Adrian just wanted some help paying his mortgage in the cost of living crisis. But while he was away saying a final farewell to his dying mum, his new housemates did the unthinkable
A homeowner’s life has been ruined by a family of squatters who took over his house and then rented out out one of the rooms to a stranger.
Adrian, 66, initially let a father and son move into his Ipswich home, west of Brisbane, to help ease the cost of his mortgage but he now cannot get them to leave.
The pair were only supposed to be renting two rooms for six months but after Adrian returned from a recent trip to Melbourne he arrived back to a very different situation.
Adrian had gone to say goodbye to his dying 96-year-old mother and when he got back he found the people he allowed to stay at his house had completely taken over.
The squatters installed curtains around the house which were not there before and the father, Rob, even invited his girlfriend to move in while Adrian was away.
Rob also began renting out the downstairs bedroom to a complete stranger for $200 a week.
Adrian claims Rob has not paid rent in months and the rent the stranger is paying each week is going to the squatters instead of him.
‘I have been through hell and it’s been going on for 12 months,’ he told A Current Affair.
Adrian, 66, cannot get a family of squatters to move out of his Ipswich home in Queensland
Queensland tenancy laws prohibit Adrian from kicking Rob and his family out.
The retiree also said police have done next-to-nothing to help him.
The only time Adrian did receive assistance from police was when Rob’s son occupied his bedroom and pinned him to a wall.
‘I’d locked my bedroom [but] the son had gone in there and occupied it,’ Adrian said.
‘He came up to me and pinned me against the wall. Luckily the police turned up a few minutes later and decided that I was allowed to have the room.’
Adrian is now ‘living a nightmare’ since Rob has already said he is in no rush to move out.
He also did not know that Rob is also a convicted criminal and had registered this new address with Queensland Police as his primary residence.
Rob claims he is unable to move out without approval from police and the courts since he has charges pending and that would break the conditions of his bail.
This excuse does not explain why his son and partner have moved into Adrian’s home and are also refusing to leave.
Rob (left) has been refusing to leave the home and had invited his family to stay while Adrian was visiting his dying mother in Melbourne (pictured as he is confronted by an ACA crew)
Camera crews and a reporter from A Current Affair visited the house in an attempt to make Rob leave but he simply laughed the issue off.
Adrian said he has only ever received $800 in rent from Rob whose family now sends through fake bank receipts which they swear are real despite no money appearing in the retiree’s bank account.
The homeowner is now borrowing money from friends for food and has said that he is falling behind on his mortgage since Rob is not paying any rent.
Antonia Mercorella, chief executive of the Real Estate Institute of Queensland, said Adrian has few options to consider because of the state’s strict tenancy laws.
If the agreement had been short-term Adrian would have been able to kick Rob and his family out because these agreements are unregulated.
But because Rob signed an official tenancy agreement the law forbids Adrian from getting rid of the squatters.
‘It is important that you understand the risks,’ Ms Mercorella told the publication.
