People often say, “You poor thing—those tenants are terrible!”

Because, regardless of how bad your tenants are—how dishonest, how manipulative, how brazenly criminal—they’ve been handed the ultimate weapon: a tenancy system that gives them time, sympathy, and loopholes, while landlords are left bleeding.

They can stop paying rent for weeks or months. They can promise to leave, then change their minds at the last minute. They can use your home as a business, kennel, dump, or drug lab. And when you finally get to Tribunal—after jumping through every procedural hoop—there’s still no guarantee of immediate consequences.

I’m not exaggerating when I say: some tenants have more rights squatting in your house than you do owning it.

The real heartbreak?
It’s not just the money (though losing thousands in unpaid rent and legal costs cuts deep). It’s the powerlessness. The slow grind of bureaucracy that tells you to wait while they steal your income, your time, and your peace of mind.

Here’s what I’ve come to realise: it’s not just about bad tenants. It’s about a tenancy system that protects and enables them to keep stealing from people like me.

Let me walk you through my reality.

I filed with Tenancy Services in March.
I had an ineffective hearing in April.
Then another hearing in June, which finally resulted in an order for immediate possession and arrears.
I could have enforced it immediately, but I was lenient. I gave them three days to leave. Then, when they asked, I gave them another three.

That turned into a whole extra week of free rent in my home.
And guess what? After all that, they turned around and said, “We’re not leaving.”

I know you are thinking, "Why did I give them yet another chance?"  But I need to be able to sleep at night, and they were once again very convincing in their arguments.

So I had to apply for an eviction warrant—another week of free rent while the paperwork was processed.
And now I wait for a bailiff, which could mean yet another week… or more.
All the while, they live in my house, rent-free, despite breaking the law and breaching the contract.

Let me be clear: they legally should have left the premises weeks ago.
But the system says I must follow a legal process, and that takes weeks.

This is how landlords are slowly financially gutted—not just by dishonest tenants, but by a government and legal structure that rewards non-compliance and punishes responsibility.

They tell us we’re protected. But in reality?
Landlords are left holding the costs, the stress, and the legal limbo, while tenants who break the rules continue to live on our dime.

It’s not just unfair. It’s state-sanctioned theft.
And it’s happening every day in homes just like mine.

If we want change, we need to speak up. Loudly. Because behind every “bad tenant” story is a silent system quietly enabling them—and it’s landlords who pay the price.