Hoarders - General Discussion

funky-rat · April 11, 2019

16 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I think the 911 calls were between the homeowners, and another designer, not Sandra. I remember that they originally were going to have designers each do a room, and that was for the house tours to raise money for the preservation society.

My guess is that the homeowners have not heard the last of Sandra, and aren't going to be happy when she interferes again.

You can get around the paywall by googling the title of the article, then clicking on the down arrow next to the hyperlink, and choosing "CACHED". You may not be able to get the full functionality of the article, but you can read it.

Yes, the dispute is between the current owners, and a designer they brought in to do some work. She freely admits she didn't read the contract (bad start) and that she assumed that she was just doing some temporary thing (who does that?) and had sold the stuff in their house to another client. Apparently the terms of the contract stated that the items would belong to the homeowners (which makes more sense). The designer claims that the two owners locked her in the house and refused to let her out, and she called 911. The homeowners also called 911, and they said she was refusing to leave, which makes more sense to me. Attorneys said she was the only designer they had issue with, and she apparently was the only one who didn't read the contract before signing it. She had apparently provided some sample contracts to the homeowners (she says she did a lot of work for them in preparing them to work with other designers) and she assumed they were giving her one of the contracts she provided to them.

She eventually filed a lein against the homeowners and the preservation society that asked if she wanted to participate, but that was eventually dropped (likely because she freely admits to not reading the contract). Another designer had a minor complaint - she worked on that honking big stairwell area, and complained that she was charged $3600 from a painting company and that was "10 times" what she was expecting. I don't know how she expected that big area to only come to $360. Even with no repair work needed (and apparently there was quite a bit), that's not nearly enough. She also complained a leftover roll of wallpaper wasn't returned to her, costing her $300, but again, I would think there would be a reasonable expectation to keep a roll of wallpaper in case repairs were needed at some point. It sounds more to me that there were issues with the preservation society not explaining things thoroughly, and some people who should have read contracts better.

Edited April 11, 2019 by funky-rat

Mothra · April 11, 2019

I have a secret plan to entice my husband, who comes from a long line of hoarders and has hoarding instincts (tools in the basement), to watch hoarders shows in the hope that he'll see something of himself in them and be moved to action before he gets as bad as the televised hoarders are. It was easy to trick him into watching this one by telling him about the glorious old house that was being hoarded and then restored.

On rewatching with him, however, I was the one whose mind was changed. My husband kept saying, "why are they allowing her to stay there and disrupt the cleanout?" and I was forced to admit that they allowed her to stay so they would have a show, that the deal between the show and the owners of the house was sleazy and disrespectful of this crazy woman.

Michael and Eric, in order to get that enormous hoard removed from their house (I read somewhere that the estimate to pay someone to clean it out was over $100,000), allowed the process to be shown as a TV show, but if the process went smoothly (i.e., if Sandra had been banned from the site), there would have been no show. So to save money, these two young men permitted--hell, promoted--the display of an old woman's pain and illness over the course of two hours of television entertainment. A&E used a helpless sick person's disease in cooperation with two healthy, seemingly happy and well-off, young people to further the financial well-being of the two younger, healthier people.

And as a poster upthread remarked, it's not likely that this magnificent house is going to be some cozy family home for two parents and two children. What will they do with 31 rooms? It's clear to me that this is going to be some kind of commercial endeavor, whether it's for renting accommodations for the big annual furniture show or for a year-round hotel. The way the rooms we saw were furnished does not seem child-friendly; it seems formal grand-hotelish.

So, regretfully, I withdraw my endorsement of the compassion of the two new owners. They are, I am certain, motivated by the almighty dollar, and their "kindness" and "generosity" to Sandra were only sops to get her to cooperate. The fact that the poor crazy woman was willing to allow herself to be used to further their financial goals is shameful, and by god I hope she does continue her lawsuit and the court rules that she does indeed still own that house. This whole episode is disgusting and immoral. I do not believe Sandra was competent to sign any agreement with A&E to allow herself to be filmed, and I hope she sues them, too, and wins.

Furthermore, I am very disappointed that Tonya Harding would have anything to do with this exploitative, cruel abuse of a mentally ill person. I hope she receives some kind of professional reprimand or other sanction for her participation in what imo amounts to torture of a sick human being.

funky-rat · April 11, 2019

24 minutes ago, Mothra said:

I have a secret plan to entice my husband, who comes from a long line of hoarders and has hoarding instincts (tools in the basement), to watch hoarders shows in the hope that he'll see something of himself in them and be moved to action before he gets as bad as the televised hoarders are. It was easy to trick him into watching this one by telling him about the glorious old house that was being hoarded and then restored.

On rewatching with him, however, I was the one whose mind was changed. My husband kept saying, "why are they allowing her to stay there and disrupt the cleanout?" and I was forced to admit that they allowed her to stay so they would have a show, that the deal between the show and the owners of the house was sleazy and disrespectful of this crazy woman.

