Brent Nyitray
Fairlington Blade
Let the mutherfuker burn!
jnc4p
Kevin S. Willis
Michigoose
lmsinca
markinaustin
Arcanaut
novahockey
quarterback
ScottC
yellojktThere are very few things that shock me but when my husband came home Friday from the lockout of our tenant by the sheriff’s department he began preparing me for the shock I was about to experience.
Some of you may remember we’ve been involved in an eviction process on our rental property (the bulk of our retirement income) since January and even hired some legally challenged lawyers to represent us in the misadventure. I call it a misadventure because it feels like a miracle to us that we finally got our home back.
The lockout would have occurred a month earlier but the city recently decided that our street was one of the ones that needed a new street sign. A problem arose when the sheriffs attempted to post the final eviction notice about six weeks ago and the spelling on the street sign didn’t match the spelling on our legal documents. The city had changed an “e” to an “o” and so we had to wait two weeks for a new sign and another two weeks for the city workers to install it. Cha-ching, another $1600 down the drain. Of course our lawyers thought it would have been better to change all the paperwork to the incorrect spelling………………………idiots.
Anyway, my husband met the officer and the locksmith at the house Friday morning and originally told our tenant she could have 1/2 hour to vacate. The sheriff informed him that we had to store whatever was left at the house for 15 days, either at the house or a storage facility, charging her reasonable rates, and then could either sell it or trash it. Then my husband went inside. Needless to say, when she said her boyfriend was on the way with a big truck to move some stuff, he gave her the rest of the day to vacate.
Every room, save one, looks exactly like the pictures below, and that one room is pristine…………………….bizarre.
All of this was left after two big truckloads had already carted away some of her belongings. So now our house is a storage facility for another 12 days and we’re hoping they’re coming back for more although they already cancelled the appointment to meet my husband over there today.
I feel sorry for anyone who is for some reason compelled to live like this, but right now I feel more sorry for us, because we’re going to be stuck with the cleanup………………………………….yuck.
All Things in Moderation 
Wow. That really sucks. How long was your tenant there?
I guess you’ll need to get some professional cleaners to make the place habitable again. Hope the kitchen isn’t too bad …
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I’m sorry LMS. Be careful cleaning up in there. Can you just call in a junk company and haul everything out? That’s what I’d do — Of course, my original avatar was Snidely Whiplash, so, you know.
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She and her father moved in July of 09. Last November he suffered a medical event that left him in a vegetative state and she has been there ever since. We even offered her $500 if she’d move back in February. We had no idea though that she was a hoarder, and I don’t think I’m exaggerating.
The spring of 09 we spent about $10,000 upgrading the floors and kitchen counter and cabinets, and except for the carpeting the rest looks okay. It just needs elbow grease and probably paint but we need to clean it all out first. The spring of 07 we spent $12,000 on the yard; drainage, concrete, automatic sprinklers, wind screens and landscaping. The front still looks okay but she and her dog destroyed most of the work in the back. The dog even shredded the wind screens.
We’re good at this part in some ways as it’s been a rental since 1987. Of course it’s never been this bad, although we did have one tenant who started a candle fire in one of the bedrooms. Luckily insurance paid for most of those repairs.
You take your chances as a landlord but overall it was worth it to us to hang onto the place.
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I’ve seen a house like that before on doing EMT stuff — no fooling around — be very careful. The stuff can shift can come crashing down on you. There’s a good chance you’re going to have a pest problem. Get a couple of N95 rated masks if you’re going to be walking around in there. You can get those at Home Depot
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NoVA, we’ll probably just bring in a really big dumpster for a week and get as many people as we can to haul stuff from the house to the dumpster. We’ll let them keep anything they find of value. I do think it will probably be July 1st before we’ll be able to rent it again……………………………good for our taxes though………………………….haaahaaa.
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Thanks for the advice NoVA, I hadn’t really thought of all that yet, but I’m sure you’re right. I don’t really need anything else falling on me this year………………lol.
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Wow. I had a tenant in a little rent house I owned nearly 40 years ago who was a hoarder. He always paid his rent. He was a single house painter. He filled two spare bedrooms 3′-4′ deep with empty beer cans. We never knew there was a problem until he had covered the back yard with empty beer cans and the neighbor behind complained to me – found my name in the property records.
That was nothing compared to this, That guy just had decided to keep all his cans. He and his crew were quiet drunks, so the prodigious amounts of beer they downed was not that noticeable. Because they were housepainters.
