Topic: Tenant Eviction Apocalypse

Just found this horrific set of eviction pictures. What a cleaning nightmare! Think you could brave this eviction?



Dining Room


Cleaning the sink after the eviction




The apartment pantry full of trash






Can't we just burn the apartment down instead of cleaning this all up?

That looked like it could have been one of mine...... I had to hire a hauling crew (think 1-800-GOT-JUNK) to clear out 4 1 bedroom (500 sq ft) units. They were at my property for 2 days and their crew of 4 had to fill their truck 6 times for one of my units.

There was a similar situation that the 'World's Worst Tenants' guys came across.

Problem is that hoarding is a recognized mental disorder. The bigger problem is the health and safety problems the disorder creates without support.

Wow, what a horrible mess! I've had tough turns but not one this bad. If a resident's mental health goes downhill fast, even annual unit inspections can't prevent a disastrous result.

I had a quarterly inspection done of the units on one property where I had enough people to pull it off. It prevents things from getting this bad. I guess if you are in the industry long enough we all have had one. That one is all we need to look at our processes. I mean even people that do not have a disorder can have cleaning and maintaining issues.

Annual inspections, just in my book are too long and the quarterly inspections you can nip a lot of things in the bud. I have to imagine someone must have noticed a smell coming from this place. When I would walk properties my nose and that of the staff were always active around units.

There are other signs as well, such as look at the windows and balcony of units and it is a snap shot of what is going on inside! Look at and pay attention to the up keep of the physical appearance of the occupant and you have another sample. If they drive a vehicle, not always the case but it can be an indicator!

I do a 100% pest control treatment for all units twice per year as part of my pest control contract. I or my maintenance person accompanies the exterminator to note any issues and address anything that can be done immediately (smoke detector batteries; light bulbs, clean AC filters)..... Anything that needs further follow up is noted.

Very good points Nate and Johnny!

My staff and I all live on site and walk the property daily, so we do notice odors from time to time.

We also have a quarterly pest control contract so if any units need to be checked out prior to the annual maintenance check, we just choose them for the pest control walk through. :)

Let me be clear, Rose; my pest control contract includes 20 in unit visits per month (he comes the 2nd and 4th Monday of every month to treat the common areas and up to 10 units per visit based on pest control reports). In addition to that; we do a treatment of ALL units 2x per year as part of a preventive maintenance plan. We use the 1st week of March and September and we divide the work over 3 days (22 units per day, 1 floor). This is done whether or not the resident has reported a problem. I also have him treat vacant units during the turnover when possible. This was at my last property and I plan to set up something similar at my next property.

This HAS to be someone who purposefully opened garbage bags and emptied it everywhere. At least that's what I'm telling myself because I can't imagine that a human lived in that.

I have had one close to this. He was a horder from hell. When he moved out we actually found 3 dead cats! That was in a past life though. Now all my units are entered AT LEAST quarterly for preventative maintenance, filter change, and smoke det. battery test. The battery tests are actually required by our local building code enforcement inspector. I enter all units personally at least once a year.

@ Felicia: It could be someone that KNEW they were being 'welcomed to leave via the legal system' and were vengeful...... I had an evictee leave a similar mess, including a kitchen sink (no disposal) that was clogged with cockroach corpses.......

Sadly, though; there are some people that do live that way due to their disease. As property managers; we cannot get involved any more than to contact family for assistance (which is pushing the limits) or to contact adult protective services anonymously. The problem is that sometimes you need to break confidentiality for the greater good. Make sure you get the support of your supervisor and the advice of your attorney about best practices.

They have to be BLACKLISTED! This is bananas!

I agree; but since hoarding is a recognized mental disability; fair housing and ADA laws make it extremely difficult and easier said than actually done.

I, for one, would like to march the proponents of the Fair Housing Laws through that apartment. Fair to whom?
We are professional property managers and we do not run a city dump for people to live in. Yes, yes, yes I have seen these on my watch as well, and it is a case study of people. My solution to this problem would be to have reached these people in high school (if they were even in HS) and on their graduation day I would have had a greyhound bus waiting to pick them up and transport them all to Fort Bragg, NC. The next thing they would have experienced was the "Hey you POS, get your (--backside) off of my bus and DO IT NOW!
This "introduction to the world", and a taste of "how to live a respectable and normal life, would go miles in preventing people from doing this sort of crap.
Many on the forum will know what I mean here.

