One of the New Nightmare Scenarios for Just About any Landlord

The Dangers of Hoarding

Hoarding disorder can be responsible for everything from breaking apart families to indirectly causing poor physical health and even death. Advanced hoarding behavior can create an unsafe environment that is prone to catching fire, causing people to trip and fall, or causes people to become sick from a buildup of contaminants. Another consequence of hoarding is the increased isolation of the hoarder, not just from friends and family but from the entire outside world itself. This can lead to the hoarder becoming less in touch with reality and societal norms. This in turn makes the disorder progress further. When hoarding makes accessing all the rooms of the living quarters impossible, the hoarder must forego such essential daily living activities as bathing and cooking.

The neighbors of a hoarder will first notice the aesthetic appeal of the community decreasing as the hoarder’s clutter grows to uncontainable levels. After that may come pests such as rats and roaches. They will be attracted by the opportunity for feeding and the hiding spaces that a hoarder’s mess creates. These pests can multiply rapidly so they will eventually become a nuisance for others in the community. For closely situated properties, like apartments and condominiums, having a hoarder among you puts everyone in danger of a house fire. Furthermore, the clutter of a large hoard may make it difficult for fire fighters to access all areas of the property that need to be accessed in an emergency. This may make all the difference in rescuing someone trapped in a room from smoke inhalation or being able to douse the fire fast enough to prevent it from spreading.