Michael and Eric, in order to get that enormous hoard removed from their house (I read somewhere that the estimate to pay someone to clean it out was over $100,000), allowed the process to be shown as a TV show, but if the process went smoothly (i.e., if Sandra had been banned from the site), there would have been no show. So to save money, these two young men permitted--hell, promoted--the display of an old woman's pain and illness over the course of two hours of television entertainment. A&E used a helpless sick person's disease in cooperation with two healthy, seemingly happy and well-off, young people to further the financial well-being of the two younger, healthier people.

And as a poster upthread remarked, it's not likely that this magnificent house is going to be some cozy family home for two parents and two children. What will they do with 31 rooms? It's clear to me that this is going to be some kind of commercial endeavor, whether it's for renting accommodations for the big annual furniture show or for a year-round hotel. The way the rooms we saw were furnished does not seem child-friendly; it seems formal grand-hotelish.

So, regretfully, I withdraw my endorsement of the compassion of the two new owners. They are, I am certain, motivated by the almighty dollar, and their "kindness" and "generosity" to Sandra were only sops to get her to cooperate. The fact that the poor crazy woman was willing to allow herself to be used to further their financial goals is shameful, and by god I hope she does continue her lawsuit and the court rules that she does indeed still own that house. This whole episode is disgusting and immoral. I do not believe Sandra was competent to sign any agreement with A&E to allow herself to be filmed, and I hope she sues them, too, and wins.

Furthermore, I am very disappointed that Tonya Harding would have anything to do with this exploitative, cruel abuse of a mentally ill person. I hope she receives some kind of professional reprimand or other sanction for her participation in what imo amounts to torture of a sick human being.

I waffled back and forth on these points. In the end, I think everyone was just using everyone else to their own end, so it's hard to assign blame to me.

I know Sandra is mentally ill, but she had an incredibly long amount of time to do something - anything - but she didn't. She had the presence of mind to act as her own attorney in her legal proceedings (Google her name and you'll find stuff out about her). She had the presence of mind to file for bankruptcy (more than once). She had the presence of mind to come up with all kinds of convoluted schemes to get the house back and not have to pay for it. She purposefully deceived Matt and the crew with her warehouse crap. She was very abusive toward her crew that were just trying to help. And for just those points alone, I had a difficult time feeling much sympathy for her. Your run-of-the-mill hoarding show participant isn't that scheming - at least not to that degree.

The new owners probably do have some commerce scheme going, and I honestly can't blame them, as you can make decent bank nowadays doing Airbnb and similar stuff. They bought the house, and yes, they bought it lock stock and barrel, but I do think they were more than patient in waiting for Sandra to leave - it was something like 3 years for her to get out, and she still wouldn't have left if they hadn't done the legal eviction process. In fact, she was actively trying to get her property back in several different court processes while they were allowing her to stay there. She didn't succeed, but the amount of legal bills that piled up for the new owner were astronomical, while she petitioned the court the entire time to consider her destitute to avoid court costs (again, Google). Maybe their sympathy toward her was fake, but I don't know anyone in this day and age of "Make this go viral!!!" (when we're only being given part of the story) who wants to be labeled as an abuser of a poor old Southern Belle who just wants to live out her days in her house. And while there have been strides made, being gay in the south presents it's own challenges (I have a number of gay friends who have left Georgia and the Carolinas to move to friendlier areas). People have had violence against them for less when they were skewered on social media. They may be in an area friendly to them, but people in other areas could see the story, and feel they need to teach someone a lesson.

Matt said that there was one episode (he didn't specify) that pushed him over the edge to leaving the show, and I often believed it was this one. I don't blame him - he did what he could, and Sandra blocked him at every angle. As for Dr. Tonya Hoarding, I truly think she believed she could help, but was totally unprepared for this. Just bad all the way around.

terrymct · April 11, 2019

38 minutes ago, funky-rat said:

I know Sandra is mentally ill, but she had an incredibly long amount of time to do something - anything - but she didn't. She had the presence of mind to act as her own attorney in her legal proceedings (Google her name and you'll find stuff out about her). She had the presence of mind to file for bankruptcy (more than once). She had the presence of mind to come up with all kinds of convoluted schemes to get the house back and not have to pay for it. She purposefully deceived Matt and the crew with her warehouse crap. She was very abusive toward her crew that were just trying to help. And for just those points alone, I had a difficult time feeling much sympathy for her. Your run-of-the-mill hoarding show participant isn't that scheming - at least not to that degree.

That's a problem I had with Sandra, too. Most hoarders on some level you can feel some sympathy for them. Something horrible happened in their life that makes them want to hang on to something or anything or everything. You see a little glimpse of humanity in them when they drop their guard occasionally.

Sandra, however, I know she's mentally ill. I know that something happened that led to her divorce. Life hit her as it does most of these people. But I never felt for her. Felt for literally everyone else on the damn show, but not her. I can only say that about a few people who have been on this series or the other US hoarding show. Another one that stands out is the woman out in the country (rural Arkansas?) who hoarded the animals. I know that a couple of you will remember that woman. She was just evil down to the core. Not a single redeeming thing about her. Sandra was like a upscale version of that woman for me, although thankfully she wasn't torturing other living things like the animal hoarder was.

