‘A nightmare come to life:’ Edinburg landlord finds rental home destroyed by pests and dog feces
Related Story
A local landlord says a tenant left his Edinburg rental home with water-damaged floors, and covered in dog feces, mud and infested with pests. The cleanup is costing him thousands of dollars.
Esteban Sanchez owns and rents four homes across the Rio Grande Valley. He says he never expected to find one of his properties in this condition.
"It was a nightmare come to life. It was like a complete destruction," Sanchez said. "It was infested with pests, with lice, they saw cockroaches."
Four years ago, Sanchez rented the home to a woman who had four dogs. He says she paid rent on time and never gave any indication there were problems.
Sanchez says he never visited the home during those four years, believing everything was fine.
“That may have been my biggest mistake out of all of this, is actually not going out there," Sanchez said.
He only discovered the mess in March when the tenant decided not to renew her lease. Sanchez is now paying thousands out of pocket to clean and repair the damage.
"What are my rights? Because someone has completely damaged my property," Sanchez said.
Hidalgo County Justice of the Peace Juan Jose Peña, Jr. says landlords have a right to take legal action against tenants.
"If it would be under $20,000, he has a right to go and come to a JP court and file a small claims," Peña said.
Anything over $20,000 in damages would need to go through a higher court. If the tenant can't pay, landlords can file an abstract.
"Which is basically a lien on the person if they ever try to get credit, sell a piece of property, or obtain something that would come up, and they are not going to be able to do anything," Peña said.
To avoid a situation like this, Peña recommends landlords check in on their property as long as a 24-hour notice is given to the tenant.
"The landlord has the right to inspect, do routine inspections, go in, make sure their property is being kept up, well kept, and everything is in working condition," Peña said.
Peña also says documenting everything during those visits is important.
"Pictures, it always comes in handy in something like this," Peña said.
Before someone even moves into a property, Peña recommends running credit checks and asking for referrals from previous landlords.
Sanchez says he plans to seek help through insurance if possible and plans to take legal action.
"It is just learning from it and trying to make my peace," Sanchez said.
Watch the video above for the full story.
News
