Let’s face it, buying a house these days is like trying to catch a unicorn – you need a whole lot of magic (read: money).
With bank accounts looking more like a lemonade stand, more folks are opting for the rental route.
Every landlord has their own quirks, but one thing remains constant – the expectation of respect.
When some tenants disregarded this and left their previous home in disarray, their former landlord taught them a valuable lesson they wouldn’t soon forget.
The life of a landlord
Do you know what happens when tenants don’t follow very simple rules? Thomas Ravaux asked this question when he found out that his former tenants had left his place in a complete state of disaster.
Instead of letting it go and letting them get away with it, Thomas knew he had to do something.
He filmed his next move and became an overnight viral sensation. Even if you aren’t a landlord, his act of karmic retribution was just so satisfying…
The landlord in question
To understand this payback story, let’s learn a little more about the landlord.
Thomas Ravaux lives in Rozoy-sur-Serre in Aisne, France, and he has been a landlord for many years. In 2008, the French native bought a run-down house in the quaint commune where he renovated the entire thing.
He put in a lot of time, effort, and money into transforming the house so he could rent it out to paying individuals and families.
Ravaux wanted to ensure that the place was kept in tip-top condition for his tenants over the years. Most tenants were respectful, others were not.
Rising to fame
Thomas rose to fame after posting a selection of photographs on Facebook.
These photographs showed his friends, followers, and the rest of the world how his previous tenants left his property.
The tenants lived in the house with their three kids for a few years. They had not been paying their rent for 14 months before they moved out.
They refused to answer Thomas’s phone calls and emails and just left without warning.
Thomas eventually went back to the house to investigate the condition in which the tenants left it, and he was outraged.
Leaving everything behind
As Thomas went through his house, he couldn’t believe his eyes. He couldn’t understand how those people could leave it in such a condition, but he was also shocked that the parents would let three children be brought up in such a manner.
It looked as though they left everything behind, with the rooms full of trash and belongings that were no longer needed.
They even brought the trash can inside the house!
Ironically though, they did not filled the trash can but instead left all their garbage sitting next to it.
Unfortunately, this was just the start of Ravaux’s grand tour. It was about to get worse.
Full to the brim
Thomas couldn’t comprehend just how disrespectful his tenants were.
They were not just 14 months behind on their rent, but also left the house in a despicable way.
While he knew that he wouldn’t receive the money he was owed, he at least expected them to remove their belongings before leaving.
However, as he entered the kitchen, he realized that that wasn’t the case.
Thomas couldn’t see the floor of the kitchen, since it was covered with cardboard boxes, kitchen utensils, and food.
According to Ravaux, the stench of rotten food on the worktops and in the refrigerator was overwhelmingly disgusting.
A bathroom like no other
To get away from the smell of rotting food, Thomas went to the bathroom to see what mess they had left.
After restoring the hardwood floors, he discovered that the floorboards were covered in trash, plus there were household items that shouldn’t be in a family bathroom.
There were dirty towels, clothes, and junk covering the entire room. There were even some unusual items that weren’t supposed to be in there.
Like an iron on his toilet!
A smelly mess
Ravaux tried to understand why someone would leave a house in such a state, but the horrors weren’t over.
Strewn across his house were brown droppings, which he assumed at first were pieces of rotten food that had found their way onto the floor.
But on closer inspection, he realized that they were not pieces of food at all.
The brown droppings were animal excrement, and they were found in almost every room in the house. It was a smelly mess, and Thomas wasn’t thrilled.
Broken into pieces
Thomas had no idea how a house could turn into a building site in just a few years.
He trusted his tenants up until they stopped paying rent, and that’s when Thomas realized that they were not the people he thought they were.
They transformed a lovely home into a pile of rubble, with furniture broken into pieces, dirty socks on the floor, and animal excrement to top it all.
He had no idea it would be this bad.
