Hoarder Tenants and Their Legal Rights

Hoarding goes beyond common house clutter.  It is a mental disorder that millions of people cope with and when it comes to hoarder tenants it is important to know they have legal rights we have to abide by.

In this episode, we are defining hoarding and discussing the health and safety issues that can arise from it. We have personal examples from our property management experiences as well as events noted from emergency services where hoarding has seriously hindered their ability to do their job.

As hoarders are legally protected, we go into to detail about the Fair Housing law and the steps landlords should take if you discover a hoarding tenant in one of your rentals.

Hoarder tenants and their legal rights are a very important subject to know about.  Give this episode a listen to learn how you can protect yourself and your rental property business.

LINKS

👉 EP29: Part 1, Rental Property Fire Safety Essentials

👉 Purchase our Periodic Inspection Checklist

👉 Hoarders 911: 5 Stages of Hoarding

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Transcript

Kevin: 0:00

I think it's important to note that not all hoarders are the same and that each case is unique. so understanding how to deal with the issue of tenants who hoard can be challenging.

Stacie: 0:11

We definitely have seen hoarding in other properties we have managed. And to be honest, it's, it's really sad. We've seen clothes piled up like so many pieces of clothing that they could wear a new outfit every day and not get through the piles. Books and magazines is another one we recently had to deal with. Those were stacked four to five feet high and lined both sides of the hallway to the bedroom. Food is another one where the kitchen and dining areas were stacked with cases of drinks and boxed food. And I don't mean like they went to Costco and bought a little too much and had nowhere to store it. I mean, they went to Costco and bought cases upon cases of water and soda and coffee and tea. And have like 12 boxes of oatmeal and 36 plus cans of tuna and canned goods as far as the eye could see.

1:03

Welcome to your Landlord Resource Podcast. Many moons ago, when I started as a landlord, I was as green as it gets. I may have had my real estate license, but I lacked confidence and the hands on experience needed when it came to dealing with tenants, leases, maintenance, and bookkeeping. After many failed attempts, fast forward to today, Kevin and I have doubled our doors and created an organized, professionally operated rental property business. Want to go from overwhelmed to confident? If you're an ambitious landlord or maybe one in the making, join us as we provide strategies and teach actionable steps to help you reach your goals and the lifestyle you desire, all while building a streamlined and profitable rental property business. This is your Landlord Resource Podcast.

Stacie: 1:52

Hello there and welcome to the Your Landlord Resource Podcast. My name is Stacie. I'm here with Kevin and we are your hosts. You okay over there, Kev?

Kevin: 2:02

Yeah. Hey there, landlords. A little mic issues. I'm, I'm fine. Thanks for listening.

Stacie: 2:08

Okay, so today we're going to jump right into the episode because we have a lot to cover about what to do if you discover you have a tenant who is a hoarder. And first, I'd like to start with the fact that hoarding does qualify as a disability, which makes these tenants protected by HUD and Fair Housing laws. Now, don't misunderstand me. This does not mean that you can't do anything about the hoarding. What this means is that you have to go about getting to your end result differently. Kev why don't you go over what qualifies someone as a hoarder.

Kevin: 2:41

Okie doke. The technical definition of a hoarder is that they are people that acquire items in large numbers, of which they fail to discard almost nothing. Oftentimes their living space is very cluttered, which limits their activity. And another characteristic is that they will borrow items which they fail to or are reluctant to return. And by the way, they're aware of and have significant distress or impaired function caused by this hoarding. I think it's important to note that not all hoarders are the same and that each case is unique, so understanding how to deal with the issue of tenants who hoard can be challenging. But we have seen all the photos of those units. They show rooms that are piled from floor to ceiling with boxes or magazines, linens, you name it. Beds have just enough room for one person to sleep in it. While the rest is piled with stuff. I mean, kitchens have basically no counter space, no table space to sit at. And when you walk through a unit, there is a trail just wide enough for one person to fit through as you go from room to room.

