Saskatoon home trashed by renters, owners stuck with $14K in damages

Sean and Miranda Fyfe were just trying to help out a family in need while making a bit of cash.

But now, the Fyfes are on the hook for an estimated $14,000 dollars in damages to their Saskatoon rental home.

“The house was trashed, absolutely destroyed,” Sean writes on his crowd funding page.

“Holes in the walls stuffed with garbage, decomposing garbage everywhere… once brand new carpets had to be ripped out… bedroom doors were kicked in… every inch of the house was damaged in some way.”

The Fyfes moved to Calgary three years ago, and decided to rent out their old home to a working mom of three and her disabled husband.

Sean writes that in all the time the family lived there, they never had reason to suspect that something was wrong. Friends were even asked to drive by the property from time to time to check in, and no problems were reported.

It was only when the tenants moved out and the Fyfes went in to clean that the full extent of the damage was made clear.

Sean writes that their insurance only covers fire damage, and they can’t sue the tenants if they don’t know where they are. They’re now left to do most of the repairs themselves, making a 14-hour round trip from Calgary every weekend.

The financial strain led the Fyfes to start a crowd funding campaign, which has more than doubled their $2,000 goal.

Sean Fyfe tells the Calgary Sun that they won’t be so lenient with their renters going forward.