I gotta stop buying stuff at Harbor Freight. It's a progressive disease I heard.

Talk to people who deliver meals on wheels, firefighters, police, paramedics, visiting nurses or landlords. Their are many apartments in Janesville that look like the ladys, who plans to sell her stuff on ebay. As Pablo said, they have legally leased it, they can do as they please if it does not endanger themselves or neighbors.

I look at it as freedom, a socialist looks at as you have to much, and one should never have to much of what they want. Spread the wealth.

polert, that is OFF TOPIC for this discussion, which is about a mental illness. Please leave the politics in the politics threads where it is welcomed.
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One thing people need to keep in mind is that hoarding has nothing to do with socioeconomic status. Some of the most famous hoarders in history have been quite wealthy, such as the Collyer Brothers in New York City. They filled their brownstone with over 100 tons of trash stacked to the ceiling.
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I don't think hoarding is something that screening will necessarily prevent, in other words. It's something that can arise during a long-term tenancy with someone who pays every month in full and on time and never complains about the property -- the landlord's dream!
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One example has been passed around on the net -- a young man took photos of his mother's once perfect suburban house that she had filled to the brim with merchandise from eBay that she believed she was going to resell one day. If you haven't seen this yet, prepare yourself. It's not messy at all, but it's just amazing how someone can adapt themselves to having this much stuff.
http://www.randomthink.net/misc/ebay/

Soon you will not be able to hoard your 401K or IRA either it will need to be funneled with the Social Security program to form the plan forming by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to implement the new Federal retirement program.If you say where did you hear that? It came right from Spreaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Will it pass? As a history buff it shows when you stream line congress, senate, and president in a nice flow like this it will happen.

No one has any regard for the tenants right to keep what they want in property they legally lease? If the tenant is only endangering themselves not neighbors it is an individual right. The landlord takes that risk when he signs a lease. If I decide to keep the newspaper stacked in the front room for a decade at a time what do you people really care?

polert,
Your statement is ridiculous hyperbole and based on a lie. Care to provide some links to support your claim?

Do you realize that there is a similar plan out in the mainstream that will soon limit the amount of wealth you can hoard. So people that disagree with being forced to follow these minor hoarding (collecting) practices you do understand you have seen nothing yet.

I know someone who rents and "hoards" garbage in their garage. Is the strain of carrying it from the house to the garage so bad that they can't be bothered to then carry it to the curb once a week???? Landlords should not only check the inside of the property, they should check the garages too!

im a landlord and i was at this "training". if you would have seen the pics that we saw you would have been disgusted. garbage piled so high that it would block entrances. i check my properties exterior once a week. i drive by and check in the yard, pick up any debris in the yard, etc. but you cant go into every unit once a month. that would be impossible in some cases. during the winter i change the furnace filters myself so that gives me a good reason to get in and view the places, but during the summer its more difficult. as far as screening, i do a credit report background check and call everyone listed on the application including the past 2 landlords. the last landlord is not necessarily going to say the tenant is "god". i know alot of the landlords in town and im not going to lie to one of them just to get rid of someone, but the landlord before the last has nothing to lose and will pretty much be straight up with you.

onelife2live....If you ever become a landlord ..let me give you a hint. NEVER rely on the "last landlord". You always go beyond that. If there were a category called last landlords you wouldn't be able to believe a thing they said. They will tell you the tenant was god just to get rid of them .

Hoarding. Well, a poor choice of words inasmuch as hoarding is generally defined as stockpiling goods thought to be coming into a shortage. No danger of garbage coming into short supply.

To a point. I think some "helpful interventionists" take this to an extreme. One person's clutter can be another person's workspace.

I agree garbage would be a problem. I could see where a pet could be a problem. Paper becomes harder to determine, as experts often recommend saving many important papers ten years (or longer).

If I were a landlord I would checj on my properties/investments regularly, and I agree screen my applicants and check refernces, especially the last places they lived at.

I truely believe better screening of rental applicants could solve that issue. I know a landlord can't discriminate against anyone who tries to rent a unit but for the tenant and landlords sake, Better screening could prevent this from happening and becoming a major issue.

Hoarding Garbage is not good? OK, but my animal hoarding problem is my business. Just kidding. Yes responsible landlords should check on their properties monthly imo.