To say Truman Hayward was completely disgusted when he opened the door to his east Saint John rental property this week would be a major understatement.
Hayward was greeted with garbage strewn about the house, feces smeared on the walls, in the bathtub and on the ceiling.
“It’s horrible, it’s beyond horrible,” Hayward said Friday. It’s disgusting, it’s not right.”
Doors were broken down, walls were damaged and the apartment was nothing short of a complete and utter mess.
A family of seven was evicted by sheriff’s officers on Wednesday for non payment of rent, but not before completely trashing the place.
Truman believes five children were living in the home along with two adults.
He doesn’t know how long the tenants were living in these deplorable conditions before they were evicted.
Not an eviction protest
Hayward says he doesn’t think the mess was made as a last minute eviction protest, but rather has accumulated over time.
“They knew the sheriff was coming, or soon I believe, but they didn’t know when it was coming,” he said.
“So they were living in this.”
Saint John police said Friday that if they’d had the opportunity to see the inside of the home they would have reacted immediately.
Truman says he believes the Department of Social Services is familiar with the former tenants, however the government couldn’t confirm anything due to privacy legislation.
Truman says the extent of the damage is so bad, he has no choice but to tear down the building.
“You try to make a good, safe environment for people, and they come in and destroy it, and now I stand back and say ‘thank you very much,'” Hayward said.
— With files from Andrew Cromwell, Global News.