'Like a garbage house': Landlord upset as couple leaves rental home in KL with maggots, diapers and mould

What started as a simple rental agreement became a nightmare for a landlord in Kuala Lumpur after her tenants disappeared, leaving the rental home full of garbage and infested with maggots, apart from overdue rent, according to a Facebook post on Tuesday (Jan 13).

In her post, user Munirah Musa said that she had leased a home in Taman Melati, Kuala Lumpur, to a couple in March 2023, and that initially rent was paid promptly.

But from January 2024, the tenant began defaulting on both on rent and utilities, prompting Munirah to order them to vacate the home.

Calls and messages to the couple were ignored and Munirah visited the home in December last year.

Despite knocking multiple times, they did not open the door and Munirah decided to open it with the keys she had.

As it turned out, the tenant's husband was home, and Munirah spoke to him amicably, requesting him to pay the rent.

On Dec 7, she received a portion of the payment due, with the tenant promising to make the remaining payment on Dec 24.

But the payment was not made and calls and messages again went unanswered.

When the landlord and her husband visited the home on Jan 13 after the tenants left, they were shocked by its condition.

"She left the house... like a garbage house, children's diapers piled up, cigarette packs scattered around and stagnant water not properly disposed of," Munirah wrote.

In photographs of the home uploaded on Facebook, garbage can be seen strewn all over the premises.

In a shot of the living room, the door to a separate room can be seen with a broken frame and falling off its hinges.

The toilet had black mould growing along corners of the still-moist floor tiles, while the kitchen area was filled with garbage.

A shot of the refrigerator showed maggots crawling along its interior, around a plastic container filled with liquid and an open empty cardboard cup.

Netizens similarly expressed shock at the state of the home, with one comparing it to a "cowshed".

"Wow, how can anyone live in garbage like that? Just looking at it gives me stress," said another.

"How can a human this dirty exist?" another questioned.

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khooyihang@asiaone.com