A couple in Australia were stunned when their landlord suddenly pitched up in their back yard and started camping there, having received a text on Christmas night announcing the new set-up.
Nicky and William, from Yamba in New South Wales, live in an AU $560-a-week (£320) rental property with their three kids.
Advert
But after living in the house for two months, they were surprised when a new housemate appeared in their back garden.
Landlord Pascale Hubert and her partner had pitched a tent on Christmas night, and have refused to leave ever since.
Hubert had sent a text to notify them of their arrival, saying: "Dear Nicky and William, I am the owner of [ADDRESS]. I will be occupying the back yard of [ADDRESS] as of tonight."
Hubert and her partner have reportedly dragged the trampoline out of the garden, installed gates and ordered the family to move their car.
Advert
Nicky and William say the whole experience has been 'traumatic' as 'nobody can help' them, claiming the landlord has also filmed them while they have been inside the home.
Speaking to Nine's A Current Affair, Nicky said: "It's day 11 of them living in the backyard. It's completely bizarre to everybody we tell.
"Police and real estate don't know what to do.
"Our children are terrified, they keep asking, 'Who are they?' and we can't give them any answers."
She added: "The police are telling us that the real estate should be physically removing these people and the real estate are saying they can't do that."
Advert
Nicky and William both lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but when Nicky found work at a hospital on the New South Wales north coast, the family signed a lease for the property.
Hubert has argued she is allowed to take over the garden with a teepee tent, as Nicky and William's rental contract doesn't include the back garden.
"Rear yard is not included," the contract reportedly says.
The garden has a storage shed, but no running water and no toilet.
Advert
William said: "I noticed they've got a bucket, been doing poos and wees in the bucket. It's disgusting. I just want to know where they're emptying it. They've got to empty it somewhere, don't they?"
Speaking to A Current Affair, Hubert claimed she and her partner were 'not squatting in the back yard', telling reporter Steve Marshall: "It was not rented with the backyard".
However, Leo Patterson Ross, Chief Executive of Tenants Union of NSW, said the landlord and her partner could be trespassing.
Advert
He said: "It could be that the landlord is trespassing whenever they go across that driveway area because they are entering into a place that they've given someone else possession.
"At the end of the day while the lease says that the backyard isn't included the landlord has to go down the driveway that the lease doesn't talk about and what the lease also promises the tenant is reasonable peace, comfort and privacy in their home."
Featured Image Credit: Nine
Topics: World News, News, Australia