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Mike, I just thought of something………….maybe this is that number 3 event……..sheesh.
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My mother-in-law is a border line hoarder. We are just gong to have to go the call a junk-hauler route when she passes away. At least she owns her place free and clear.
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lms:
If it is #3, then I think you take it and run. In the end, it is just stuff.
I’m with NoVA — let the pros deal with it, as long as it is within your budget. Especially in case there is a pest control problem.
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I am with NoVAH too. Be risk averse here.
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“I feel sorry for anyone who is for some reason compelled to live like this, but right now I feel more sorry for us, because we’re going to be stuck with the cleanup………………………………….yuck.”
It’s almost enough to make one a Republican.
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It might be jnc, except both she and her Dad are Republicans, not that it has anything to do with any of this in my opinion.
Are you back from Hawaii? Was or is it glorious?
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My Mother-in-law was also a borderline hoarder. Fortunately (at least from that perspective), she had to downsize about 3 time is 3 years due to declining health… Gradually getting rid of stuff was a lot easier than all at once. I would agree with Mike, Mark and NoVA.
I have thought about becoming a landlord and always opted against it. Maintenance of my own place along with family is a full time job+. I know when my wife and I rented a house for a year, we took over for my cousin and the place was dirty when we moved in. After initial cleaning, we did a number of little improvements on our own dime – things that were necessary and kept the place in good shape. So they dinged us for not having cleaned the gutters when we left (I had cleaned them 2 months prior). I don’t think the landlord/renter relationship is in line with my irratabtility level. If your pics were part of my reality, I think I would bust a gut. More power to you though.
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Changing back in show of solidarity with lms. ————>
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Speaking of Republicans (just kidding), she also refused to pull the plug on her father when they had the chance as her brother and two sisters wanted. The last time I saw her in December she told me she was waiting for his Social Security to come in so she could pay January’s rent. I tried to tell her that his SS was going to go to whatever facility he was residing in and as his daughter she wasn’t entitled to it regardless. She didn’t believe me though.
Dave, being a landlord definitely isn’t for everyone. My husband has the patience of Job though and he loves it. We have spent a lot of weekends over there fixing it up and taking good care of it while rocking out to some great music, so this is a little discouraging for him.
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Yay, Snidely’s back. That’s the nova I know.
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You must pay the rent!
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Thanks for all the great advice everyone………………………see you soon. Thanks for putting up with my mostly non-political posts.
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“lmsinca, on April 30, 2012 at 10:06 am said: Edit Comment
It might be jnc, except both she and her Dad are Republicans, not that it has anything to do with any of this in my opinion.
Are you back from Hawaii? Was or is it glorious?”
I’m back and I didn’t care for Honolulu/Waikiki. Too long of a flight for a toursity resort and overpriced, mediorce food. A review on Urbanspoon summed it up for me:
“Waikiki is the Orlando of Hawaii”.
Friends who have gone to Maui assure me it’s much better.
The highlight of the trip was getting to go to Pearl Harbor to see the USS Arizona memorial.
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“novahockey, on April 30, 2012 at 10:32 am said: Edit Comment
You must pay the rent!”
Unless it’s Too Damn High!
http://www.rentistoodamnhigh.org/
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“Friends who have gone to Maui assure me it’s much better.”
I have not been to Honolulu/Waikiki since the 70’s. And it has been over a decade since I went to Maui. As a kid I liked Oahu – hey beach, pineapples, skimpy dress and fire show at the Hawaiian cultural center we visited…as a kid, what’s not to like? And the memory I retain the most was the USS Arizona. Maui (at least as it was a decade or so ago) was fabulous. Beautiful, much less developed, lots to do. I will say that we ate at an authentic Hawaiian restaurant and out of about 8 of us, I was the only one that liked it. However, more traditional fare fared much better…esp the seafood. It is expensive. Period. The volcano (Haleakala sp?) was really cool. You can drive to the rim of the crater – from ocean level to 11000 feet in about 90 minutes. We did not do it but you can head up the crater before dawn and ride a bike down while the sun rises…the people i talked with about said it was great. The adult Dave! votes for Maui!
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There are ways to get the Maui experience on oahu. For example, watching the sunrise from diamond head crater. This is best scheduled early in the trip before your body clock adjusts. There are some great hikes on the ridgelines, starting above Waikiki/Honolulu & ending atop the cliffs on the windward side. And the ‘locals’ beaches away from Waikiki aren’t crowded.
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