Hoarding conditions made things difficult for fire crews on Sunday afternoon who were called in to battle a blaze that broke out in a Harford County duplex, officials say. Read the article…………………………….
How to Address Resident Hoarding in Co-Op and Condo Boards: Strategies for Safety (NY)
Hoarding is becoming a major problem in many of our communities. This complex issue spans demographics, affecting both older and younger individuals. For co-op and condo boards, dealing with a resident who is hoarding requires compassionate intervention, prompt action and often strategic collaboration with the courts. The priority is resident safety, making sure the hoarding […]
Judge orders inspection of hoarder house in Ocean View Hills (CA)
She also blames neighbors for causing issues. At least three neighbors have filed restraining orders against Golden over the years, accusing her of harassment. Also in the courtroom Tuesday, an attorney for the bank that Golden has a mortgage with, as well as an attorney for the homeowner’s association where she lives. Read the […]
Hoarding in Condominiums: When Individual Rights Clash with Community Concerns
The recent case of Board of Managers of the 48-54 West 138th Street Condominium v. Flora Burdock highlights the complexities that arise when an individual unit owner’s behavior impacts the health, safety, and well-being of a condominium community. In this case, the condominium board sought legal intervention to address a severe hoarding situation within Ms. […]
Man’s body found under 4 feet of debris in home: ‘I could smell the foul odor’ (TX)
On Friday, there were a series of phone calls to city departments asking for help with the clutter left behind, but nothing came. So, residents had to glove and mask up to put it all back themselves. The homeowners association will likely have to foot the pricey hazmat cleanup bill, board members say. They appreciate […]
A Primer for Co-op and Condo Boards on How to Handle Hoarders (NY)
With aging populations, many co-op and condo boards are struggling with residents whose abilities to care for themselves are greatly diminished. In some cases, an elderly shareholder or unit-owner may only need greater attention from her neighbors and building staff. Read the article………………………..
Brookfield cat hoarding, 73 need new homes (WI)
Hoskins said they first started getting calls about the property about a year ago. Neighbors were complaining about the smell from the condo next door. The Elmbrook Humane Society finally got permission to go inside the home on Aug. 31. The owner surrendered all 57 cats found in the 1,200-square-foot condo. Ammonia levels were so […]
Hoarding nightmare plagues Val Vista Lakes (AZ)
Val Vista Lakes resident Jeff Sloan says the junk slowly crept in over the years at his neighbor’s house across the street until it began to resemble a “landfill.” Floor lamps, chandeliers, plastic buckets and other knick-knacks on the front porch, soon spread to piles of odds and ends and discarded furniture in the front […]
‘Hoarding’ condo owner can be forced to sell unit (IL)
Q: Can a condominium association legally kick an owner out of the building because the owner is a hoarder and because the unit is “ground zero” for repeated and serious bug issues in surrounding units? Read the Q&A……………………………….
The Right Way for a Co-op Board to Deal With a Hoarder (NY)
What should a co-op board do — and not do — when it’s made aware of a hoarder living in the building? Follow these steps: Read the article………………………..
Co-op Board Learns That Hoarding Is a Mental Disorder (NY)
A shareholder in our small, self-managed co-op is in his eighties and is suffering from dementia. Because of his hoarding, the building now has a roach infestation. At significant cost to the co-op, we fumigated the building; we also packed up and removed items in his unit, fumigated them and returned them to him. New […]
Recent Court Decision Respecting Hoarding (ON)
In the case of Peel Condominium Corporation No. 12 v. Gill, the condominium corporation applied to Court because of the owners’ “hoarding an excessive and dangerous amount of clutter in their condominium unit”. Read the entire article……………………………….
How to Address Hoarding in Your HOA
Hoarding is a prevalent issue in condominiums and homeowners associations. While clutter all over a resident’s yard can diminish curb appeal, hoarding can bring more serious nuisances such as odors, pest or rodent infestation, structural distress, and safety hazards, especially in buildings with shared hallways, walls, ceilings, and HVAC systems. Read the entire article……………………………….
Ask a real estate pro: What can neighbors do about hoarder’s unkempt home?
