Property Possession of a Different Kind

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Not all tenants can be evicted even with a possession order.  Even with a 100% success rate in court, this was one unwelcome tenant that Legal 4 Landlords could not move on………In true Halloween spirit and to add a bit of contrast to the doom and gloom of cuts and job losses, Legal 4 Landlords have a true story how one landlord reported a property with its own resident ghostie…..

A four-bedroomed house in the northwest of England became the focus of major problems for one family and their landlord a year ago.  Moving her family into the 1920’s terraced house, the mother and her two children became plagued by events that would terrify most people.

Previously the house had been subdivided into separate rooms to accommodate a number of immigrants.  The woman who does not want to be named, paid herself for the refurbishment of the house and had agreed a reduced rent with the landlord for a fixed period.

Within the first week of the commencement of work underway on the property, the workmen complained that tools were being moved or taken and had started to blame each other and a couple of them refused to be alone in the house for any period of time.

After the first couple of weeks of the family moving in, the children complained of intermittent occurrences ranging from fluxuating temperatures, smells and toys and belongings being moved.  Their mother attributed their complaints to the unsettling reaction that a house move brings and thought they would eventually settle down.

A week later, both children woke screaming in the night after they insisted someone was scratching at their doors and they could hear voices and loud breathing on the landing outside their rooms.  In the same week, the mother came home to find every light in the house on and every door shut, bar the bathroom, where one of the candles was alight.  She was shocked as she was sure that every door had been open when she had left and all lights had been turned off.

The children were at their father’s for the weekend and as far as she knew, she had the only key.  The next morning she called her landlord.  Concerned he went round to check the loft, wary that perhaps a previous tenant had stowed away up there, but apart from the odd spider all seemed OK.  He arranged for the locks to be changed, believing that someone was gaining entry to the house.

Over the next couple of months, the plagued family experienced more odd happenings ranging from mild to terrifying.  On one occasion, when alone in the house, the mother popped into the kitchen and found her bag was opened and her cigarettes were scattered on the floor and a nearby bottle of wine lying in a rack had it’s screw top punctured by a pinprick and red wine was dripping onto the floor.  The landing and bathroom light were always found on the next morning, constant whispering and footsteps were heard on the landing and strange smells of flowers was noticed in the daughter’s bedroom.

On his next visit to the house, the landlord and the mother were talking in the kitchen alone in the house when they heard the tap in the bathroom come on.  On investigation the tap had been turned on gushing water into the sink but the room was empty.

On the last occasion, the 10-year-old daughter had climbed into bed with her mother complaining that the sickly sweet smell in her bedroom was waking her up.  As they fell back asleep they were both woken up when they felt an invisible force slide into bed with them.

The very next day they left.

Unfortunately, the street and exact location of the property can’t be named as the house has since been re-let and the new tenants are not aware of their predecessors plight.  As for the landlord, he’s hoping all stays quiet for them……..

As retold to Madalena Penny (Legal 4 Landlords very own Mary Shelley)