Stacie: 3:52

And yeah, that's an extreme case, but we definitely have seen hoarding in other properties we have managed, and to be honest, it's, it's really sad. We've seen clothes piled up like so many pieces of clothing that they could wear a new outfit every day and not get through the piles. Books and magazines is another one we recently had to deal with. Those were stacked four to five feet high and lined both sides of the hallway to the bedroom. Food is another one where the kitchen and dining areas were stacked with cases of drinks and boxed food. And I don't mean like they went to Costco and bought a little too much and had nowhere to store it. I mean, they went to Costco and bought cases upon cases of water and soda and coffee and tea. And have like 12 boxes of oatmeal and 36 plus cans of tuna and canned goods as far as the eye could see. Hoarding is not an issue of clutter. Hoarding is a mental health issue where the tenant cannot part with items. And safety is a huge issue when you're dealing with hoarders.

Kevin: 4:53

And by the way, that safety is two sided. You have health and safety issues that are a public issue, meaning there's just so much hoarding going on that it puts others in danger. Like those who live with hoarding tenants or neighbors, as well as emergency personnel, landlords, property managers, maintenance personnel, you know, and the like. Danger meaning that there is no egress because windows cannot be gotten to in an emergency. Exits are blocked. Vents are also blocked by the clutter and can result in CO2 from the heater backing up in the ventilation system. And walkways and hallways, as Stacie mentioned, cannot be passed in case of an emergency. If a fire were to start, the unit would go up ten times faster, not allowing time for anyone to escape, and can cause major issues for other tenants in a multifamily property. So, you have imminent danger to the tenant and those who live with or enter the unit. You also have a health and safety issue because often with hoarders, you will experience pest infestations, from mice and rats to fruit flies and maggots. Cleanliness is absolutely not a priority, so food rots and when there are piles upon piles of dried goods, that's when rodents become more likely to be present.

Stacie: 6:15

Yeah, there's also hoarders who have their garages just jammed packed with stuff too.

Kevin: 6:20

Yeah, well our garage is not looking too great right now, don't you think?

Stacie: 6:24

I know. Ours is an issue of storage too. And I'll admit I have a lot of things I have emotional attachments to, that I have a hard time parting with. And I know you understand that Mr. I have every single birthday card that was ever given to me.

Kevin: 6:41

Well, that's a low blow. I mean, those were given with love. But yes, storage is an issue as is time. I mean, it's easier just to put whatever we need to deal with in the garage for another day and it seems those days are getting further and further apart. But when we do get in there and clean, I think we do a pretty good job and I don't think it's a mental health issue as much as time management issue.

Stacie: 7:05

Maybe we need that lady to come in and help me figure out what helps me spark joy.

Kevin: 7:09

There you go.

Stacie: 7:10

Right, whatever her name is. Anyway, we did an episode last fall about fire safety. We'll link it in the show notes for you if you want to give it a listen. But the long and short of it was that I interviewed a retired fire chief to get his perspective on fire safety and then I did a podcast on what he said was important to know. And there was a section there where I talked about his discussion on hoarding issues that he and his department would come across when doing building inspections of multifamily properties. And like Kevin had mentioned there were apartments that were loaded with the tenants personal belongings and when they went to go in and check for smoke detectors the firemen couldn't even fit through the tiny walkway to the bedroom to check it out. One time the front door was blocked so much so that they couldn't fit through to offer emergency care to someone in distress. And they broke the window, but once the glass was cleared, the window was blocked with heavy boxes that had nowhere to be pushed or shoved to, which would have allowed the space for the EMTs to enter.

Kevin: 8:11

Yeah. Can you imagine how frustrating that would be for those EMTs and firefighters? And it also puts them in danger too, because if there's a fire, they want to do what they can to save people, and if they go into a house that's filled with boxes and flammable items, it puts them into danger to get back out, too. I mean, we know of another time when a tenant in a bottom unit reported cracks in the ceiling. So, the landlord went in, and they thought, okay, there's a water leak coming from the above unit. Nope. When maintenance went in to investigate, they found the floor to ceiling was filled with extreme clutter, and the actual structural integrity of the building was compromised. I mean, this is what we mean when we say that one tenant's issues with hoarding can affect the health and safety of others living with or around them. Now I want to talk really quick about understanding hoarding, and I think it's important to know that it's a very complex mental health disorder. According to the International OCD Foundation, it"s estimated that two to six percent of the U. S. population struggles with hoarding. And you guys, that is somewhere between 6 million and 18 million people here in the U. S. alone that cannot part with possessions regardless of their value. The psychological condition affects people from all walks of life and age, gender, and socioeconomic status has no bearing on those numbers. However, per the American Psychiatric Association, there are higher rates for people over 60 years of age and with persons who have other psychiatric diagnosis, especially anxiety and depression. Unfortunately for the people living with this disability, they often have so much clutter that they become restricted to living in one small area of their home because they can't access a majority of the rest of it. Now let's talk about safety and the maintenance side of things. This is one reason why we always emphasize going in and doing regular inspections of your rental properties. Hoarded properties. often will have broken appliances, plumbing issues, and like mentioned earlier blocked ventilation. Tenants who hoard actually know what's going on with them and are not going to call you when their unit needs maintenance. This means if you are not doing inspections and not finding out if there are lease violations, in this case with the clutter, health, and safety, then you can bet there will be a lot of issues with that home or unit when this person either moves out or unfortunately passes away.

