A woman lived in a van outside my building and used my apartment when I wasn’t home — it was my landlord

When Tahlia moved from Brisbane to Sydney, Australia she hoped to find the perfect rental property.

She and her husband had never been to Sydney before. Despite this, they picked a place they thought was perfect, as it was “fully furnished,” close to the city and affordable.

But, according to Tahlia, they got more than they bargained for when they signed their contract, she told TikTok.

She did not name the real estate in question.

When Tahlia picked up the keys to her rental property, she explained the experience was “very strange.”

(Tahlia said her new home had food in the kitchen and seemed like someone had been living there before she moved in.TikTok/@tahlz89)

Upon arrival, they noticed the screen door was locked, but the front door was open.

“It smelled like it had just been cleaned, like 10 minutes before,” she said. “The fan was on, the lights were on, and the back door was unlocked.”

She also found bananas and canned foods around the kitchen, and a cat was trying desperately to get into the property. “Was somebody living in here, like an hour ago?” she asked the agent.

Ignoring the red flags, she and her husband lived on the property “for a long time.”

Then they noticed a woman sitting in their front yard and frequently checked their mailbox and bins.

(Tahlia revealed the landlord was living out front in a van and using her bathroom and kitchen.TikTok/@tahlz89)

“When you would leave, she would use our bathroom, the kitchen, and she’d use our laundry without our knowledge,” Tahlia revealed.

One day when Tahlia was working from home, she spotted the landlord sitting in the front yard “with a mate having a cup of tea.”

According to NSW Fair Trading, a landlord may only enter a rented property “without the tenant’s consent if they provide notice to the tenant.”

Fellow Australians were outraged at the video, calling the landlord’s actions despicable.

Ref: A woman lived in a van outside my building and used my apartment when I wasn’t home — it was my landlord (kidspot)