WHEN ''Fiona'' opened the door of her Richmond home she thought she had been burgled. All her belongings were gone, but there was something that didn't quite make sense. Her house had been scrubbed with bleach and was spotless.

But ''Fiona'', who has mental health issues and has asked not to be identified, had not been the victim of Australia's most hygienic burglar.

Community housing resident 'Fiona' thought she was hallucinating when she came home to find all her belongings were missing. Credit:Pat Scala

One of Fiona's neighbours had moved out and left her possessions behind. So Yarra Community Housing organised for the neighbour's things to be collected and the room cleaned. Unfortunately, the cleaners went to the wrong room. ''I was in absolute shock. Everything I owned was gone,'' Fiona said. ''I had to walk in and out of that place just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. There was no sign of a break in and the place had been cleaned with bleach.''

That evening, Fiona contacted a Yarra Community Housing staff member who she said initially tried to tell her she had been robbed. Fiona was put up in a hotel for the night.