City sues Perry South homeowner (Pittsburgh, York: for sale, 2014, house)

[I_Like_Spam]

Only took them 10 years, and 4 mayors to take action.


City Sues Perry South Homeowner Because Of Piles Of Garbage On Property « CBS Pittsburgh

[Tallysmom]

Poor people.... and poor owner. Hoarding is a disease. Normal people don't do this. And the fact of the matter is if they go in and forcibly clean it up, and do nothing to treat the guy, it won't stay clean for long.

I know from experience.

[Moby Hick]

It's apparently a bit more disgusting than usual in this version of the story.

City sues Pittsburgh homeowner over house of filth | Local News - WTAE Home

[jay5835]

Here's the street view: https://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-...ed=0CCAQxB0wAA

[Hopes]

He'll end up homeless. It's a shame there isn't a better way to get these people the help they need. I can relate from a neighborhood perspective. I had a neighbor like this until he accidently burned the house down. It was bittersweet. We were sad he lost his home and ended up homeless, but we were happy the mess was gone. There was another elderly lady who lived on Middle Road. I gave her ride home once. Even though the outside of her home was normal, I could tell via the house windows she was a hoarder. A year later I noticed a condemned sign on her house. I've also seen quite a few car hoarders. It's really heartbreaking. There has to be medication to treat this. I'd rather see court orders to seek treatment and stay in treatment instead of just letters being sent since 2009 until neighbors are so fed up they have to take a stand and force the city to do more than send letters.

[theta_sigma]

The house next door to mine was lived in for many years by elderly hoarders (and their daughter who seemed to have similar tendencies, which is no surprise since the disease runs in families). It didn't look like this house from the outside, but it was and remains dilapidated and a major eyesore. When they lived there, the neighborhood pretty much gave them a pass because it's not like yelling about it was going to accomplish anything beyond distressing them. They clearly couldn't help it, and were on a fixed income so couldn't even afford to do necessary structural stuff to the outside. The rest of their kids finally intervened and got them into assisted living and the house was sold at Sheriff's auction for back taxes.

(The new owner has had it for 3 years and has done nothing with it--he likely got it sight-unseen thinking he'd easily flip it--so it sits, probably full of horrific garbage and vermin, and this dude who owns it now has no excuse. If anyone wants a complete gut-job/possible tear-down in Stanton Heights, it's for sale for an utterly absurd amount of money, which is why it hasn't sold yet, and never will.)

[Faerunner]

Originally Posted by Hopes

He'll end up homeless.

He spent the 30 years before someone gifted him that house homeless.

Only took them 10 years, and 4 mayors to take action.

They'd been citing him repeatedly, but when someone has $0 to their name, $0 income, and nothing but the four walls around them, there isn't a whole lot you can do to financially motivate them.

And I can't speak for everyone, but I'd rather we NOT move in the direction of making it easier for the government to force people out of homes they own, even if it means stories like this.

(I live down the street from him so this isn't just 'a story in the paper' for me)

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Faerunner

They'd been citing him repeatedly, but when someone has $0 to their name, $0 income, and nothing but the four walls around them, there isn't a whole lot you can do to financially motivate them.

And I can't speak for everyone, but I'd rather we NOT move in the direction of making it easier for the government to force people out of homes they own, even if it means stories like this.

(I live down the street from him so this isn't just 'a story in the paper' for me)

Is kicking him out what the majority of the people in the neighborhood want? Or is it just a few people?

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by Faerunner

He spent the 30 years before someone gifted him that house homeless.



They'd been citing him repeatedly, but when someone has $0 to their name, $0 income, and nothing but the four walls around them, there isn't a whole lot you can do to financially motivate them.

And I can't speak for everyone, but I'd rather we NOT move in the direction of making it easier for the government to force people out of homes they own, even if it means stories like this.

(I live down the street from him so this isn't just 'a story in the paper' for me)

This has nothing to do with finances. One of the most famous cases is the two millionaire brothers in New York, one of whom was killed when the huge piles of newspaper toppled over him.

He's mentally ill. He has to have garbage service, isn't that a normal service in cities?... but he can't throw anything away, because he might need it, or it's wasteful to throw perfectly good garbage out, or he has plans for those things. There's always a reason, and it's never ever good.

You might live down the street from it, but I have some relatives that have it, and my husband is Stage 1, and as long as he keeps selling the stuff he brings in we won't have a problem. And he is, and has done for years.

In some ways I feel like the woman who goes to the psychiatrist and complains her husband thinks he's a chicken. The doctor asked her how long this had been going on, and she answered for 12 years. The doctor is aghast and asked why she didn't come sooner and she replied, well we needed the eggs.

[Faerunner]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Is kicking him out what the majority of the people in the neighborhood want? Or is it just a few people?

Nobody would care if he stayed until his dying breath if the lot were cleaned up and his house fixed up.

Originally Posted by Tallysmom

This has nothing to do with finances. One of the most famous cases is the two millionaire brothers in New York, one of whom was killed when the huge piles of newspaper toppled over him.

He's mentally ill. He has to have garbage service, isn't that a normal service in cities?... but he can't throw anything away, because he might need it, or it's wasteful to throw perfectly good garbage out, or he has plans for those things. There's always a reason, and it's never ever good.

You might live down the street from it, but I have some relatives that have it, and my husband is Stage 1, and as long as he keeps selling the stuff he brings in we won't have a problem. And he is, and has done for years.

In some ways I feel like the woman who goes to the psychiatrist and complains her husband thinks he's a chicken. The doctor asked her how long this had been going on, and she answered for 12 years. The doctor is aghast and asked why she didn't come sooner and she replied, well we needed the eggs.

I don't even know what you're responding to since none of that is relevant to what I said or what I was responding to.