Q: A resident of our community is a hoarder and does not maintain his home. We are concerned that the condition of his home will attract pests and cause other problems. The association’s management company sent him letters, but nothing came of it, and the problem is getting worse. Can anything be done? Read the […]
Tips for HOAs/Condos Dealing with Hoarders (AZ)
There is a growing problem in community associations – hoarders. These owners hoard books, newspapers, trash, knick-knacks, furniture, scrap metal, tools, clothes, animals, rotting food and everything in between. Unfortunately, this is a common problem and has been identified as a serious behavioral illness. Read the entire article……………………………….
Ask a real estate pro: What can condo association about owner’s smelly squalor?
Q: A unit owner in my building lives in such squalor that the hallway reeks as if something has died. Our association attorney advises us that legal action could take more than a year to resolve the issue. And he says that hoarders are a protected class under the Fair Housing Act. But the smell […]
The HOA and Hoarding: How to Handle Messy Situations
According to the American Psychiatric Association, hoarding is a clinical disorder. However, not everyone who lives in a messy house qualifies as a hoarder! Hoarders can pose issues within HOAs, but this is a touchy situation that must be handled with care. Read the article……………………………..
How to handle hoarders in a condo or homeowners association
We live in a society where erratic, awful behavior can be purposefully glamorized, particularly through reality TV. Consider the homeowner who throws nothing away, lives in filth and squalor and ends up the star of a TV show about clutter. Welcome to the horror of the hoarder. Read the article……………………………..
HOARDING – DISABILITY, NUISANCE AND COMMUNITY CONCERN
Hoarding is one of the more challenging condo community problems to address. It is an illness, a nuisance to residents and a safety hazard. Any community of more than 20 units likely has at least one hoarder. Protecting the health and safety of the community, while showing compassion to a hoarder, can be a difficult […]
4 Questions Association Board Members Should Ask in a Hoarding Situation
It is important to be able to identify a hoarding situation in the event one is present within your Association. Hoarding is defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “the compulsion to continually accumulate a variety of items that are often considered useless accompanied by an inability to discard the items without great distress”. Hoarding goes beyond […]
“Excessive Clutter” – Dealing with Hoarding at your Common Interest Community (CT)
All of us at times are messy people – we save too many things, or do just a bit too much shopping online, and pretty soon our homes are “cluttered” and full of junk. We get “joy” from all we own and will not get rid of anything! Does this mean we are hoarders? Read […]
Hoarding in Condo Associations: What Can A Board Do About It?
The popular television show, “Hoarders: Buried Alive” on A&E has brought much-needed attention to the issue of compulsive hoarding. The Mayo Clinic refers to compulsive hoarding as a mental health disorder that impacts a person’s ability to let go of items, no matter what their value. When hoarding occurs in a condo association, other property […]
Hoarders Present Difficult Challenges for Association (FL)
Q: Our condominium has a “hoarder” whose unit is filled with papers, newspapers, cardboard, plastic bags, and the like. I am worried about fire hazards and vermin infestation. Neither our board nor the manager are willing to do anything about this. Does Florida law provide me with any way to cure this situation? Read […]
More than 80 birds seized from apparent hoarder home in Rancho Bernardo (CA)
More than 80 birds, including one that was only a couple of days old, were seized from an apparent hoarder home in Rancho Bernardo on Wednesday, a San Diego Humane Society official said. It took a handful of Humane Society officers most of the day to remove the birds from the apartment on Avenida De […]
When a Renter Is a Hoarder, What’s a Co-op To Do? (NY)
The tenant in a rent-stabilized apartment in a co-op has turned into a hoarder. Neighboring apartments are being infested with mice and roaches. What should the affected shareholders and the co-op board do? Read the article……………………….
Hoarding in Condos (ON)
Many corporations have experienced their fair share of “messy” residents whose units look similar to their teenage daughter’s bedroom. That said, there is a difference between the casual “clutterer” and an individual who suffers from hoarding disorder. Read the article………………..
