Nestof3 Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Honestly, within two blocks of me in three directions, there are three hoarders -- that I know of. The city required one of them to erect a fence to hide it. She has Rubbermaid storage containers without lids filled with clothes and such lining her back yard. She placed a fence against some other stuff; it's not actually secured in the ground. Her shrubs completely block her house -- leaving the front door to enter. She has three cars on her property but doesn't drive. She rides her bike everywhere. Man has old construction supplies and stuff strewn around his property with a crumbling shed as well. He has trees growing out of blue recycle bins. When huge limbs fall, he does nothing. He never trims the weeds, grasses and other plants in his back yard. I mean -- the entire thing, save the trees, is knee length. My husband goes over once a year, whacks it down and sprays for poison ivy (the man allows him to). He has a useless deck that's all broken up where rats are living. Other man has a house with no curtains, so you can see inside that every room is filled to the ceiling. Several windows are broken, and one door is always kept open. He goes around collecting soiled mattresses, bed frames, thrown out stuff, metal stuff -- junk. He places it all around his property. Oh, and he has a vegetable garden. :lol: I'm sure it's doing wonders for the property values. ugh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athena1277 Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Why would the city tell them to "build a fence" to hide the mess? Doesn't it become a public health/safety because there is likely to be bugs, rodents, and who knows what else in all that junk?:confused: I thought cities always told them to clean it up when it got that bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Why would the city tell them to "build a fence" to hide the mess? Doesn't it become a public health/safety because there is likely to be bugs, rodents, and who knows what else in all that junk?:confused: I thought cities always told them to clean it up when it got that bad. :iagree: I got a reminder letter last week from the village to mow my back yard. It actually wasn't the yard that they wanted mowed it was my garden that I had not planted and was growing weeds. I had to mow it and cut down all my raspberry bushes because they had gotten too unruly. The weeds of the garden had not gotten as high as you are saying that 1 man's is, but the garden plot is large. It is all taken care of now. There is no one saying put up a fence though, just a reminder to deal with it or they would send in a contractor to mow it at my cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted July 13, 2012 Author Share Posted July 13, 2012 Why would the city tell them to "build a fence" to hide the mess? Doesn't it become a public health/safety because there is likely to be bugs, rodents, and who knows what else in all that junk?:confused: I thought cities always told them to clean it up when it got that bad. We are able to report violations to the city, but in my experience, they don't really do anything. It's hard for me because I lean libertarian when it comes to gov't involvement on personal property, but the rodents and such are an issue in our area. We even have them under our deck. We have been treating for them, and I think we got the last one until more move in. The a tornado destroyed one of the man's sheds, he intended to leave all the debris just lying there. He also tried to fix an orange tarp to the top so it could still be used. :glare: The city did tell him he had to have that junk hauled away, but that was all. This was a few years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted July 13, 2012 Author Share Posted July 13, 2012 :iagree: I got a reminder letter last week from the village to mow my back yard. It actually wasn't the yard that they wanted mowed it was my garden that I had not planted and was growing weeds. I had to mow it and cut down all my raspberry bushes because they had gotten too unruly. The weeds of the garden had not gotten as high as you are saying that 1 man's is, but the garden plot is large. It is all taken care of now. There is no one saying put up a fence though, just a reminder to deal with it or they would send in a contractor to mow it at my cost. I guarantee this sort of thing would not be tolerated in the neighborhoods my husband's lawn customers live in. We live in an older, smaller, less affluent neighborhood, and lawn/home maintenance is not a priority. It's frustrating because it really does affect the neighborhood. Our street is the nicest in the neighborhood, but most of the people are older couples. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Wow. Our city has all kinds of rules about lawn length, parked cars, and items left in the lawn. They will just come in and clean up your property and bill you if you don't take care of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobela Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 I think with other issues the local governments just don't have time or money for hoarders. I lived next door to one until 2 yrs ago. She hoarded animals mostly, with great inability to throw out any paper. We had a horendous roach problem. She managed to keep her front yard decent, and couldn't easily get to her back yard so it wasn't too bad but she would leave out several tubs of cheap cat food in the driveway for any hungry strays (and any rodent, raccoon, or other nasty creature that wanted some) . The rodents brought in poisonous snakes.... Anyway, depsite calls and complaints about the animals, the rodunts, the smells, the city really couldn't do anything becuase she always managed to avoid them when they came to the door. That is until she had a small kitchen fire and the fire department turned off all utilities to her home until she had a licensed repairman fix the electric. That only took weeks because no reputable electricitian would work in her place. Meanwhile she lived there anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quad Shot Academy Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Can you call one the hoarder TV shows? Maybe they would like to tackle a whole block for a season finale! :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 :iagree: I got a reminder letter last week from the village to mow my back yard. It actually wasn't the yard that they wanted mowed it was my garden that I had not planted and was growing weeds. I had to mow it and cut down all my raspberry bushes because they had gotten too unruly. The weeds of the garden had not gotten as high as you are saying that 1 man's is, but the garden plot is large. It is all taken care of now. There is no one saying put up a fence though, just a reminder to deal with it or they would send in a contractor to mow it at my cost. We let the grass grow high in one part of the garden and cut it only once a year. It's chest high at present. We are encouraging wild flowers in that area and allowing animals to nest. I can't imagine having someone turn up and tell me to mow. In fact, it's common practice in the UK these days to recommend leaving an area unmown for the wildlife. Number 2 in this list. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Can you call one the hoarder TV shows? Maybe they would like to tackle a whole block for a season finale! :tongue_smilie: :lol::lol::lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 We let the grass grow high in one part of the garden and cut it only once a year. It's chest high at present. We are encouraging wild flowers in that area and allowing animals to nest. I can't imagine having someone turn up and tell me to mow. In fact, it's common practice in the UK these days to recommend leaving an area unmown for the wildlife. Number 2 in this list. Laura I'm glad you are encouraged to do this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommytobees Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 A few years ago my MIL's uncle died. She was the executor and only heir (huge fiasco there) and felt obligated to deal with his home. He was a hoarder of the worst kind. My inlaws are environmental geologists and spent their careers cleaning up nuclear test sights. They used tyvek suits and decom procedures for the entire house. At that, it took them over 6 weeks of vacation time and 3 teen boys to get the thing emptied; they even had neighbors helping evenings and weekends. They then sold it at 1/3 market value just to get RID of it. The stories they tell about this house!!!! Horrifying!!! There were 3 cars in the front yard....the first two were found when one of the teens was mowing and the third was located before he continued mowing. There was a baby grand piano in the front room about 4 feet from the front door.......they didn't find it for a week. ::shaking head:: My dh and kids have inherited this gene....and I fight it _daily_. Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissad2 Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Sometimes when I go to the library there is a van there that is filled to the top with junk! I mean the only place that doesn't have trash or junk is literally the drivers seat! I always have the urge to follow it home to see where they live so I never make the mistake of buying a mouse nearby! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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