Is HOARDING a disability covered by Federal & State law......

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  • Joshua D.Pro Member
    BiggerPockets Founder · HI · Member since 2008 · 16k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    12y

    Hey @David Krulac - I think the question is an important one, but I don't believe that article does much to answer the query. I'm curious what other landlords know on the matter.

    Has anyone dealt with a hoarder tenant? What was your experience in trying to get them out?

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  • Steve Babiak
    Real Estate Investor · Audubon, PA · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 8k+ votes
    12y

    Hoarding is now classified as a disability, so you now have to deal with hoarders as being disabled.

    A good housekeeping policy and addendum are recommended. This was discussed in the BP forums previously.

    http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/108760-how-do-you-handle-dirty-tenants

    http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/88268-what-should-i-include-in-my-lease

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  • Account Closed
    Manasquan, NJ · Member since 2014 · 88 posts · 23 votes
    12y

    Unique but great question. I can only speak from experience observed in NJ. If they can prove a Diagnosis of mental illness the courts are on their side and you are up the creek. I have seen a person in my neck of the woods over the last 30 years take advantage (including the family that does not want to take care of him) of unsuspecting landlords. Sadly this person is being outed (as well as the family) * side note (family of MD's and Esquire's) and the courts are not being as kind to him (them) but are still not favoring the landlords or the town he counter sue's for doing things like cutting the grass when he does not or even perform repairs on the home to remain in code with the town.... Bizarre but true. This is just my opinion that is all.

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  • David Krulac
    OP
    Mechanicsburg, PA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    12y

    @Joshua D.

    For one thing the laws may vary by state, which is one reason I posted the article to see what other people are doing or no doing in other states.

    I've seen hoarding from the perspective of buying a property formerly owned by a hoarder. Last year we sold a house that we needed three 30 yard dumpsters to empty. There was probably a 40 year accumulation there. family took a few items, there was no money, no jewelry, no guns, though evidence of all three.

    The first time I encountered hoarding, I didn't even know there was a name for it. Bought a property for delinquent taxes, that the probated estate indicated that the house was of zero value. That should have been a clue. The walk ways in the house were filled with about 2 feet of trampled trash like milk carton, and beside the walkways the stuff was stacked to the ceiling. I hired a trash hauler with his & hers pickup trucks, but they quit after the first day. Then got the biggest dumpster and a crew to fill it. There was still more left after the dumpster was filled.

    The municipalities are ever vigilant after trash, but I don't think that they have caught up to the thought that this is a disability. I can envision the locals pressing the owner to clean the place up as a health and safety hazard and the tenant claiming a disability. The owner in the middle could be getting it from both sides.

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  • Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
    Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
    12y

    @David Krulac

    David I think anyone who has been buying distressed properties any length of time has come upon these situations... I have had maybe 5 or so over the years but 2 really stick out... One took 12 dumpsters and there was just little paths running through the house with stuff stacked 5 feet high everywhere else.. But half of the stuff was in the big garage.. And ( storage owners beware) they moved a bunch of it to a storage facility that was advertising 2 months free rent.. I hate to see how that ended up for the storage facility.

    The other one I just sold "as is" because it had a lot that could be divided off. I never touched it.. Put it on MLS with the following warning in the private remarks..( Caution Hazmat suite recommended) I never even closed the doors.. It sold in a week or so to a developer. It is amazing how some people can live in all that filth and mold and the like, these folks they were probably late 70's that moved out of the house.. I guess they just acquire immunities to the bad stuff... At the end of the day I would think this is definitely some sort of mental illness

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  • Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
    Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
    12y

    @David Krulac

    PS I now flash on a hoarder I had at one of my storage facilities he had a double stacked to the rafters and was living in the unit.. I worked with him to move it all out.. It would have cost me a bundle in dump fees to move all those personal mementos. I often wonder about doing the storage wars blind auctions if some one had bid on that one and then opened the door it would have been comical

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  • Jerry W.Pro Member
    Moderator
    Investor · Thermopolis, WY · Member since 2012 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    12y

    I am not aware of hoarding being a recognized disability under the ADA but I cannot say it is not. The ADA requires a reasonable accommodation, not allowing someone to destroy a place. The standard is different for public versus private I believe. In any event always try to be fair and reasonable no matter what. I saw a house condemned and torn down due to severe hoarding and an infestation of cockroaches and other pests. People literally became sick from walking in it. You do not have to allow that. Putting on handrails for toilets and bath tubs is different than having a house destroyed by filth or garbage.

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  • Bill Gulley
    Investor, Entrepreneur, Educator · Springfield, MO · Member since 2009 · 21k+ posts · 12k+ votes
    12y

    The disabled can be evicted just like anyone else, so can the barefoot and pregnant or the guy on a ventilator in his death bed here! I agree with Jerry, if a shrink said it was a disability then, they are disabled, get a dumpster!

    Yes, I have had purchases, foreclosures and a tenant where we had to get a dumpster, the tenant was inherited I didn't select them. Had to hold the property too.

    If you deal with the elderly, you'll get this, they may not really be hoarders as we think of them, but going through the depression meant you didn't through away a piece of sting that could be used for a shoe lace. Everything useable was kept. :)

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