Landlord Gets The Best Revenge After Tenants Left His House In A Terrible State

We’ve all been there, right? When something makes us so angry that we want to get back at the person responsible. But while we don’t often act on those feelings of revenge, Ravaux was hell-bent on getting justice. In his case, though, it wasn’t just the state of his home that eventually pushed him over the edge.

You see, Ravaux’s lodgers had been pushing his buttons for over a year. Apparently, they’d failed to pay their rent – meaning they were effectively staying at the house in northern France for free. And that’s not all.

Ravaux had attempted to contact his renters, of course, but their responses went from occasional to nonexistent. Then, to top it all off, they packed their bags and just abandoned the property. No notice period, no goodbye – the lodgers just moved on.

And the occupants had one more nasty surprise in store for Ravaux: they left the home like a garbage dump. The level of disrespect was off the charts. But if they thought that was the last they’d see of their landlord, they had another thing coming...

Given how awful the place looked at the time, Ravaux’s anger was more than justified. There was an additional factor at play, too. You see, his ties to that house went back a long way. This wasn’t just a random home he had started to lease out recently.

According to The Connexion, Ravaux fixed the house up off his own back in 2008. Since then, it’s been utilized as a rental home for people looking to settle in the French town. So it must’ve stung seeing all that hard work go to waste once the problematic residents departed in the spring of 2018.

But that wasn’t the only rental home to Ravaux’s name. He’s got some other properties that are available to lease as well. One of them in Grandrieu, France, is particularly nice! And as his Facebook page shows, they’re all kept in immaculate condition. We wouldn’t say no to staying in any of them.

Keeping that in mind, the contrast between those places and the state of the Rozoy-sur-Serre house was absolutely shocking. It’s hard to believe they belonged to the same guy. And to make matters even more painful, Ravaux had given the latter a full decor refresh before the nightmarish tenants had moved in. If only he had known, right?

As reported by website Obsev.com, Ravaux had tested the pipes and doors across the property. He’d also inspected the paint job and improved the quality of the floor via a buffer. There had been no half-measures here. He’d wanted the house to look as perfect as possible for the new residents.

Given the lengths to which the landlord had gone, it’s too bad the tenants didn’t show that same level of care during their stay. So what did the house actually look like in the end? Sure, we’ve given you a taste, but trust us – there’s more to come. Ravaux ensured that, as he snapped photos of the interior after his renters abandoned it.

Having documented the mess, Ravaux dropped the horrifying images on social media in June 2018. So we’ve got a question for you – ready to take a tour of the trashed property? Okay then. Brace yourselves! Let’s start with the kitchen. To say it had been trashed would be a huge understatement.

As you can see, the entire room was filled with junk. A sea of cardboard boxes covered the ground, stretching from the doorway to the back wall. The counters weren’t free of rubbish either, and we can only imagine what was hiding in the cabinets. Then there’s the fridge situation.

According to Ravaux, there was a lot of spoiled food sitting on the shelves. Given the overall state of the kitchen, we shouldn’t be too surprised. But how did the tenants even move around in that room? It would’ve been the world’s most disgusting obstacle course as the boxes continued to pile up.

There’s also something else to consider. Ravaux revealed that the renters had a trio of children in the house as well, adding a concerning angle to it. Shocking stuff, wouldn’t you agree? And it only gets worse the further into the house you go. So let’s head to the bathroom next.

Even more junk was stacked in that space, with a pile of boxes standing just inside the doorway. Meanwhile, heaps of clothing appeared to have been tossed around the sink area, which itself was overflowing with rubbish. Good luck having a wash there! And there’s no telling how bad the toilet might’ve been.

As for the bathtub in the corner, several bottles were left on the rim, with plenty more sitting in the middle. The lone towel draped over the edge is about the only normal thing in that area! Ravaux and his family couldn't believe the state. Much like the kitchen, we’d love to know how the tenants navigated this bathroom before moving away.

Beginning to see why Ravaux was so angry? Well, it’s about to get worse. Remember what we said about the landlord buffing the floors? It was clear all that effort had gone to waste in the next room, which appeared to be a living area. Yes, the ground was littered with muck and some disgusting stains near the wall.

In fact, a few sections of the floorboards seemed to be gone completely, as a tray of dark rubble covered the corner. What happened there? On top of that, the room had its fair share of toys scattered across it, too, backing up the landlord’s observation that kids had indeed been staying in the house.

A little further back, a leather couch was positioned next to the doorway, but that too was in a pretty awful state. Just look at the cushions! Discolored and cracked. It’d certainly seen better days. Yet if you thought this room was bad, wait until we get to the bedrooms.

One such space was rammed with trash, with boxes and bags dumped on the bed. An old computer could be spotted among the junk as well. At this stage, we’re wondering how Ravaux’s head didn’t explode – there was so much he had to sift through just to see the floor!

The next bedroom was also in a pretty sorry state. With a lone wooden chair sitting eerily in the middle, waste was scattered around it, resembling the bottom of a bin. How did it get this bad? As for one of the other spaces, even more cardboard boxes were dumped alongside toys and a heap of magazines.

