We couldn't have been more surprised when we started to clear out our recent client's closet and found, to our horror, some dead kittens huddled together. But then we heard a little squeak, and we realized that this one was still alive!

This little guy had clung to life, and we are so grateful that we were in time to save him. He was weak, hungry, and thirsty, and one of our team found some milk replacement food (which the owner obviously had intended to use but hadn't), and he drank that down with all his might. We named him Maximus.

​Our team member Alvaro fell in love with this tiny boy and has taken him home, and he's doing great! Don't they make a perfect pair?

This reminds us that humans aren't the only ones to suffer from a hoarding situation. So many animals are victims of this behaviour, and we only wish we could save them all.

If you know of a home that has too many animals to be cared for properly, especially in a hoarding situation, please contact your local Animal Control and save some lives.

If you're in the Southern California area, call Clutter&Hoarding Pros™ (562.972.3180) and we will help you find the resources you need.

Although at Clutter&Hoarding Pros™ we work with families, friends, and fiduciaries in clearing and remediating the hoarded estates of deceased or re-homed hoarders, we also get many calls from worried relatives asking us how they can tell whether a friend or loved one is a truly hoarder or just has a bit too much "stuff." ​

If you suspect that a friend or family member is a hoarder, you can take this simple questionnaire to be sure. [We have reformatted it to fit into the blog space.]

The HOMES® Multi-disciplinary Hoarding Risk Assessment was developed by Christiana Bratiotis, PhD, MSW, who has worked in the field of help for hoarders for well over a decade and has co-authored The Hoarding Handbook, A Guide for Human Service Professionals.

​HOMES® Multi-disciplinary Hoarding Risk Assessment 

Health
Cannot use bathtub/shower  Cannot prepare food
Presence of spoiled food   Presence of insects/rodents
Cannot access toilet   Cannot sleep in bed
Presence of feces/urine (human or animal)
Presence of mold or chronic dampness
Garbage/trash overflow  Cannot use stove/fridge/sink
Cannot locate medications or equipment       

Notes:________________________________________________________________

Obstacles 
Cannot move freely/safely in home
Unstable piles/avalanche risk
Inability for EMT to enter/gain access
Egresses, exits or vents blocked or unusable

Notes:_________________________________________________________________

Mental health  (Note that this is not a clinical diagnosis; use only to identify risk factors) 
Does not seem to understand seriousness of problem
Defensive or angry  Unaware, not alert, or confused
Does not seem to accept likely consequence of problem
Anxious or apprehensive   

Notes:_________________________________________________________________

Endangerment (evaluate threat based on other sections with attention to specific populations listed below)
Threat to health or safety of child/minor
Threat to health or safety of person with disability
Threat to health or safety of older adult
Threat to health or safety of animal 

Notes:________________________________________________________________

Structure & Safety 
Unstable floorboards/stairs/porch
Leaking roof     Electrical wires/cords exposed
No running water/plumbing problems
Flammable items beside heat source     Caving walls
No heat/electricity        Blocked/unsafe electric heater or vents
Storage of hazardous materials/weapons 

Notes:_________________________________________________________________

Household Composition  
# of Adults _____________
# of  Children __________   
# and kinds of Pets ________________________________________________     
Ages of adults: __________________________       
Ages of children: ______________________       
Person who smokes in home  Yes     No
​Person(s) with physical disability____________________________________
Language(s) spoken in home________________________________________ 
 
Assessment Notes:__________________________________________________  ______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________ 
 
Risk Measurements
 Imminent Harm to self, family, animals, public:___________________
_____________________________________________________________________
 Threat of Eviction: _________________________________________
 Threat of Condemnation:_____________________________________ 
 
Capacity Measurements Instructions: 
Place a check mark by the items that represent the strengths and capacity to address the hoarding problem 
 Awareness of clutter
 Willingness to acknowledge clutter and risks to health, safety
    and ability to remain in home/impact on daily life
 Physical ability to clear clutter
 Psychological ability to tolerate intervention
 Willingness to accept intervention assistance 
 
Capacity Notes: __________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________ 
 
Post-Assessment Plan/Referral  _________________________________
____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________ 
 
Date: _________________     Client Name: _____________________________

Assessor: ___________________________________________ 
 
© Bratiotis, 2009 

If you find yourself need to clear the estate of a hoarding loved one, please contact Clutter&Hoarding Pros™ for ethical, trustworthy, and non-judgmental hoarding remediation services, including clearing and cleaning a hoarded estate and remediating the home for living or sale.

This is a shocking, but true, story from one of our recent projects. An 82-year-old man died in his heavily hoarded home, and he lay there dead for over a week before a neighbor called the police because the man’s dog wouldn’t stop barking near his rear bedroom window, and there was a foul smell coming from his back yard into the neighbors’ yards.
​
It took paramedics over six hours to remove his body from his hoarded home. They had to break the front window and crawl over seven feet of debris to reach the body in the rear bedroom.
On this particular project, our team pulled out approximately 37 tons of trash, gross filth (including rotted food, dead rats and mice), clothing and furniture soiled with fecal matter and urine, and tens of thousands of newspapers and magazines. The project lasted five days with a full crew. Lots of work to say the least.

We urge our clients to understand that sometimes you, as the family member, may need to give “tough love.” This might mean placing a call to Adult Protection Services for a welfare check, in the event your family member refuses to let you inside the home. 