Stacie: 10:48

We cannot emphasize enough the importance of doing periodic inspections on your rental properties. It is one of the tasks that as landlords you must do to keep an eye on the condition of your rental property. Not just how the tenant uses a space, but also to keep up on preventative maintenance. So you have control over the repairs and you're not running over on a Saturday night at nine o'clock to fix an emergent issue. We have an inspection checklist that you can purchase and use over and over to help guide you through the inspection. If you're interested, the link will be in the show notes for you. Now I want to go over really quick, the different kinds of hoarders. Because they aren't all just basic household items. There are animal hoarders where someone's love for animals causes them to take on more pets than they can care for. So if you allow pets in your rental properties, I sure hope that you have details in your lease that stipulates the number of, and that you require approval of all pets before they're brought into the rental by that tenant. Animal hoarders usually fail to provide basic nutritional and sanitary care for these pets. And given the excess number of animals in the rental, often this leads to animal neglect, even though the tenant feels like they're saving the pet despite bringing them into worsening conditions. Just because there are compulsive collectors does not mean they collect items of value. Yes, they can be sports memorabilia collectors, but they can also be collectors of stuff like unique looking rocks. They just have a strong urge to collect regardless of the item's use or value. And these hoarders usually have an underlying mental issue like depression or OCD because it brings great distress to them to try and discard those items. Compulsive shoppers is another one. They take impulse buying to a whole different level and often are found to have financial difficulties and credit card debt, which is one thing a landlord does not want to have to have with their tenant. Food hoarders, as mentioned earlier, are very, very common. This obsession can be a coping mechanism as a result of trauma, like they never had enough food growing up. Or a desire to not be wasteful. This is common with elderly people who grew up in the depression. And some had no idea when their next meal would come and have trauma that results in them buying excessive amounts of foods just in case they ever run out. There are also trash, recycling, and miscellaneous hoarders. And trash is, quite simply, people who stash and store items that should be discarded, like packing materials, old food containers, broken furniture, and expired food. Recycling hoarders stockpile old paper, empty bottles, and use boxes so they can recycle them at a facility, but they never do it, and then it accumulates until it's so much recycling, they can't even sort and dispose of it. Miscellaneous hoarders are like compulsive collectors, but of many objects. It's the act of collecting is the focus more than what is actually being collected. I know I'm almost done here. I only have a couple more. There are information hoarders who collect any material where information can be found, typically in the form of books and pamphlets, magazines, recipes, business cards, tax returns, and receipts. And it's usually kept without ever being referred to again. They are known to have a strong irrational fear that the information will be unavailable if it's ever needed again. And they struggled apart with outdated paper items like old calendars. This is exactly what the tenant was dealing with when I said they had books and magazines lining the hallway. The issue is it's an extreme fire hazard. Many of the surfaces in a home have some level of fire retardant on them. Like countertops and some parts of kitchen cabinets, drywall, and some flooring have retardant materials to help slow the progress of a fire. Carpet not so much unless it's treated, which is likely not very environmentally safe. It's the contents like furniture and window coverings and clutter that cause a fire to engulf a home. Mail hoarders are similar to information hoarders, but tend to keep everything ever received in the mail. They will not part with old bills that have already been paid, coupons that have expired, and Kev, listen up, old greeting cards.

Kevin: 15:25

Come on, that's just mean. Uh, isn't it characteristic that they don't store the mail and information in a way to make it accessible? I mean, I have all of mine in one or two boxes neatly stored away.