That's a very good point Herb. There is a service dog, that happens to be a 100lb pitbull, on the top floor a complex nearby. The dog apparently has great hearing and bounds across the floor every time anyone enters the building or a car drives by. Being on two busy streets and having over 100 residents in the building means this is a constant occurrence. This is not so great for the people downstairs, who purposefully moved into a pet-free building due to allergies. Fair housing laws prevent me from explaining why we allow this animal to live here to the residents who have to live below it. :(

I do agree with Herb, and feel that military service should be mandatory for a minimum of 2 years active duty; but understand there are some with disabilities such that don't allow them to serve. Those disabilities include physical and mental ones. I am not including addiction in this case because those can be managed and recovering addicts can have a military career (as long as their roles do not require a security clearance).

I would include, with limited and controlled opportunities; sentencing options for gang members before their crimes reach felony levels as well. But this is getting off topic, so I will end it now.

Here are some images of one of my evictions... The units at this property were all 1 bedroom floorplans at about 500 square feet. This resident was an 87 year old woman. Aside from the mess she had left behind (this unit took 2 full trucks to the dump), she:

1) Had not only blocked access to the electric water heater, she turned it off. We found a leak and mold problem as a result.
2) I have no idea how she bathed because there was stuff in her bathtub/shower.
3) There was a bird cage; but no bird.
4) We found 3 cat corpses.
5) We found bedbug activity; which she denied well after the entire property was treated for them. She did not comply with the needs of the exterminator to complete anything beyond the first treatment.
6) Evidence of other pest control problems were also found.....


We evicted her because of the health and safety problems this created.

Wow, those pictures made me extremely sad.

It was unbelievable when we actually got inside the unit how bad it was (I actually went to my unit right after, showered again and bagged my clothes so I could wash them later, just to make sure I was not carrying them).

When we had the sherrif lockout; she said she hoped I would burn for what I was doing.... It was all I could do to keep my mouth shut. I asked my maintenance guy to make sure I didn't have blood in my mouth.....

I am attaching what the floorplan looked like just so you can get an idea of how far the problem was. There was an episode of CSI a few seasons ago where the crime scene was a hoarder with 3 corpses buried in the stuff...

Just glad these photos are not "scratch and sniff"...

Found this article worth reading:

gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/las-vegas-...news-topstories.html

I agree that the best approach is to be willing to offer assistance by connecting the residents with local service agencies that are equipped to handle the issue. I would not put the health and safety of my staff, my other residents, or myself at risk by physically helping; but I would get local mental health professionals to assist.

If the resident refuses the assistance in any way; then it is time to get the legal team and code enforcement involved.

This is a topic that needs discussing in depth and sharing best practices as well as successes and failures. Has anyone developed a strong protocol when dealing with this issue? How about general housekeeping issues before it reaches the level of hoarding?

The saddest factor here on this topic is the fact that most PMC/Owners want only NO late rents or vacancies, and if possible NO phone calls. No, not all do, but at least the vast majority do. They want especially no interference from the US Government, unless it brings yet another gubbermint check to their coffers.

So, what is left is the property manager who is trying to operate the complex in a fair and balanced method.
What is often overlooked by the Owner/PMC is the fact that said manager has to console the residents, the inspectors, the prospects, and whoever else has some kind of interest in the property. The manager is the one who must butter both sides of the bread, and even squirt on the mustard when needed. When the problem arrises, the phoning of the PMC, the response "read your regulations". If there is a vacancy, why isn't it filled, and what are YOU doing about it? If there is a problem, how could it have happened, and why did YOU let it happen? This is management under the "Everything is fine until something goes wrong" approach. Unfortunately, it is the approach of most ownerships/PMCs. How many times have you seen a managing agent, a busy overworked one, trying to get to his/her vacation finally this year, turn a blind eye to this sort of thing? You, of course, realize these agents get paid on a "warm body in each unit on the first of the month", be they a "hoarder" or not.
However, when Uncle Sugar sends his rep through the complex on an annual, the agent is the first to freak when an apartment is entered and this sort of thing rears it's head. Hope you documented! Otherwise YOU own the fault.