The sad fact is that many elderly people with severe hoarding disorder, who are living in a cluttered, hoarded, generally degraded environment, will—whether from shame, embarrassment, or fear—not allow anyone, including family, friends, neighbors, home health workers, or even city and county officials, to see the inside of their homes.

It’s critical for someone, whether family members or others, to gain access to their elderly family member’s hoarded property to see how they are living. It may even mean taking them out for lunch or dinner, or even a walk, so that someone else can see the inside of the home. Family members need to get an extra set of keys by any means possible in order to perform welfare checks. 

This job, and so many others reported in the news or, worse, going unreported, shows the huge risks to elderly and/or disabled seniors (or others) who live in highly hoarded or cluttered environments due to risk of falling—which can lead to serious injury or death—fire and electrical hazards, the inability of rescue workers to get through the hoard, bio-hazard issues—including human and animal feces and urine—and other health issues such as malnutrition and compromised immune systems. 

At Clutter&Hoarding Pros™, we receive dozens of calls every month outlining exactly this situation. We always hope help will arrive before such tragic deaths occur, but sadly that is not always the case. If your elderly or disabled loved one either has been rescued and removed from this situation in time, or has met a sad and lonely death due to their hoarding, please contact us through our Contact page, call Michelle Quintana (the owner) at 562-972-3180, or email us at michelle@clutterandhoardingpros.com.

We had an opportunity to work with a family whose father had died, leaving a massive, Level 4 hoarded home for them to clear. Our client said that there might be money in the home, but they had scoured every square inch (they thought) and retrieved all the valuables they had found.

While my crew was working intensely on clearing the hoard, they found some pure silver jewelry hidden in holes in the mattresses—the jewelry was easily valued in the tens of thousands of dollars and would probably have been thrown out with the mattresses if they had just called a junk hauler to empty the hoard.
We then found $800 in frozen $20 bills in the freezer! They had not thought of looking there, as it was jammed full of expired food and hadn’t been defrosted in way too long.

t the pièce de résistance was what we found in the attic. In nooks and crannies our clients had never even thought to look in, we found, stuffed into various jars, boxes, and other containers, an astonishing ​$472,000 in cash!

You can imagine how thrilled the family was, and how thankful that they had trusted Clutter&Hoarding Pros™ to find—and return— these valuables and cash.

It’s true, we charge more than junk removal companies, because we do more than just haul things away to the dump. We specialize in the details—looking through the hoarded home for the items of worth—the money, the coin collections, the documents, the vintage mementos, the family photos, the special wedding dress worn by grandma tossed into a heap.

We care, that’s what we do best—with no judgment and always with a positive attitude. We really do care, honor, and value your family’s heirlooms and understand how traumatic and emotionally overwhelming it is to clear the home of a loved one who had a hoarding disorder. Rescuing family valuables makes it just that much easier to deal with the grief and the stress.

​We encourage you to “shop around,” call other like services, but we promise you that should you retain our services, we will do everything in our power to make your experience as seamless as possible. Contact Clutter&Hoarding Pros™ for a trustworthy, compassionate, nonjudgmental hoarding remediation service.

As a part of a hoarded estate clear-out and clean-up, many of our clients hope to sell their previously hoarded home after remediation. Until recently, Clutter&Hoarding Pros has handled the clear-out and clean-up of the hoarded home and referred any structural repairs to trusted contractors.

Now, with our new partner, Trust Properties USA, we can offer the whole package, from clear-out, cleanup, through complete repair and remodel--and sale—of the previously hoarded home!

Trust Properties USA has developed what they call their “Fix And Sell” Strategy, in which they front the cost of renovating your formerly hoarded and probably damaged home. You don’t pay a dime out of pocket until the home is sold.

Since the sale price of the home can be many thousands of dollars more after renovation than it would be “as is”—with the structural damage (walls and floors rotted, cabinets falling off, electric and plumbing not working, etc.) still not repaired—you, the homeowner, keep the profit. Even after subtracting the cost of the remodel, many clients walk away with tens of thousands of dollars more than they would with an “as is” sale.

And Trust Properties USA, as certified Realtors, will list and sell the house for you at the same fee you’d pay any other Realtor. Trust Properties USA happens to be the only realtor to offer this Fix & Sell Strategy. The video below explains the process in detail.

Clutter&Hoarding Pros™ takes NO fees or commissions on our referrals to Trust Properties USA. We work with TPUSA solely because it’s best for our clients. In fact, if our client chooses to list with them, we have such confidence in them that we will even wait until the close of escrow to get paid for our services. They are the only Realtor we work with on this basis.

Here’s an example of one of their renovation projects:

TPUSA sold home for:                   $525,000
TPUSA renovation cost:                   $35,000
Gross proceeds to Family:            $490,000
Other realtors' “as is” price:          $400,000
Gain to Family:                                  $90,000
 
We are so happy to be able to offer this service for our hoarded estate remediation clients. Together, Clutter&Hoarding Pros™ and Trust Properties USA really are the one-stop solution to clearing, cleaning, RENOVATING AND SELLING your hoarded estate.

​As a real estate investor, you know that flipping foreclosed properties can be an incredibly lucrative investment. However, you also know that when people are facing imminent foreclosure, they often take their frustrations out on the property. It’s not uncommon to discover foreclosed homes full of trash, clutter, or worse.

