Australian actor Yahoo Serious, who starred in the hit 1980s comedy film Young Einstein, has been evicted from his home after falling more than A$27,000 (NZ29,000) behind in rental payments.
The 66-year-old was ordered to vacate his three-bedroom home in Sydney's Avalon Beach home and pay the landlords, Tanya and Andrew Barlow, A$15,000.
The owners took Serious to the tribunal after he failed to pay his A$1350-per-week rent for five months. Serious claimed his income had been hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The actor, who briefly catapulted to worldwide stardom in the late 1980s, began renting the property in March 2017 and first fell into arrears in November 2019. He had not paid any rent since February 25.
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Serious told a tribunal he had previously earned income through his artistic and creative endeavours but that the crisis had impacted a project he was working on.
Serious at a film festival in 2006. He owes more than A$27,000 in rent. Photo / Getty Images
Asked what rental assistance he had sought, Mr Serious told the tribunal he had been advised to apply for the age pension as he was about to turn 67.
“With the pandemic reshaping the movie industry towards home entertainment, the project on which [Serious] was working has been impacted,” the tribunal said in its decision.
“Although he notes the Federal Government has recently announced a A$250 million assistance package for the entertainment industry and hopes to be thereby able to obtain financial assistance, there are no firm details he was able to provide at the hearing.”
Serious attempted to apply for an eviction moratorium under rental tenancy laws enacted in response to the pandemic. Under the new laws, the tenant must show their weekly earnings have fallen by more than 25 per cent.
The tribunal said bank statements provided by Serious for March and April, however, showed “no evidence” of pre-pandemic income, meaning he did not satisfy the test.
Yahoo Serious's 1988 film Young Einstein was a global hit. Photo / Getty Images
Serious, whose last film was 2000’s Mr Accident, asked to be given until the end of September to resume rental payments and promised to clear the arrears by December 31 – which by that date would have reached A$58,564,80.
He was ordered to vacate the house by August 13 and pay an occupation fee of $192.86 until then.
- news.com.au