How did their apartment look at their last annual inspection? Does the owner even care that the units are inspected? I feel sorry for the PM if he doesn't.

Ever quick to state the obvious, but hoarding must be the most difficult act by humans to empathize with, let alone understand. I find it so hard to wrap my head around, just in theory. However, Herb, you make an interesting assertion - that propert management companies want two things: rent paid on time and no vacancies. I have to admit that sometimes it does feel this way. Otherwise, why is it that some managers only get phone calls when there is a problem with one or the other? Where is the support for the onsite team when any serious issue rears its ugly head? Perhaps, property management companies really need to re-consider how many dollars are implemented toward providing quality training so managers are better eqipped to deal with some of these very emotional issues.

Like I said, this topic needs to be explored and discussed so that best practices can be shared; particularly among site level managers. There are 3 kinds of managers for this issue: those that HAVE faced it, those that WILL face it, and sadly those that WILL face it AGAIN.

I am asking those that have been successful to share their experiences and what they did to get their results with those that can use the advice.

This is not much different that sharing ideas on how to deal with suspected crime, child or domestic abuse occuring on their property.

Some of this hoarding (landfill living) is caused by dumpster diving. I am not against dumpster diving as I have done it myself under these circumstances:

The lady with the cat---She gets catfood in those really nice plastic buckets. These buckets make some of the best carwash buckets you can get. I finally asked her to simply save them for me.

The ladies with the Tide Laundry Soap. Again these come in really nice buckets. They make storage for small parts and good mop buckets. They also make good tool totes. They finally learned to save them for me. I have too many. I take them home, and then I have too many at home.

Tenants who buy Folgers coffee in the sweet plastic cans with the hand grip built into them. If you are a painter like me, you can't get enough of them. However I dispose of them rapidly after use, and I can't bear to see them full of nails or unwanted plumbing parts. That looks too tacky.

People who throw away short pieces of wood, pipe, screen, and furniture with "real" Oak wood in it. Folks, this stuff is expensive, and you often need only a small piece for a project.

I never retrieve anything of old electronics, ie: Televisions, Phones, Computers, Ipods, Ipots or Ipans. This is junk, and rightly is thrown away unless there is a system of recycle going on.

My all time favorite, bar none!: When doing a turn around, or seeing it in a dumpster, I MUST have the thrown away or left behind Plastic Shower Curtain! For a painter or maintenance guy like me, these are "must haves". Can you imagine an old guy like me getting kiddish over a "used shower curtain"? Well, I do!
There is nothing better to lay down when removing a water heater or working under the sink than an old shower curtain.

Now if you came in my shop you would see "none of the above". I hoard all this gold mine stuff in my outbuilding neatly in boxes. So, there you go!!!
Cheers

There is 'smart dumpster diving' where you identify things that can be safely reused, even for a one time thing like the plastic Folger's coffee cans for small quantities of mixed paints, but once used for this purpose; they are considered household hazardous waste and should be treated as such.

I remember when I was a kid, and my sister was still in diapers; my dad and I used to build and fly R/C planes. We used the empty baby food jars for small parts.

With regards to electronics; many cities and counties actually prohibit them being thrown away with run of the mill trash as they contain many materials that are hazardous to the environment. These areas often offer periodic electronic waste pickups or collections. I have even been on properties that collected used cell phones for recycling and gave the funds to the school where most of the residents attended; or a local shelter.

But there is a HUGE difference between what Herb is suggesting and actual hoarding.

As hard as this is to clean up, there is definitely more than just being messy here. They need help...

Just found another horrific eviction picture... In my mind, this one is almost worse, because at least the first images you can understand they have a mental problem with hoarding. But this one, is just vindictive. (Obviously probably not multifamily, but this stuff happens to use, too)

Not much sympathy for this one Brent. The property manager has simply not been around for some time.

Not sure what the substance is that is blocking the locks, but I can certainly see the mouse (mice?)

I mean you should be able to see this on here immediately for a manager who is even aware of his/her property. And, I can't imagine a next door tenant not reporting it. Let's just say it, nobody has been around here lately. This said, I would sure like to see inside!!!!

That's a good point, Herb. It could definitely be a bad landlord in this situation.

Eewwwwww! I'm traumatized! No kidding. I don't care who had to find that, the person who left it was mean and deserved to have been evicted.