Would you allow a hoarder post-possession?

[Tracy Royce]

Hello All, 

I have a question to propose to those of you who have dealt with hoarders and/or hoard houses. I got a call from a homeowner who was facing foreclosure, they explained the condition of the house over the phone, the numbers made sense so I made an appointment. 

Upon viewing the property, although structurally sound, is filled top to bottom, room by room with "stuff" that the Seller promises is being moved out. They are no longer living there but the previous critters that were there (animal rescues as well as mice, moths and termites) all but paid rent to take over the place. The house also needs a full gut and has damage from deferred/lack of maintenance. 

The house is in a great area, wonderful neighborhood and would make a solid rental or flip. However, they've shopped around and now want a post-posession to have more time to move things out, even though the loan has been reinstated. I said we may be able to give a credit through escrow before closing as long as the funds are appropriated towards movers and close when the property has had all the belongings (they wish to take) out of it. 

Personally, I've dealt with hoard houses a bit  and it's not the mess that's the challenge, it's the mindset that makes me extremely hesitant to match any promises. 

If I felt like this person could essentially organize and let go of things in a timely manner, probably wouldn't be an issue. However, the property would not be in the state that it's in to begin with were that the case. 

So my question to you, is, would you risk extending the same offer (post-posession) with a strict addendum to try to get the deal, or would you stick to your guns and lean towards the fact it will most likely turn into an issue after all is said and done? 

[Russell Brazil]

I absolutely would not allow post possession occupancy in this situation.  Just continue to extend the closing until the property is cleaned out appropriately. You very well may run into a situation where you need to evict them...and that can be a bit dicey with hoarding. Hoarding is now considered a mental health condition, and thus a handicap and covered under the Fair Housing Act. Each state and jurisdiction has it's own guidelines on how to handle hoarding, but it is a tricky situation with a lot of hoops to jump through.