Everything is gone

Property management simply cleared out the cellar compartment

The cellar was cleared out. (symbolic image)(Bild: Martin Jöchl)

A woman from Linz experienced something almost unbelievable. When she went into the basement of her apartment building in the city center one day, the room assigned to her was suddenly empty - cleared out. After initially believing it was a theft, it turned out a little later that everything was completely different.

Hilde H. (69) has lived in a smart apartment in Linz's old town for 50 years. But for the past two years, the Linz resident has been at loggerheads with her property manager. No wonder, because in June 2022, the woman's cellar was simply cleared out in a night and fog operation - swept clean. "I went down one day and there was nothing left. I immediately called the police because at first I thought burglars were at work. But they don't normally clean up," says the Linz resident.

The police were also baffled
The police thought so too, which is why Hilde H. - who had only lost her husband to coronavirus two years earlier - contacted the property management company. And it quickly became clear that she was the culprit. "The problem was that our cellars don't have the same number as our apartments. Now someone new has moved in, and the tenants have simply been assigned my cellar," says Hilde H.

Fighting for compensation for two years
However, she has not received any compensation, even though she has been trying to reach an agreement with the property management for two years. "I would have had to submit invoices for the things that were in the cellar. But I don't have them. A lot of it was still from my late husband," she says.

The property management company was reasonable: "A mistake was made, we're sorry," they said when asked by Krone. They will get in touch with Mrs. H. again.