​Sometimes, the mess is so extensive that it seems impossible that you can ever get back into shape for a profitable renovation. If you have purchased a foreclosed home and have discovered a hoarding nightmare inside, you know that you need a comprehensive cleanout before you can begin renovations. Clutter & Hoarding Pros is a professional property clean-out service that helps remediate trashed-out homes so that they are safe and ready for you to work on. 

What sets Clutter & Hoarding Pros apart from a simple junk removal service are our qualifications and approach. First, we are experienced with all levels of hoarding, so we can handle toxic or biohazardous situations safely and competently. We work in even the most disturbing conditions, and our experience and completed projects show our skill. Second, we are more meticulous in our approach to make sure we find any salvageable items of value that you can either sell for profit or donate for tax purposes. 

By the time we complete foreclosure cleanouts, properties are livable or completely safe and ready for your team to renovate. In addition, our team values discretion. We know that your flipped property’s sales potential can be diminished by rumor and innuendo. We work in unmarked vehicles, and if desired, our team wears plain clothes with no logos or identifying information. We know that you don’t want an evicted home cleanout to be a public spectacle, and we tailor our approach to avoid just that. 

​If you’re tackling a foreclosed property renovation and have discovered an overwhelming mess inside, contact us for a consultation. With our remediation experts, you can get back on track and well on your way to a successful flip.

In late April, I got an email from Mike Bhand, one of the editors of VoyageLA, a very cool lifestyle magazine in LA, asking me to participate in a series of interviews with LA's "most inspiring entrepreneurs and independent businesses."

Here's the start of the interview. For the rest, please click Read More icon here or at the bottom.

Michelle, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.

I started my business in 1999 as a full-time professional organizer.
I began specializing in working with clients who had moderate to severe clutter and hoarding issues as well as those who were chronically disorganized.

As baby boomers began to retire, the business changed focus in 2006 in order to serve a specialized niche market helping family members whose hoarding relative had either passed away or was being relocated out of their home due to aging, illness, etc. Many families we work with today live out of the area and are totally overwhelmed by how to sort through a hoarder’s home; that’s what we specialize in and do best. We also work by way of referral with elder law and probate attorneys, fiduciaries, real estate agents, law enforcement, and adult/child protection services.

Read more . . .

It may be hard for non-hoarders to grasp the intention behind their family member’s hoarding. Before going into some do’s and don’ts that we at Clutter&Hoarding Pros™ advise to potential clients, a word about the importance hoarders attach to their possessions—possessions that others may regard as junk, trash, or garbage. 

In a recent Washington Post article (“Hoarding is a serious disorder—and it’s only getting worse in the U.S.,” Sara Solovitch, April 2016), the author cites one recovering hoarder’s name for his collection: “Rubble without a cause.” He says it actually “pains me to throw useful items away.” The difference with hoarders is that “useful” to them usually means something very different from what it means to non-hoarders. 

Yes, empty plastic food containers, cardboard boxes, clothing, and books can be seen as “useful,” but perhaps not hundreds of food containers, dozens of cardboard boxes filled with random “stuff,” damaged or outdated clothing that will never be worn, and books that will never be read. Many hoarders simply see these objects, and other things that might really be categorized as trash (such as rotting food and animal carcasses, junk mail, old newspapers, and even human and animal waste), as equally valuable.

From our experience helping reclaim the houses and clear the estates of hundreds of hoarders, here are some do’s and don’ts that can be used by everyone involved in helping a hoarder.

• DO realize that the hoarder sees things differently than you do. Try to imagine yourself through their eyes and see how you would want someone to talk to you about your home and possessions.
• DO acknowledge any signs you see that the hoarder has tried to make some sense of the hoard. Congratulate the hoarder on any attempt to put possessions into some kind of category (newspapers piled together, books kept in the same area, similar items grouped together, pathways kept clear to move from room to room). Many hoarders have no ability to categorize, so positively remark on any actions they’ve taken to do this. (Keep this sincere and low key, as insincere or patronizing remarks will not escape their notice.) It’s also nice to remark anything positive about their situation—truly nice possessions they may have, areas that they have been trying to keep clear, even compliment them on their pets if they seem well taken care of.
• DO mention health and safety concerns common to hoarded homes—access to entrances and exits, ability of emergency responders to get through the pathways with heavy equipment and get up and down stairs—in case of emergencies such as fires, water damage, or accidents.
• DO acknowledge any truly valuable or beautiful items you may see, any areas that have been kept clear, and any other positive things they may be doing to keep some kind of order.

We at Clutter&Hoarding Pros™ receive calls every month from relatives of hoarders who have been reported to Adult Protective Services and whose homes have been “red tagged” so that no one is allowed to enter the premises until the hoard is cleared and everything is cleaned. Or the home may be outright condemned. These reports are due to hoarders' maintaining a home in unlivable, gross, filthy hoarding situations—what would seem to non-hoarders as uninhabitable. 
 
In March of 2017, we received such a call from the brother of a hoarder who lived within our service area. The caller lived out of the area was beside himself because his brother’s property had been reported anonymously to Adult Protective Services and was already red-tagged. He did not know where to turn for help for his hoarder brother.
 