And if you’ve got a good eye, you might just spot a soccer table under all that junk, too. Talk about a mix. Anyway, for our final stop, let’s head to the hallway. Surely it couldn’t be any worse than what we’ve seen so far? We’ll let you be the judge of that.

Yes, with horrible-looking debris peppered across the floor, an old shelving unit was on its back, completely bent out of shape. To the left of that, a couple of trash bags were also propped against the wall, which summed everything up. We’ve seen landfills cleaner than this place, and that must’ve hurt Ravaux to the core.

In fact, Ravaux shared his thoughts while speaking to the website francetvinfo in June 2018. He said, “It was carnage inside. Everything was totally destroyed. The parquet is screwed up, there are holes in the walls, all the paint needs to be redone. [And] the smell is unbearable. A bailiff noticed all the damage before the apartment was emptied.”

Going back to the pictures, they quickly went viral on Facebook after Ravaux dropped them that month. The post itself earned roughly 3,500 likes, as well as more than 4,000 shares and close to 2,000 comments from shocked users. But the accompanying message ended on a rather intriguing note.

Addressing his former renters, Ravaux’s passionate social media post read, “Shame on you! [Good luck] to your new owner who rents you a house in Brunehamel.” Yep, the landlord had managed to find them in another part of France. Still, that hadn’t proved to be at all easy. He’d had his work cut out for him.

According to Obsev.com, Ravaux had scoured numerous lists and records to discover where his old tenants had gone. Thankfully for him, the determined landlord’s perseverance had paid off in the end. What did the homeowner plan to do, though? Was he looking to confront them head-on after what happened in Rozoy-sur-Serre? In a way, yes!

You see, vengeance was very much on Ravaux’s mind at that stage. He wanted to get back at the renters for what they’d done to him over the previous 14 months. And it wasn’t just the state of the house that drove him on. The financial cost of fixing the damage added fuel to the fire, too.

Ravaux informed francetvinfo that he’d probably have to spend about €10,000 to get the place back to normal. That’s the equivalent of over $12,000 – a lot of money! So the landlord plotted an incredibly wild scheme that no one would’ve seen coming, least of all his old tenants.

Armed with a camera, Ravaux traveled to Brunehamel and arrived at the renters’ latest address. But he hadn’t come alone. He’d also brought a huge truck with him as well, which was filled to the brim with trash. It wasn’t any old junk, though. Shockingly, it was everything the former tenants had left behind in Rozoy-sur-Serre.

In the resulting video, Ravaux captures the truck as it slowly backs towards the house. Then, once it reaches the correct position, the rubbish is tipped on to the sidewalk in truly spectacular fashion. The accompanying sound must be music to his ears, as the disgusting debris smashes down in a heap.

The short clip ends with everything on the pavement – we weren’t treated to the tenants’ reaction! Then again, while Ravaux’s revenge was finally complete, he now had something else to worry about. You see, littering on the streets of France would normally result in a hefty financial penalty – one equivalent to more than $500.

Ravaux was remarkably relaxed, though, explaining why during his chat with francetvinfo. The landlord revealed, “I met the [local authorities], we discussed [the situation]. It didn’t go too badly. For the moment, I am not worried.” Plus, the online response to the video also gave him reasons to be cheerful.

“I received a lot of reactions [on the internet],” Ravaux continued. “All in my favor. Everyone supports me.” He certainly wasn’t wrong with that first statement. If you thought the response to the photos was something, the video blew that out of the water on Facebook. It became a social media sensation!

Yes, since it was posted in June 2018, Ravaux’s crazy clip has earned in excess of 1.8 million views. Trust us, that’s not a typo. Alongside that, it’s brought in over 7,400 likes and more than 3,200 comments. Unsurprisingly, users couldn’t believe what they were seeing. And just as he maintained, plenty did back his actions.

One person wrote, “Bravo, well done. Phew! Dreadful tenants. All owners should do [this] with people like this.” Something tells us it won’t catch on, but we get their point! Anyway, another user responded, “The best satisfaction ever for a landlord. And just maybe a tenant or two out there will appreciate the right to be able to rent a place to live.”

Meanwhile, a different person relayed their surprise about one thing in particular. The Facebook user wrote, “It is mind-boggling to me that there was that much [trash]. Wow, good for you dude. Way to go. [The] best way to get them back ever.” And the online praise didn’t end there.

To round things off, one more social media user said, “That’s what they get thinking they were leaving everything. Well here you go, you forgot something. Your trash! Good job Mr. Thomas!” But that’s got us wondering – what happened next? Surely the tenants didn’t just ignore the rubbish outside the house?

Well, Ravaux offered an update on that front to francetvinfo. He said, “The former tenants had to clear the sidewalk and bring it all to the recycling center [that] evening. Everything is cleaned.” Did they learn their lesson? That’s not for us to say. One thing is for sure, though. For all the stress he was put through, the landlord got the last laugh!