Stacie: 15:38

Just saying, don't shoot the messenger. And before you throw me under the bus, I know I have a problem with Amazon boxes. And those are good boxes to have. No one complains when they need a box to store or ship something now, do they?

Kevin: 15:52

Oh man. And did you get mad at me for getting rid of all those boxes at one time?

Stacie: 15:57

Because I needed one to send stuff back to Kid 2 in Idaho. I get it if it has no use, but I do use them.

Kevin: 16:05

But you do have to admit, you get excited when a package comes and it's a good box.

Stacie: 16:10

I absolutely do. When we finally get to cleaning that damn garage, I'm going to use each and every one of those to either donate or ship out stuff to the kids or store that crap. So there.

Kevin: 16:24

Nice. You leave me alone about my greeting cards and I promise to never recycle a box without asking you about its necessity. Deal?

Stacie: 16:34

Sure.

Kevin: 16:35

Thank you. So Hoarders 9 1 1, a company that assists those who qualify as hoarders, has a chart on their site that shows the five stages of hoarding. And I'm happy to say we fall in level one where the house has minimal clutter, except the garage, the house is accessible and there are no odors. But if you want to check it out we will link that in the show note as well. Okay, I think they get the idea of what a hoarder is and why it is unsafe on many levels. So, let's now talk about how you can do your best to avoid having a tenant who is a hoarder. You know, we have to start with tenant screening. If you do a solid background check and speak with previous landlords, you should be able to find out if your applicant has hoarding tendencies. But here's the problem. As hoarders are considered disabled, they are a protected class. And once you find out they are a hoarder, you cannot deny them based on their disability. There has to be another factor like something related to income, late rent payments. or their credit history that does not match your criteria. This is why a complete and full background check is always necessary. It enables you to learn more about the applicant and potentially find other reasons why they are not a good fit for your rental. But unfortunately, despite good screening, your tenant can end up being a hoarder. Second, make sure your lease has a clause about cleanliness, clutter, and health and safety violations. Most leases do these days, but your lease having the right verbiage in it is going to be a key should you have to deal with a hoarder down the line. If there are specific timelines or processes to deal with hoarding, as dictated by your state or city, spell them out in your lease. You’ll also need to define how often your tenant can expect an an inspection, and be sure to follow through with that. Set your expectation of cleanliness with clear examples. Fire exits must be accessible at all times without delay, garbage must be taken out once per week, etc. Outline the most pressing code violations along with their consequences. By doing these things, your lease will distinctly explain to tenants what will happen if hoarding occurs.

Stacie: 18:56

And, and you guys, one more thing about leases. If you find your leases lacking in the necessary clauses, just draft up an addendum and ask your tenant to sign it or have your tenant sign a new updated lease upon renewal.

Kevin: 19:10

Yeah, we've done that with other areas of the lease where we needed to be more specific and that was fine. So how should you handle the situation if you find out one of your tenants ends up being a hoarder? With care and compassion. And when I say with care, I mean it's important to respond legally and appropriately. And as we said, they are a protected class under Fair Housing, so you cannot just evict them and call it a day. First, you must document everything. Creating a clear paper trail from the first day you discover the problem is key. This is notes and photos of what lease violations you have found. Notes about in person conversations had with the tenant and what each person said they would do. And emails to the tenant regarding timelines on when they have to have the rental cleaned up. You first need to give them the opportunity to remedy the situation themselves. If they do not or cannot, you do need to offer to help the tenant in some way with the cleanup. This can be by contacting a family member to assist them, helping them clean it yourself, or referring and even paying for a company to come in and work with the tenant. This would be a place like mentioned earlier, Hoarders 911 which I believe is located in New York. Most states have these companies available to help hoarders clean up and get rid of the clutter, as well as perform handyman duties if needed. You are not required to provide therapy or anything like that, but if you end up in court with a hoarding case, one of the first things the judge will ask you is, What did you do to assist the tenant with their disability? If you do not have the documentation of all you have done to assist the tenant, your eviction case will be thrown out and you'll have to start the whole process over again.