As the owner of Clutter&Hoarding Pros™, I receive all calls, usually spending about 35 to 45 minutes with the caller to discuss the hoarding situation and schedule an on-site assessment, which we require in order to give an accurate estimate of time and cost. (There is no charge for this service, after which the family decides whether to retain us to remediate the situation.)

The on-site assessment revealed a home that was indeed a Level 5 hoarding situation. (Click to see the 5 Levels of Hoarding scale.)

The entire 1300-sq. ft. home was in deplorable condition. Our client had advised me that his 69-year-old brother had dementia and had not tossed out his garbage in over 10 years. Weaving through the “goat trails” (narrow paths through sometimes ceiling-high mounds of garbage, papers, clothes, and other items of every variety), I could see that there was human and animal urine and fecal matter all over the floors, where the floors were even visible. 

There were a total of seven refrigerators filled with rotted food and debris; dozens of rats and mice and cockroaches scattered when I walked into the kitchen and living room areas; there were piles of used adult diapers in open waste containers and hundreds of soiled towels and piles of dirty clothing. The stench was overwhelming. There were automobile parts all over the home and two motorcycles in the living room that had leaked oil and gasoline on the carpeting and what was left of the wood floor.

Remediation took our team two full days with a crew of seven workers. We hauled approximately 16 tons of trash and debris from the interior alone. Our cleaning crew spent two days deep cleaning the gross filth the best they could, but many areas were uncleanable with so much ground-in dirt and filth, and some areas had been destroyed by gross negligence—rotting wooden floors, holes in the walls, windows torn away from the structure, roof leaks, and electrical issues.

At Clutter&Hoarding Pros™, we work on all levels of hoarding, not only the Level 5s; this was an example of how truly shocking and appalling a hoarding situation can get and how tragic the conditions can become for humans who cannot or will not seek help before things get to this stage.

Whatever the condition of the homes we serve, we are able and willing to work to get the best possible results from the remediation; in this case, we cleared the clutter, arranged for contractors to come in to make the major repairs needed (our out of area client really appreciated the referral), and when construction is done, the home will be thoroughly deep cleaned. We also helped refer a full time in-home caretaker for our client’s brother. The adult protect​ion case is still pending as of this blog date.

Because our clients usually hire us after their hoarding relative has passed, we find that many of the hoarded homes they need us to clear are in probate, usually for one of two reasons:

• Because their relative has left no will, no trust, or no legally binding documentation to let the family know who inherits what property or belongings and how the estate will be apportioned.
• Such documents might exist somewhere, but because of the state of the home they can’t be located.

The sad fact is that probate cases among hoarders is very high. In addition to the factors listed above, many serious hoarders simply do not have the ability to provide clear instructions on what to do after their passing. Confusion, fear, anger, or other mental states can make it impossible.

An alarming number of such cases exist and add tremendous cost, anxiety, and stress for the whole family. Who to turn to? Which family member is burdened with this added responsibility? Probate is very expensive and can take a year or more to settle in California courts. Costs can easily run into the tens of thousands of dollars to hire a probate attorney, court costs, etc. We have had clients whose relative’s estates have been in probate for more than three years!

If you have a relative who is a hoarder, the best plan is to get prepared. If you’re able to communicate with your hoarding relative, ask them if they have created a will or a trust. Do they know where to find it, and are they willing to let you, or someone else in the family, hang onto it? If not, will they allow you to take photos of the documents they have? If they’re able (or willing) to listen, explain the costs and the difficulties of estate probate. 

Remember that you don’t have to handle this alone. Contact an estate attorney for advise on how to prevent probate—this will turn out to be enormously less costly than dealing with probate after the fact. At Clutter&Hoarding Pros, we have worked many times with estate and probate attorneys, helping clients sort through the mess that results when a hoarding relative dies, and we know from experience that it’s much better to be prepared than to try and pick up the pieces afterwards. 

If you feel you’re going to have to deal with the hoarded estate of a relative, Contact Us and we'll refer you to estate attorneys that we have worked with, then help you figure out a plan to deal with the estate clearing when it does arise.

For years, I have been helping families deal with the clutter and hoarding left by parents who have died or are in care. Little did I expect to have to deal with the same hoarded estate clear-out of my own parents!
​
My Dad, 103, and Mom, 90, are both entering the advanced stages of dementia, but they have steadfastly refused under any circumstances to be pulled out of their home, even though I had begged them for years to sell their home and move into an assisted living facility. I told them I would gladly fly to Miami, do all of the research and whatever else was needed, drive them around, set up interviews with the nicest places, and leave the decision to them, so they wouldn’t feel out of control. But they would have none of it. I had seen them recently, and their home was livable, if not pristine.

However, in mid-January, I received a call from neighbors that both my parents had been placed into Florida Adult Protective Services, based on an anonymous call reporting that they were living in a bad situation! I immediately flew to Miami.
​​

Although I was relieved that they had been removed from their home, I was aghast at how bad their home had become since my last visit, seven months prior. The kitchen had rotten food on the counters and in the fridge. There were leftover stacks of junk mail, empty containers everywhere, ants, cockroaches, and a horrible smell throughout the home. My father’s bed was stained with urine and fecal matter. My mother’s nightstand was covered in hundreds of bloody tissues. Their bathroom had mold in both the bathtub and toilet areas. This was a true hoarding estate clean-out (something I had done a hundred times, but never for my own family)!