Personal possessions
Ravaux knew his tenants had moved into a new property, but he was still confused. They left all of their possessions behind in piles of boxes and bags, and some of the items seemed personal.
For example, he found a whole box of magazines and stuffed toys that belonged to the children.
Why didn’t the tenants take it with them? Wouldn’t their kids miss their toys?
There was so much stuff, it seemed as if their whole lives were left in the house.
More than wear and tear
Since he is an experienced landlord, Thomas was used to seeing some damage in his house.
The paint would sometimes chip, plus picture frame holes needed to be filled, and he knew that the house would need to be clean before new tenants came and moved in.
However, the previous tenants caused more than general wear and tear.
There were big holes in the walls, some of his floorboards were ruined, and there were so many scrapes and scratches he couldn’t count them.
Seeking legal advice
Thomas was shocked at the state of his house that he didn’t know how to react at first.
He had never experienced anything of the sort, and couldn’t believe that this was the same house he had painstakingly renovated just ten years previously.
When he calmed down and took in the situation, Ravaux knew he would have to seek legal advice.
Before he touched or moved anything, he took these photographs and brought in a representative to witness the mess for themselves. Only then could he devise a plan.
Putting a plan together
Thomas was shocked but he knew that he couldn’t let the former tenants get away with this.
They had been disrespectful to him, his house, and the next tenants who would eventually move in.
Because of this, he worked out a plan on how he would get them back.
For his own sake, he had to clean and disinfect the house first, and yet he knew that he needed to work his former tenants into the process.
In the end, he found the perfect plan.
Packing everything up
With countless trash bags in hand, Thomas set about removing all of their belongings.
The task seemed to never end, and Ravaux was surprised to see more junk hidden underneath the piles of clothes, toys, plastic buckets, and more.
In his words, they left his home in absolute “carnage”.
He wasn’t letting them get away with it. He cleaned and fixed up the house and filled bag after bag with a smile on his face.
He knew what was coming.
Piling it together
Once he had everything packed into bags, Thomas hired a truck. No way was he fitting all of the bags in his car, so he knew the truck would come in handy as he enacted his plan.
With the truck filled with all of the trash bags and all of the furniture strewn about the house, he was done.
But where was he going to take them? It didn’t take long to find the address he was looking for.
Thomas was going to his former tenants’ new home.
Sitting outside
Amazingly, Ravaux filled the whole truck and was ready to move to the next part of his plan.
He took the truck to a lovely looking house, which conveniently had a big driveway in front of it.
He sat in the truck for a while, before jumping out and tipping the contents of the truck onto the driveway.
Furniture, household items, and personal possessions were dumped and thrust into a pile, finally returned to the rightful owners.
A viral sensation
When he posted the photographs of his house on Facebook, he received an overwhelming response.
The photos found their way across the world and garnered nearly 4,000 likes, over 4,000 shares, and nearly 2,000 comments from people who were sympathetic.
Thomas knew he had to show them his plan.
He filmed the whole scenario and shared the video of the truck dumping all the junk on his former tenants’ new home.
The video instantly became a viral sensation, and received almost 8,000 likes!
For the greater good
Thomas was a huge hit with people online, but he realized that his public actions may have gotten him in trouble.
Because in France, dumping trash in a public place usually incurs a fine of around €450.
However, Thomas’ opinion is that he did what he did for the greater good.
In fact, he even spoke to the Gendarmerie branch of the French Armed Forces to explain the whole situation.
He shared that “it went OK” and that “I am not worried.”
Ravaux certainly taught his ex-tenants a lesson they’ll never forget!
Click next to see the video!
The joys of wish fulfillment
The video of Thomas’ revenge is sort of a wish fulfillment for people watching it, hence the reason why it went viral.
Not everyone watching was a landlord with similar problems, so it can be said that Thomas acted on behalf of all of us.
With his revenge, he stood in for everyone who’s ever been wronged, when the perpetrators were sure they got away with it.
In getting his deserved revenge, Ravaux got revenge for all of us watching.
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