Imagine coming back to your home after several months of travel and realising your tenants have taken over your abode. How would you deal with such a shocking situation?
A family in the UK is experiencing such a predicament.
Carna and Ganes Brooks were living in Dubai with their one-year-old and nine-year-old children. When they returned home this year, they were locked out of their own residence by their tenant.
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The couple apparently served a notice to their tenants, informing them they will be returning to their home in Kent from Dubai in February.
However, they didn't move back until July as Carna needed to get cancer treatment. But when they finally returned on the 19th, their tenants blatantly refused to move out of the property.
Carna and Ganes were unable to set foot in their own house amid the heatwave in the UK because their tenant wouldn't let them.
Carna said the issue was reported to the police but very little help was offered to them.
"My one-year-old was screaming in the heat, everyone was worried and during all the negotiations, my nine-year-old daughter got hit by a car in front of our home. Thankfully, she didn't have major injuries, but it is a day we never wish upon anyone. The police were friendly and compassionate but couldn't offer much help as by law we were trespassing if we attempted to enter our property," she said.
Left without a place to live, the family moved to a friend's place in the area for a few nights.
Even before the incident, the family said a Section 8 notice was sent to their tenants, alerting them to vacate the home by 28 June. It went completely ignored.
The tenants are still living in the house. A legal case has been registered and the court date for eviction is in October.
Since the incident, a family friend has launched a GoFundMe for Brooks to help them with their expenses.