I was truly shocked and somewhat angered at this condition. I wanted to blame my father for being selfish and not allowing my mother, who can no longer make decisions for herself, to be taken out of this situation, but as a Cuban refugee from the early 1960s, I knew his pride had gotten in the way.

When all was said and done, I ended up pulling out 84 thirteen-gallon bags of trash from my parents’ home, deep cleaning the home, making all of the arrangements for their new nursing home facilities, and dealing with the emotional aftermath and anger that would come from my father. I did not care about his anger—I knew what had to be done. Their safety and wellbeing was above all else.

I thought back to the many clients I have helped through similar circumstances, and I always thought I truly appreciated exactly what they were going through. But not until I had to cope with the same heart-breaking situation with my own parents did I gain the deepest understanding of the pain, anger, and sorrow of facing the horror of helping loved ones of my own.

I had become my own client.

Along with an inability to manage their possessions, many hoarders are often unable to manage their legal and day-to-day business affairs, such as a clear will and testament. When the death of a hoarding relative lands their family into the quagmire of clearing out and cleaning up their physical affairs, inevitably there will be squabbles over dividing any valuable or sentimental possessions uncovered from the clear out.

During a hoarded estate clear-out, we often recoup valuables such as thousands of dollars in cash hidden in the most unexpected places, collectibles, vintage items, photo albums, war memorabilia, and cherished family mementos.

Rather than wrestling with family members over who gets what, possibly damaging relationships, when you work with Clutter&Hoarding Pros, we can assist your family in deciding how best to approach the hoard and manage the possessions you wish to keep. We are completely objective, and we have no emotional ties to anything we find while clearing and cleaning the estate, so we’re in an excellent position to mediate over the division of possessions your family wants to keep.
​

Before we begin a clear-out, we consult with the family hiring us and set expectations ahead of time, presenting a clear game plan that avoids family rivalry and added confusion when clearing out an estate. This preparation gives us a hoarding clear-out action plan for the next two to four days, which is the time it usually takes us to clear a medium to large hoarded estate. The plan not only helps families have a firm deadline in order to prepare the home for sale or rental, coordinate with contractors, etc., it also provides us with a timeline for dividing the found valuables among family members. When issues do arise, we can be the “clear head” to help resolve the differences or, if this is impossible, we can help present a way forward to decide the issue at an appropriate time in the future.

Clearing the hoarded estate of a relative is usually a very emotional time for all involved, so having an independent, emotionally neutral, non-family member to mediate and keep a cool head will help to guide the project to a successful conclusion for all.

Call Michelle Quintana (owner) today to inquire about our services and receive our no-cost assessment.

At Clutter&Hoarding Pros, we receive dozens of calls a week from scared and deeply concerned family members of hoarders who have died or are in care. These callers are facing the tremendously difficult situation of clearing the hoarded estates of their relative or loved one and feel daunted and unable to figure out their next steps.

As the owner, Michelle Quintana, I am so grateful to our clients for the trust and confidence they show us in inviting us into the hoarded estates, allowing us to lead them on the path of remediating the hoard and reclaiming the home. We know how challenging it is to put your trust in others to go through years or decades of personal items, family heirlooms, and the inevitable and embarrassing conditions in which your loved one has been living.

I personally receive all calls and spend whatever time is necessary to assess your situation. Our remediation plan is tailored to your specific needs, as there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution for reclaiming a hoarded estate—each one has its own “personality,” if you will, requiring its own remedies.

Because of our commitment to treat every project individually, I'm always happy to provide useful and highly trusted referrals, even if you don't end up hiring us. We are particularly thankful to the service providers we have been privileged to work with, including (but certainly not limited to) handymen, realtors, plumbers, electricians, roofers, pest control, movers, gardening and landscaping experts, and painters.

Likewise, because of our commitment to provide the best possible personalized, top-notch service to all of our clients, I strongly believe there must be a good fit before accepting a project. Please read our Yelp reviews and other client testimonials to hear what our past clients say about Clutter&Hoarding Pros.

These clients have contributed to a wonderful 2016, for which we are ever grateful. We look forward to an even better 2017, when we hope to be able to help many more clients facing the tremendous task of clearing the hoarded estate of their loved one, recapturing the hoarded home, and putting the overwhelming situation behind them.

Wishing you and your loved ones a warm and inspiring 2017.

At Clutter&Hoarding Pros, we often get these phone calls: “Help! We need to find a home for our mother (grandmother, uncle, whatever). She’s a hoarder and is being evicted and we don’t have any idea how to find a care home for her, we don’t know how much it will cost or anything. Can you help??”

Insert your own situation: whether your family member can no longer care for herself or himself, is being evicted for code enforcement violations, or for any other reason must find another home. Where do you start?
 
We work with a trusted partner, American Senior Home Finders, run by Donna Rybacki, CSA, whose mission is to help with just this situation. Of course, most of the calls we get are from people looking for help relocating a relative who has hoarded themselves into an unlivable situation, but Donna provides her service for any senior who needs a new place, from independent senior living, assisted living, continuing care, Alzheimer’s/dementia care, to skilled nursing and rehabilitation.

Here is an informative statement from Donna:

​“Deciding if, when, and where to place a loved one is often a heart-wrenching and overwhelming experience. Many family caregivers continue providing care far beyond their physical and emotional capabilities before they even consider placement as an option.

