens of thousands of rands and having left their property in near-ruin.
A nightmare for a mother and daughter is finally over as the tenants who have made their lives hell for the past five years were finally evicted last week – owing them tens of thousands of rands and having left their property in near-ruin.
When Daisey Walton rented her Fitchat Street house five years ago, she had no idea of the misery and the endless struggle in the courts that would follow, after a kind family moved in.
Not only did they refuse to pay the rent, she said, but they also opened a tavern opposite one of Grahamstown's best known schools.
There was trouble from the start of the agreement, in June 2007, Walton said. Although the tenants seemed like good people, she said, they failed to pay the R2 000 rent agreed on.
“They negotiated the R2 000 rent to R1 700 and later they asked for it to be reduced to R1 500,” said Walton.
All these negotiations were verbal agreements handled by her daughter, Jessica, she said.
Six months later, the tenants asked to rent the shop next door.
Walton's daughter, Jessica Walton, explained what happened next.
“In 2008-2009 they stopped paying rent and my mother wrote them a letter saying that they should vacate the premises and they just ignored it,” said Jessica.
The tenants then hired a lawyer. The matter was thrown out of court, however, because there was no signed agreement.
When the tenants initially rented the shop, which is opposite Mary Waters High School, Walton said, they'd said they wanted to use it as a bottle store. The Waltons and the enraged community took action.
“The community signed a partition containing 300 signatures contesting the tavern,” said Jessica.
She said the tenants would regularly tell them that the house and the shop belonged to them. Daisey said she believed they were hoping the Waltons would struggle to pay the municipal rates, prompting foreclosure.
In February a court ordered the tenants to evacuate the premises and they left last week. Jessica says the pair still owe them about R120 000 in arrears.
The Waltons say they have learnt a lot from this experience.
“Rather do the lease at a lawyer or lease with an agency,” says Jessica. “Be careful of the good personality. Check background and references and take photos of your place before tenants move in to have proof of the condition.”