Stacie: 20:58

Yeah, this is exactly what happened to someone in Southern California, so landlords beware. Now Kevin covered the with care portion, so I'm going to talk about the compassion part. When you do your inspection and you first see tendencies of hoarding, so levels two through five on the chart that we talked about earlier, which means there's definitive clutter, odors, piles of dirty dishes, animal waste, or evidence of rodents, know that early intervention is key. Have a compassionate, non confrontational conversation with your tenant. Let them know that you are worried about their safety, but also property damage in a very respectful and empathetic manner. Consider providing them resources like a referral to a mental health professional, support groups, or local social services that specialize in hoarding disorders. And like Kevin said, document each conversation, inspection, and every single action that you take to address the hoarding issue with your tenant. This compassion is all part of the goodwill that you have towards your tenant. And yeah, sure, it's really hard to stomach when you walk into your rental property and it's likely unrecognizable. And that can make you angry as hell. But if you take that anger out on the tenant, it may only come back and bite you in the butt. You know, they're embarrassed enough and they know they have a problem and they need help. Do not lower yourself to the place of making them feel worse about themselves. And that doesn't mean you need to go buy a chase lounge and offer therapy in your office, but you can be compassionate while protecting your rental property. But you should contact your attorney for guidance on how to help your tenant maintain a safe living environment. Because if the tenant does not respond or refuses to clean the rental property up, you're going to need that attorney to have been part of your process from the get go should an eviction need to be filed at some point.

Kevin: 22:58

And as we say often, know your state, county, and city landlord tenant laws and ordinances. And when it comes to animal hoarders, the laws are a bit different because they're a likely case for animal abuse, but still tread carefully. Do what you can to work with the tenant and get them the help they need. Listen you guys, if you ask 10 landlords what their biggest fear is with their tenants, at least one or two will say hoarding. As they are a protected class, and it is expected that the landlord step in and provide some level of assistance, hoarding can really be a difficult situation to deal with. We do recommend that all landlords get training in Fair Housing. We know that TurboTenant has an all encompassing certification course to cover all the protected classes of Fair Housing, which is$29 for account holders. And just an FYI, it's free to have a TurboTenant account. So, if you want to sign up, we will add their link in our show notes. The Fair Housing Institute also has certification courses as well. And we tend to lean towards the Fair Housing Institute only because that is all they do. They have one big course for$99 you can take and get certified in Fair Housing laws, which we highly recommend. Or you can pick and choose each area, be it hoarding or ESAs or any of the other protected classes under HUD. Actually, it's less than that because we have a 15 percent discount code for the Fair Housing Institute courses for our listeners to use that we will put a link in the show notes for you. And we get nothing in return for you taking this course. All we offer is a discount code for our listeners. So consider doing some sort of Fair Housing training to ensure that you can recognize the signs of hoarding behavior, understand the legal obligations, and implement best practices. Because did you know that your first Fair Housing violation can cost you up to$16,000? So, do yourself a favor and spend a little money and take a course to get certified. Any education you do is a tax deduction and can be expensed off of your income. So it's a win win.

Stacie: 25:10

So the bottom line is that hoarding is a very serious issue, especially for rental property owners. The economic impact of hoarding extends beyond individual households. According to a study published by the Journal of Clinical Psychology, hoarding related costs in the United States were estimated at$50 billion, that's with a B, annually, encompassing expenses related to healthcare, social services, and property damage. Our advice is to be prepared with your tenant screening and have a detailed lease agreement. And should you come across a tenant who appears to have hoarding tendencies, address it with care and compassion right away. And lastly, get yourself and anyone else who might be dealing with applicants or tenants certified in Fair Housing so that you can avoid costly violations. Okay, you guys, that is our show for today. We really appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to listen to all we have to say every week. And if you like what you hear, subscribe to the podcast or give us a follow so you don't miss out on any episodes. If you really, really like what we have to say, would you do us a favor and leave a kind review and maybe tell other landlords about us? We would be really grateful if you would do that. We'd love to stay in contact with you. In the show notes, you can find links to all the free downloads that we offer and ways to sign up for our free weekly newsletter. Get on the waiting list to our upcoming course on placing your ideal tenant, of which a significant portion of the course will be tenant screening. There's also links to our social media accounts where we share very informative and detailed tips and tricks for landlords. So go check those out. I think that's about it. Thanks again. And until next time you've got this landlords.