“We use specific guidelines to see whether or not to place a loved one in residential care. We are educated on ALL of the different lifestyle and care options available to seniors. Determining which one is correct for each individual is part of our job when we assist a family with senior living needs. We help the family define the ideal scene and make that the reality.

“Since the options for home care and retirement living are plentiful, the search can be overwhelming and can slow down the actions needed to change the condition. We cut that time down because of our knowledge and experience.

“The children of seniors often have duties and responsibilities of their own to deal with and not as much time as they would like to tend to the care of their aging parents. We are ready to join in and help solve those needs quickly and professionally.

“One of the most common phrases I hear when I am helping a family face a crisis with their elderly parent is, 'I don’t want to put my mom in a home!'

“I AGREE! Mom is not an item that can just be put somewhere; she is a sentient being who has helped you through many things in your life—and you need to care for her the best way possible. Moving her from an environment where she is alone, isolated, surrounded by things that she may get hurt on if she falls, to a home where people say, “Good Morning!” to her, make her nutritious meals, help her get ready for a great day, and care for her the way you would is doing the best thing possible to improve her quality of life.

“Choosing the right place to call HOME is my specialty, and I treat this with the utmost importance. Your elderly parents, family, friends, neighbors are important people to you, and that makes them important to me.

“Donna Rybacki, Senior Placement Specialist”

American Senior Home Finders works for your family at no cost--when they find the right home, that facility pays them. They have fully investigated and approved their list of suitable care communities and are committed to finding you the best home for your loved one, and working with them adds nothing to the cost of your room or services. They take you on a tour of candidate homes until you find one that you feel confident about and comfortable with.
 
Don’t despair if you find yourself in need of a place for your aging relative; contact Donna at American Senior Home Finders and know that you’re in the hand of someone we at Clutter & Hoarding Pros trust and recommend.
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Clearing the hoarded home of a family member or close friend can be absolutely exhausting to all involved. Not only have you had to deal with your family member or friend’s death or relocation, now you have to tackle the enormous job of decluttering the hoarded home, figuring out what to do with the belongings you’ll uncover—valuables, heirlooms, trash, donations, etc.—and finding the hoarding remediation help you need. 

Sad to say, with family members contributing to the effort, tempers can flair and simple conversations can turn heated at a moment’s notice, sometimes for the littlest things. Issues surrounding inheritance, trustee or executor responsibilities, who gets what of the salvageable or valuable items under all the rubble, and blame for who didn’t do what in caring for the deceased or relocated hoarder can create the perfect storm, damaging relationships in the process.
 
Adding to the stress is deciding what, if any, help will be required in clearing the hoarded home; also critical will be deciding what to do with the home after the clear-out: Sell it? Have a family member move in? Rent it? Even if you decide to demolish the home if it’s in irreparable condition, you’ll need to go through the hoard to determine if there are some possessions that you need to keep. It can all seem to be too much!

Throughout this process, many family members neglect their own health and well-being in order to just get through it. This can only make an already bad situation worse! Stress can not only destroy your peace of mind but can affect you physically as well. So some common sense is in order to keep you sane and healthy and able to get through clearing the hoarded home in one piece.

• At the top of the list are eating right, getting enough sleep, and keeping the well-earned drinks at the end of the day to a minimum.
• Set boundaries with family or team members who become verbally abusive or refuse to cooperate. If it’s possible to select one person as the “lead” on the clean-out, support them when they enforce rules of common courtesy. 
• Plan ahead with team members to decide what to do with retrievable items, such as furniture, clothing, or appliances.
• Make lists of heirlooms or other valuables each of you thinks will be found when the trash is cleared away. Try to decide who will get what in a fair manner. 

If you use a hoarding remediation service like Clutter&Hoarding Pros™, let them take the lead on schedules, resources, etc. An experienced team can often clear a hoarded home in days, not weeks.

If you decide to do the clearing yourselves, set a pace and schedule that seems reasonable to you: hours per day you’re capable of working; arranging for resources such as trash hauling, donation centers, locating e-waste disposal sites and hazardous material experts, deep cleaners, etc. Realize that the process is likely to take weeks, so set daily goals and be sure to take breaks.

Just remember, you can’t take care of anyone else unless you take care of yourself, and know that there are companies out there, such as Clutter&Hoarding Pros, to step in and rescue you if you feel you’re in over your head. The goal is not only to clear the hoard, but also for you to survive!

Sometimes the messy home you’re faced with is not from a deceased hoarder, but from a tenant who has left you with a horrid mess to clean up. The tenants may have been hoarders or just appallingly messy, unclean, and uncaring about the state of the home, condo, or apartment they have left.

At Clutter&Hoarding Pros™, not only do we specialize in providing help for hoarders’ families by clearing hoarded estates—removing true trash, recovering valuables and family treasures, etc.—we also take great care in cleaning a home trashed by tenants so it’s suitable for renting again.

Since Clutter&Hoarding Pros™ deals almost exclusively (80% of our jobs) with Level IV and V hoarding situations, we have seen almost everything imaginable when being called for a hoarded estate clear-out. We have seen plenty of dead animals under the filth and clutter of some of our jobs. 

Families call us for help with hoarded estate cleanup when a relative dies or is being moved to assisted living, and they discover the alarming and sometimes unbelievable conditions their relative has been living in. 