How to remediate previously hoarded units
A hoarded unit can contain a mix of rubbish, including rotten food items, wet garbage, soiled clothing, electronics, furniture, paper and items that may have been retrieved from the trash. This mix of rubbish can almost be ceiling high in extreme cases. The environment becomes an optimal breeding ground for bacteria, mold and pests that […]
Hoarding: A Disability for the Afflicted, a Nuisance for Neighbors and a Problem for Condo Boards
Of all the problems condo associations confront – and there are many – hoarding is among the most difficult. Hoarding is both an illness for the hoarder and a nuisance (or worse) for other residents. Handling hoarding situations require boards and managers to balance two sides of a difficult equation: Sensitivity for the hoarder on […]
Hoarding in Condominiums
Residential Property Management for a Condominium Association has many challenges and Managers have mountains of information passing through our offices on a daily basis. Information and documents needing to be tracked, monitored, answered and eventually filed. There is a lot of paperwork in a Manager’s office; paper is everywhere. On a regular basis, Property Managers […]
What are the Negative Consequences of Hoarding in a Community Association?
Hoarding is a psychological condition where: 1) individuals have difficulty getting rid of possessions that are no longer useful; and 2) efforts to discard these possessions and not acquire new items cause distress. Television shows such as Hoarding: Buried Alive and Hoarders display in alarming detail the negative emotional and physical impact of this condition […]
How to Deal with Hoarders in Your Condo or Co-op
Everyone loves to own things—sometime even many things. But occasionally, ownership of things can go too far and accumulation can grow problematic. In the modern parlance, a too-many-thing-haver is often referred to as a “hoarder,” an individual who can prove a burden for their neighbors, their property, and their community at large. In a condominium […]
Handling Hoarding in a Condominium Community
Hoarding is becoming an increasingly common disorder that carries serious consequences for the afflicted, their family, and neighbors. Hoarding has the potential to attract rodents, create fire hazards, and can threaten the health of occupants. While hoarding is dangerous for anyone, it is especially problematic for condominium associations where residents live so close together. Rather […]
Hoarding and Hoarders Must Be Handled With Care
The problems posed by community association residents who hoard are complex and difficult to manage. Boards have to balance the legitimate concerns of residents affected by hoarding, while respecting the rights of residents who hoard, or who are suspected of hoarding. The signs and symptoms of hoarding include foul odors, insects or rodent infestation, dirty […]
Hoarding & Marijuana…. What’s an Association To Do?
In addition to risks experienced by first responders responding to emergency calls, health problems include falls or accidents in the unit, clutter, garbage, animal or human feces, and the resulting mold or infestation can also cause respiratory and other health problems (Massachusetts Department of Health and Human Services ). In communities with common walls, hoarding […]
Hoarding in Your Condominium: What Every Michigan Association and Property Manager Should Know
As the weather becomes warmer here in Michigan, many homeowners or co-owners undergo the yearly “Spring Cleaning.” Unfortunately, many condominium associations in Michigan face co-owners, tenants or residents who do not maintain the same sanitary living space as their neighbors. At the extreme, hoarders may fill units and/or limited common elements with debris, combustible material, […]
All About Hoarding: Tips for Arizona HOAs
If your HOA hasn’t already encountered a problem with hoarding in your community, odds are it will happen at some point in the near future. It’s a growing problem with HOAs across the country that can come with some pretty serious ramifications, particularly for condominium communities and multi-family buildings. Read the article…………
An Update on Hoarding
A couple of years ago Barker Martin anticipated that hoarding would be an issue for community associations to contend with under laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act and Fair Housing Act. [Link] Since then, the issue has continued to garner greater attention in its effect on the community at large. Read the […]
The Condominium’s Duty Regarding Hoarding (Part 2)
I know what you are thinking: “Now that I know what hoarding is and why I should care about it, how do I fix it?” Well, like I said in my last post, there is no one size fits all solution. In some cases, it will be relatively easy to deal with the hoarding. In […]
The Condominium’s Duty Regarding Hoarding (Part 1)
We have probably all seen an episode of, or at least a commercial for, one of the various hoarding shows on television these days. The shows depict a person or family living in unimaginable conditions with piles of goods, garbage, and who knows what else. I have even heard of an episode where several of […]
The $100,000 Cleaning Bill: A Condo Board’s Long Fight with a Hoarder
How much is your cleaning bill? It’s probably not $100,000. Yet that’s the final figure after the condo board of The Alfred, a 219-unit building 161 W. 61st Street in Manhattan, added fines, unpaid common charges and interest after billing a hoarding couple for cleaning their dangerously unsanitary apartment — and getting a defiant response. […]