Queensland landlord’s nightmare as squatter moves into property after paying outgoing tenant $3,000 for the keys – and police won’t remove her

DAILYMAIL.COM • 1h ago

By JOANNA HYNDS FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA 03:59 15 Oct 2026, updated 04:11 15 Oct 2026

A Queensland landlord has been left fighting to reclaim her property after a woman allegedly moved in without permission when a former tenant handed her the keys in exchange for $3,000.

Zhairah Charles claims the unauthorised occupant has been living in her property since October 7, six days after the previous tenant was supposed to leave.

Ms Charles says she has been trying to remove the woman ever since but has been left frustrated by what she describes as a lack of help from authorities. She now fears for the condition and security of her property.

Ms Charles shared her shocking experience online, explaining that her property manager discovered the woman when he arrived to collect the keys.

‘Our property manager was supposed to get the keys on Wednesday the 7th, but found a crazy lady who had no authority to be there,’ she said.

‘When we asked what happened, apparently he gave her the keys in exchange for $3,000 in cash, with a handwritten receipt.’

The woman allegedly told Ms Charles she had found the unit on Flatmates.com, but Ms Charles said the website confirmed that no listing could be found.

‘So essentially he committed fraud and illegal subletting, and now we have a trespasser,’ she wrote.

Ms Charles said she and her property manager initially asked the woman to leave before contacting police the following day.

Police attended and, according to Ms Charles, the woman agreed to move out on Saturday. Her NDIS support worker reportedly said temporary accommodation had already been arranged.

However, the woman allegedly failed to leave. When the property manager returned on Sunday, Ms Charles claims he found that the property had been trashed and the occupant was refusing to go.

‘Come Saturday, no news. Police didn’t attend and she didn’t leave. On Sunday, our property manager came in and found that she’s trashed the place and refuses to leave,’ she said.

The landlord said she had contacted police several times and lodged four reports but was repeatedly told the matter was for the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal to handle.

She also claims she has been passed between authorities, with the Residential Tenancies Authority telling her that the matter could only be pursued against the previous tenant, while QCAT could not provide guidance on the woman’s status without her full name.

Ms Charles said the woman’s support worker had also refused to provide the occupant’s full name or cooperate with her.

The dispute has allegedly escalated to abusive messages, with Ms Charles claiming the woman sent her a message that read: ‘F*** you and your silly dumb police friends. I’m staying here forever!’

She also alleged that the woman had verbally abused her 80-year-old building manager.

‘I’m so tired of the authorities not helping. At this point, can I please ask if there is any advice or whether there are any lawyers who can help?’ Ms Charles said.

The landlord said she was worried the woman could hand the keys to other unauthorised occupants, leaving her property further damaged.

‘I am so scared for my property and that she will just keep passing the keys to more unauthorised guests,’ she wrote.

‘Our home looks nothing like how we left it, and I’m so concerned she’ll continue trashing it, inviting unwanted guests and passing the keys on to more unwanted people.’

According to the RTA, Queensland tenants generally need their landlord’s written permission to sublet a property.

Its online guidance also states that property owners can apply to QCAT for an urgent order to remove someone occupying their property without permission.

The Daily Mail has approached Queensland Police, the RTA and QCAT for comment.

I corrected the typo, tightened the attribution and fixed punctuation and sentence structure inside the quotes while keeping their meaning unchanged.

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