As dismayed as the relatives may be at the conditions they see, the desperation and confusion at how to fix the situation is equally high. There is often extreme embarrassment at letting anyone see what the home looks like, and a feeling of helplessness at how to proceed and who to call for help.

At Clutter&Hoarding Pros™ we know

• how to assess the home,
• how to clear the home, and
• who to call for special circumstances such as bio-hazardous material disposal.

Clearing of the hoarded Level IV or V estate is accomplished in days, not weeks, and you, the client, need to do no more than make decisions on what objects of value need to be kept, such as money, jewelry, photo albums, stocks certificates, titles to vehicles, war memorabilia, medals, etc.—all of which we have found during our projects.

We have helped hundreds of families deal with the clear-out of the hoarded estates of their deceased or relocated loved ones, and we have had only 5-star reviews, both personal testimonials and on Yelp.
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[Please note: the pictures in this blog are of one of our recent jobs.]

The Institute for Challenging Disorganization (formerly the National Study Group of Chronic Disorganization) is the accepted authority on the definition of the five levels of hoarding. Here is how they describe a hoarded home at Levels IV and V:

Level IV. Structural damage older than six months, mold and mildew, inappropriate use of appliances, damage to two or more sections of wall board, faulty weather protection, hazardous electrical wiring and odor or evidence of sewer backup. Pets exceed local limits by four animals, more than three instances of aged animal waste, pet dander on all furniture, pet damage in home, excessive webs and spiders, [possibly] bats and raccoons in attic and flea infestation. Bedroom is unusable, hazardous materials are stored in the home, and flammable, packed materials are in the living area or attached garage. Rotting food on counters, one to 15 cans of aged canned goods with buckled surfaces, no clean dishes or utensils in kitchen. No bed covers, lice on bedding.

Level V. Obvious structural damage, broken walls, disconnected electrical service, no water service, no working sewer or septic system. Standing water indoors, fire hazards and hazardous materials exceed local ordinances. Pets are dangerous to occupant and guests. Rodents in sight, mosquito or other insect infestation and regional critters, such as squirrels, inside the home. Kitchen and bathroom unusable due to clutter. Occupant is living or sleeping outside the home. Human feces, rotting food and more than 15 aged canned goods with buckled surfaces inside the home.

What Is Red Tagging?

"Red Tagging” means that code enforcement has posted a notice that your property is considered dangerous or unfit for human habitation. In California, it doesn’t necessarily mean your home must be condemned, but it does mean it has to be remediated in order to be lived in.

​After acknowledging that your relative is or was a hoarder, the first step in clearing the hoarded estate is to contact a hoarding remediation company to clear the clutter and, if possible, restore the home to a livable or salable condition.

The second step, which is every bit as crucial, is arranging for an in-home assessment. If a company you contact doesn’t insist on seeing the hoarded property before giving you a firm estimate of time and cost, run—don’t walk—to the next company on your list.

Phone quotes are almost always inaccurate and cannot be honestly guaranteed. Clutter & Hoarding Pros™ will never give a firm estimate over the phone.

A phone conversation, even with photos you’ve texted beforehand, simply cannot provide all the necessary information for making a realistic estimate that will be adhered to when the work is done.

We need to see things such as:

• Access to doorways, exits, and entrances. 
• Size of doorways if bulky items or appliances are to be removed. 
• Stairs, angles, ceiling height (pitch), etc. 
• The three-dimensional aspect of the contents—how deep, how high, etc.
• The true extent of the hoard—is there hazardous material, rodent or insect infestation, food or other waste material, etc.
• What size containers will we need?
• How many team members will it take, and how many days will we need?
• Plus many other unknowns, which we can only determine while onsite.

Are we a fit with the client/family members and would you want to work with us?

If at all possible, we want to meet the client and/or family members in person to make sure that we both feel we want to work together. Not every client likes or trusts every hoarding remediation team; sometimes it’s just a matter of chemistry or personality. We want to get a feel for you, the client, and let you get a feel for us before we undertake such an emotional and demanding project. We are committed to setting realistic and achievable expectations from the beginning, and it’s difficult to do this without meeting face to face. If this is simply not possible, we make every effort to get to know you over the phone.  

The goal of the home assessment: To give you, the client or responsible party, an accurate quote, with no added surprises, and to establish positive and achievable expectations for the remediation of the hoarded estate. We approach every job with enthusiasm, confident of a good outcome, and we want you to feel the same.

What if, after the estate is cleared, you could arrange to have
the home completely repaired and remodeled, ready for sale,
at NO UPFRONT COST TO YOU?

Clutter & Hoarding Pros™ doesn’t stop with clearing the home for you. We work with a company that will come in and redo your home from top to bottom, inside and out--and pay all the up-front costs of the remodel. They don’t collect the remodeling costs until the house is sold, and they handle the sale for you from start to finish. Because the houses they remodel sell for so much more than the unremodeled home would, even accounting for the remodeling costs you still stand to gain in the neighborhood of $50,000 to $100,000—or more—when the house sells.

If this sounds unbelievable, please click here to see examples of these remodels of some of our previous clients’ homes, and how much the families gained through this process. 

