We’ve all seen the frightening images of hoarders on reality
TV, but it’s hard to imagine actually knowing someone who might suffer from the
condition. Even worse, it’s hard to imagine that someone might be living like
that IN YOUR RENTAL PROPERTY.
The first step to detecting a hoarder is to understand the
condition. Hoarding syndrome is defined as: “Collecting excessive quantities
of poorly useable items of little value, failing to discard items, and
difficulty organizing tasks.”
A red flag might be if your tenant has a lot of “things” piled
up that seemingly have no monetary value, yet they refuse to discard of it. For
example, if there are piles of what appear to be trash in a yard, but it’s
never brought to the curb for pickup. Also a home with a strong, foul odor
could be the result of rotting food and garbage. Be wary of any tenant who
constantly makes excuses to delay home inspections, or is never around to let
you voluntarily enter the home.
People with this condition could be hoarding piles of “things”
that matter to them, and live in such a way that all furniture, floors, and
rooms are piled with junk. There arealso animal hoarders,
who take in dozens or hundreds of dogs, cats or other pets. Either situation
would be disastrous for you, the property owner.
Believe it or not, this “common” psychiatric condition affects
an estimated 700k to 1.4 million Americans, and few are actually receiving
treatment. Researchers say that hoarding in older adults can be quite dangerous
to ones health, as it creates conditions suitable for fires, falls, unsanitary
living, and inability to property care for oneself (eat, use the toilet, leave
the home). It can also attract vermin or insects (if spoiled food is being
hoarded), which is a detriment to sanitation and health.
If neighbors are complaining to you about excessive animals,
trash or strange smells, take the claims very seriously. Evicting any tenant
can be time consuming an expensive, but cleaning up after a hoarder can cost tens
of thousands of dollars in waste removal alone.
To avoid renting to a hoarder, find out how to properly screen your tenants
and what other red flags to look for by visiting our website today!
We’d love to hear your tenant nightmare story! Enter to win
our Tenant Horror Story Contest today
to become eligible to win $400 in FREE tenant screening
services!
