When my long-time friend and local turnkey rental guy Chris Wark finally had to evict a school teacher he’d been renting to for seven years, he had no idea the disturbing mess he’d uncover after she moved out. And trust me, that’s an understatement.
After removing 3 trailers full of garbage, it took a hazmat trained team two more days to decontaminate, plus $10,000 to renovate.
So when Chris went for a walk-through, he posted the video below on YouTube and it went viral with over 200K views so far. He’s since been interviewed about it by local news, various news websites and even Inside Edition did a story on him, dubbing Chris’ house “The Dirtiest House in America.” Ha, wow!
Imagine spending your life wading through mounds of garbage, drowning in a sea of trash everywhere you turn. It is hard to believe that someone could live like that on a street where neighbors had no idea what was going on in the house next door.
Before you behold the unbelievable…
Here’s the Quick Back-Story From Chris
This tenant rented from me for 7 years. She was not a hoarder when she moved in. The first five years everything was fine. She was a “cat lady” and the house smelled like a litter box, but still no hoarder.
But apparently sometime in the last 2 years she lost it.
Every time we arranged to make an inspection this lady would cancel at the last minute with a different excuse, “I’m sick”, “I didn’t have time to clean up”, “It’s not a good time can we reschedule?” etc. Since she paid rent on time every month and never submitted any maintenance requests, inspecting her house was not an urgent priority. Now we know why she was putting us off!
Note to all landlords/managers, if a tenant keeps putting off inspection, something may be very very wrong. Get in there quick!
Why am I so calm in the video?
- I’ve seen a lot of disgusting things in my 10 years as a property manager.
- As a cancer survivor I have a different perspective on life than most. I can find the silver lining and humor in almost any situation.
One final note:
My commentary may come across as a bit mean or unsympathetic, but that is just my way of turning something horrifying into something funny. Remember I’m the one who has to deal with this unbelievable situation and it cost me over TEN THOUSAND dollars to renovate. The least I can do is get some laughs out of it.
And no, I don’t feel bad about making fun of this woman anonymously. She practically destroyed my house, then walked away. I have every right to broadcast her identity to the world and ruin her reputation. She remains anonymous because I do truly feel sorry for her and choose not to reveal her identity. The Judge Joe Brown show even asked me to sue her on their show! I have not sued her for damages. After seeing this video, her family actually contacted me, apologized, and thanked me for not revealing her identity.
Fair Warning
If you have a weak stomach, you may not want to watch this video. This is a super nasty, gag-reflex inducing video. So if you throw up on your keyboard, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Another Funny Bit
One of the many interviews Chris did about this experience with with an web show called “Right This Minute”. Watching it made me giggle-snort, and it’s pretty short, so I thought you might enjoy it also…
Thoughts?
I know, right??? Crazy! I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. What would you do in Chris’ shoes? Anyone else out there got a hoarder story to share? Please…do tell!
You have to feel sorry for someone who can exist in a trash can. It’s obvious that this womens mental state is very poor. No one would choose to live this way on purpose. The situation should not be overly exhibited or made fun of because who’s to say it couldn’t happen to you or someone close to you? I do however understand the importance of learning from it.
That is the worst I have ever seen.
That was pretty crazy! Wonder if it smelled anything like the house I bought from a lady that rescued stray dogs and put them inside a house she had. They ran that house. They lived by themselves and got to use the whole house as a toilet. Wood floors were completely soaked through with urine. Talk about awful. She would show up every day to feed them (which I assume consisted of ripping a giant bag of dog food open and just tossing it into the living room. When you think about it, it was more like a prison for pets.
Wow, Danny! Un-freaking-believable!
You’re friend should really be relieved that he was able to get rid of that tenant. This situation just proves that being a landlord isn’t that easy.
Your friend must really be relieved to get rid of such a tenant. Indeed, it’s not that easy being a landlord.
All what I can say about him that he has done really Crazyest thing.
I was just thinking that quarterly inspections might be excessive….nope!