VIDEO: Landlord gets revenge on nightmare tenants

A French landlord took extreme action to get his own back on irresponsible tenants who left his property filthy and piled high with junk - by dumping it all outside their new home.

Thomas Ravaux, from Rozoy-sur-Serre in the north-eastern Aisne region, shamed the nightmare tenants in a Facebook post last week which has attracted more than 2,500 shares.

He told L’Union that the family had left the property without any notice a year ago, without returning his keys or giving him a chance to perform a final inventory.

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Photos and videos taken when he was finally able to access the flat last week show filthy rooms crammed with abandoned furniture, toys, clutter and rubbish. The walls and floors are dirty and damaged, and there is even cat excrement on the floors.

“This is how this flat was returned to me,” he wrote. “Living like that with three kids, bravo.”

“Shame on you,” he said. “Good luck to your new landlord!”

A few days later, after clearing out the property, he came up with a novel way to return the heaps of abandoned junk to their rightful owner.

On Tuesday, he uploaded a video of a truck pulling up outside what he says is the tenants’ new address.

“Return to sender,” Ravaux quips as the truck, piled high with furniture, appliances and other belongings, dumps its load outside the property.

The clip has gone viral in France, where generous legal protections for renters can make dealing with problem tenants a long and costly process for landlords.