But just for instance, here is a before and after photo of one of these houses, on which the owners gained $97,285 over the price they were quoted by a realtor who saw the home before remodel. ​

So, you've taken on the task of clearing out the hoarded home of a parent, relative, or other loved one. As with most of our clients, if there is any way to make the hoarded home habitable and fit for sale, this would be the ideal situation to recoup the costs incurred by the estate cleanout services—clearing the premises, deep cleaning, junk removal, transport for donation, estate sale, etc.—all the services involved in a hoarded estate clear-out. Clutter & Hoarding Pros™ wants to help you afford and even gain from the clear-out of your hoarded estate. Here’s how.

As you might imagine, a hoarded home is usually in very sad shape after the clutter is gone:

• Structural damage to floors, walls, and ceilings
• Water damage from clogged, leaking, or burst pipes
• Counters and cabinets in disrepair
• Electrical systems and plumbing in unusable or dangerous condition
• Insect or rodent damage
• Mold and other hazardous conditions
• Etc., etc.

What if, after the estate is cleared, you could arrange to have
the home completely repaired and remodeled, ready for sale,
at NO UPFRONT COST TO YOU?

Clutter & Hoarding Pros™ doesn’t stop with clearing the home for you. We work with a company that will come in and redo your home from top to bottom, inside and out--and pay all the up-front costs of the remodel. They don’t collect the remodeling costs until the house is sold, and they handle the sale for you from start to finish. Because the houses they remodel sell for so much more than the unremodeled home would, even accounting for the remodeling costs you still stand to gain in the neighborhood of $50,000 to $100,000—or more—when the house sells.

If this sounds unbelievable, please click here to see examples of these remodels of some of our previous clients’ homes, and how much the families gained through this process. 

But just for instance, here is a before and after photo of one of these houses, on which the owners gained $97,285 over the price they were quoted by a realtor who saw the home before remodel. 

Don’t despair that you will never be able to recoup the money you’ve put into a hoarded estate clear-out, or that you might never be able to sell the home in its dilapidated state. Clutter & Hoarding Pros™ will help you through the process from start to finish, right up to the successful sale of a lovely, repaired, and remodeled home for more than you thought would be possible.

In addition to claims concerning the general state of the home, for claims regarding possessions, hoarding has serious implications: “Some carriers have limited coverage such as no replacement value or actual cash value on articles that are outdated or obsolete and stored and not being used,” says Toby Bell, an independent adjuster and the principal of Professional Claims Service, Inc. Articles not maintained in good or working condition may also be excluded from replacement.

In most cases, your insurance company may not find out that the estate has been hoarded until a claim is filed and they come to inspect. If they walk into a hoarded home, they might (or might not) pay the claim but then drop the coverage if the situation is extremely bad. 

What to Do

Address the problem before the claim is made. In whatever way possible, remediate the hoarded home before making an insurance claim. "Rather than wait for the insurance company to act or for a major problem to arise that destroys your home, take matters into your own hands. Contact a professional to deal with your problem of hoarding or cluttering,” says Lita Epstein in Daily Finance. 

By hiring a company such as Clutter & Hoarding Pros to clear and clean the hoarded home, it is much more likely that the insurer will honor your claim, and you have a much greater chance of avoiding cancellation of the policy. ​

So you’ve arranged for a trustworthy company to help clear a hoarded estate, and maybe you can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. There could be some nasty surprises in store for you as you see what the hoarding has done to the floors, the walls, the cabinets, the bathtub and toilet. You’re going to need some deep, deep cleaning to get the house ready for inhabitation, whether by resale or by family. 
 
At Clutter & Hoarding Pros, we’ve dealt with the filthy aftermath of years of piled junk, food, animal (and even human) waste, all the awful stuff that lies under the piles. We are blessed with terrific cleaning resources that will make the space as spotless as possible.

​Deep cleaning a hoarded home is not easy. But step by step each room ends up looking like people could live there. This is almost always the final goal of any family who wants to sell or occupy their deceased or relocated relative’s formerly hoarded home.

​It’s often very hard to realize the filth that your relative was living in. We understand cleaning the home may be something you don’t want to take on, and which a reputable hoarding clear-out service provides. It might even be the harder job when it really hits home how your loved one was living. 

​When the job is done, you can walk into a home that not only has been cleared of years or decades of clutter and trash, it also has been cleaned to the point that you can walk around without disbelief but with relief and pleasure.

Don’t despair when it comes to getting a formerly hoarded home cleaned at the deepest level. This final step, cleaning the hoarded home, will be the turning point in getting it ready for sale or habitation by family. We at Clutter & Hoarding Pros can assist with the final step or the remediation task by offering excellent deep cleaning referral services.

We’re often asked just what types of hoarding situations we handle. Many times a caller will think that he or she is asking something of us that we don’t do, so here are the types of situations we routinely work on with our clients:
 
Estate Home Cleanout

• Deceased Estate Cleanout. A loved one—relative, friend, client—who is a hoarder has died, and the house needs a thorough clearout before it can be occupied or sold. We are usually contacted by family members who need to manage the cleanout but are overwhelmed with the enormity of the task. This is doubly difficult if the family members live far away.
• Downsizing/Relocation Cleanout. The homeowner is relocating to a smaller home or is going into assisted living, hospital, or other type of alternate living situation. In this case, we help the client (and usually their family or fiduciary) choose what to take to the new home, clearing out everything else for donation or removal.