Mason Jones (Reporter)
By Mason Jones
AN expat has called in police after a British couple left her home ‘unlettable and unsellable’.
Jean Leftwick, 68, claims her former tenants from Oxford trashed her home and even broke in to steal items after being evicted.
The grandmother, from Essex, claims the couple – an English man and his girlfriend of Indian descent – failed to pay rent and damaged the home in Alhaurin de la Torre.
“They also broke doors, tried to rig up the electricity meter and refused to clean the property,” she explained.
In total, she believes she is €10,000 out of pocket, including the added loss of an irrigation pump, a €900 legal bill and some wiring from the jacuzzi.
“They also left an enormous amount of rubbish,” added Leftwick, who cannot name the couple for legal reasons.
“I just want to warn people to be on the look-out for this couple who are really bad news,” she said, adding that the man ran a computer recycling business.
“I would also stress that estate agencies need to get references from other landlords before holding their hands out for commission.”
The couple, in their 20s, had moved into her property in March on the premise that they would eventually buy the property.
By April however, the couple had already damaged the house so significantly that Leftwick tried to evict them.
But because she did not issue an official eviction notice early enough, the couple were only kicked out of the property last week.
“They refused to ever clean the house and had two huge dogs that would put people off if we had someone viewing the property to buy it.
“Now our house is unlettable and unsellable,” she added.
Guardia Civil are now investigating claims that the tenants also broke into the property after being evicted, stealing gas canisters and a satellite dish.
