15th
Apr 2016
An ex Army infantry sergeant who served in Iraq and Northern Ireland who has helped to find homes for soldiers facing life on the streets, has been left shattered after a family ruined one of his homes and left the property owing him £2,000 in rent.
The kind hearted Landlord Chris Wieczorek has built up a property portfolio and has helped house former comrades who have hit hard times.
However his faith in people was severely dented when the large family of eight fled the property owing the rent but also wrecking the house. The house has graffiti scrawled on the walls, a smashed window and carpets in a serious state with cigarette burns as well as stains and will cost him many thousands to put right.
Chris, 43, from West Lothian said: “It’s a nightmare. Words cannot describe how annoyed I was after getting my property back.
“I lived here for 10 years then decided I would rent it out to a large family who were going to be homeless.
“I am more than £2000 down on rent. They have left it in a mess with a smashed window, stained carpets, marked walls, the list goes on.
“They left very quickly. It’s going to cost me a fortune to put it back in order. It was my pride and joy.”
He is now planning to put the Falkirk house back into shape and then sell it.
He continued: “We filled two skips in under an hour with all the rubbish. A third skip is on the way.
“This was a beautiful house and now it’s in a crap state. It will take a while to get squared up.”
Chris has received many messages of support on social media with one comment from a Brian Jackson who wrote “Gutted to hear this pal. Keep up the good work on everything else you are doing.
“All I’ve seen you do is help people and do good deeds. If you need a hand clearing it, it would be a pleasure.”
Chris employed tradesmen to renovate his properties in Falkirk for ex forces families to live in.
He read an appeal on social media about an ex army private who was homeless and jobless; he housed him rent free and gave him a job which he started last October.
Richard Merrick of PIMS, said: “Normally we do not feature stories from Scotland, however the team saw this story featured in a Scottish newspaper and we thought it unlikely it would ever make the overall UK press.
“There are few stories featured in the Dailies that show landlords as being reputable and decent human beings, and a story like this needs to be seen and makes us proud to be part of this sector.”
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