Riverview landlord warns others after tenant leaves 'disgusting' mess

A Riverview landlord says she wasleft with a huge cleanupbill after anevictedtenant left behinda "disgusting" mess that includedseveral dead squids andanimal and humanfecesmashed into thefloors.

SusanOstrow saysshe has beenunable to recoup her losses after findingabout $4,000worth ofpropertydamage scattered through her unit.

"What she did was turned thedryeron high with two bags of milk and a quilt in it.The apartment had hundreds of flies buzzing around. There was a recliner with dead squid sitting on it in the living room next to a pile offeceson the floor," she said.

Ostrow says she had to evict a woman and her three children in August 2015 following non-payment of rent and several complaints from other tenants in the apartment building. But she never imagined what remained after the tenant left.

'Horrific' smell

Ostrowsays a few days after the eviction, the smell from the heated sour milkand dead squid was "horrific"and lingered until they made another discovery.

"Mybusinesspartner happened to notice themedicinecabinet was cracked. So when we pulled the medicine cabinet out there werethe dead squid in the wall."

Ostrowsays shekept detailed notes on theencountersshe had with the tenant andtried to press chargesto recoup the thousands it cost her to clean up.

But after several billcollectors and agencies came looking for the formertenant she says she realized the woman had been using up to five different aliases.

"I even called the person who acted as her reference when I called, but I'm no closer to finding her," saidOstrow. "Police says it's acivilmatter and without a civic address and her real name I can't press charges."

CBC contactedCodiacRCMPto speak about matter but did not receive a return call.

Ostrawdid contact the province'sOffice of the Rentalsman and said while they were helpful,there was only so much they could do for her because the tenant never actually paid a damage deposit.

CBC attempted to contact the office, butit is closed for the weekend.

Unable to find the tenant

Ostrowsaid she evenhired a pair of private investigators to track the woman down to no avail. She tried getting information for thetenant'sgovernmentsocial assistance representatives, but says privacy laws keep her from obtaining a name or address.

Landlord left with mess after eviction

9 years ago

Duration 2:02

Riverview landlord, Susan Ostrow was left with a huge bill after cleaning up a disgusting mess left behind by an evicted tenant.

"I've given up. So I'm just trying to warn other landlords," saidOstrow. "But there needs to be a better system to protect landlords from stuff like this."

She won't soon forget what she considers acts of vandalism the woman left behind.

Ostrowsaysa playing card, the queen of diamonds was left by the pile offecesin the living room. She also found graffiti and lewd pictures drawn on the walls.

"There were also more than a dozen car tires in the apartment, and those had dead squid in them," saidOstrow. "There were hundreds of flies everywhere. You couldn't open your mouth."