Mothra · April 11, 2019

50 minutes ago, funky-rat said:

I waffled back and forth on these points. In the end, I think everyone was just using everyone else to their own end, so it's hard to assign blame to me.

I know Sandra is mentally ill, but she had an incredibly long amount of time to do something - anything - but she didn't. She had the presence of mind to act as her own attorney in her legal proceedings (Google her name and you'll find stuff out about her). She had the presence of mind to file for bankruptcy (more than once). She had the presence of mind to come up with all kinds of convoluted schemes to get the house back and not have to pay for it. She purposefully deceived Matt and the crew with her warehouse crap. She was very abusive toward her crew that were just trying to help. And for just those points alone, I had a difficult time feeling much sympathy for her. Your run-of-the-mill hoarding show participant isn't that scheming - at least not to that degree.

The new owners probably do have some commerce scheme going, and I honestly can't blame them, as you can make decent bank nowadays doing Airbnb and similar stuff. They bought the house, and yes, they bought it lock stock and barrel, but I do think they were more than patient in waiting for Sandra to leave - it was something like 3 years for her to get out, and she still wouldn't have left if they hadn't done the legal eviction process. In fact, she was actively trying to get her property back in several different court processes while they were allowing her to stay there. She didn't succeed, but the amount of legal bills that piled up for the new owner were astronomical, while she petitioned the court the entire time to consider her destitute to avoid court costs (again, Google). Maybe their sympathy toward her was fake, but I don't know anyone in this day and age of "Make this go viral!!!" (when we're only being given part of the story) who wants to be labeled as an abuser of a poor old Southern Belle who just wants to live out her days in her house. And while there have been strides made, being gay in the south presents it's own challenges (I have a number of gay friends who have left Georgia and the Carolinas to move to friendlier areas). People have had violence against them for less when they were skewered on social media. They may be in an area friendly to them, but people in other areas could see the story, and feel they need to teach someone a lesson.

Matt said that there was one episode (he didn't specify) that pushed him over the edge to leaving the show, and I often believed it was this one. I don't blame him - he did what he could, and Sandra blocked him at every angle. As for Dr. Tonya Hoarding, I truly think she believed she could help, but was totally unprepared for this. Just bad all the way around.

I do not disagree with anything you say, but what for me is the determining factor in my condemnation of everyone involved (except for Sandra, who is incompetent) is the fact that all of this craziness was *at this point* put on display for entertainment. I think it's horrible that Sandra dragged this out for so long, that she apparently had opportunities to sell the property earlier and refused to do it, that she is inflicting all of this unnecessary legal expense on the owners--all of it. She was wrong to do all these things, and I don't believe her mental illness is to blame--I think she didn't want to lose her house--and she didn't want to/couldn't pay her debts. I'm willing to grant that at some earlier point, when she could have remedied any of these circumstances, she wasn't as BSC as she now seems to be. I agree with Matt, that the sight of all "her" possessions being physically taken or destroyed, that the reality of the situation she herself placed herself in, pushed her right over the edge. If we are assigning fault, she and only she is certainly guilty of getting herself into this mess.

But: I don't care how much it would have cost Michael and Eric to have the hoard cleared out, that's what they should have done. The fact that they would expose this poor woman--and I know plenty of Southern belles, and Sandra isn't one; she's of that breed of shrewd Southern businesswomen, often in real estate sales, who knows when to pour on the helpless charm and when to stab you in the back--*for entertainment* so they could save (a considerable amount of) money is immoral imo. The fact that they are clearly planning to run the property as a money-making enterprise in itself isn't wrong--I'd probably do the same--but the fact that they are not really facing financial ruin if they pay for the hoard removal is. The removal of the hoard--which they knew about in advance of purchase--is a predictable expense of doing business in this situation, and probably deductible as a business expense. IMO.

ETA: I don't like Sandra, and I don't pity her any more than I pity anyone who is sick. I don't think she deserves extra or special consideration in this mess she's created. I do feel contempt for the new owners who used Sandra's mental illness to--essentially--cover their cost of emptying the house of its hoard.

Sandra is an awful person. How much of this is Sandra and how much is mental illness we can't know. The fact that she had good friends, who seemed to be lovely people, who were willing to work so hard to help her out (without really understanding what it was she was asking them to do) tells me that somewhere in her, there's a nice person. We didn't get to meet the nice Sandra, assuming she exists, or existed.

Edited April 11, 2019 by Mothra

funky-rat · April 11, 2019

2 minutes ago, Mothra said:

I do not disagree with anything you say, but what for me is the determining factor in my condemnation of everyone involved (except for Sandra, who is incompetent) is the fact that all of this craziness was *at this point* put on display for entertainment. I think it's horrible that Sandra dragged this out for so long, that she apparently had opportunities to sell the property earlier and refused to do it, that she is inflicting all of this unnecessary legal expense on the owners--all of it. She was wrong to do all these things, and I don't believe her mental illness is to blame--I think she didn't want to lose her house--and she didn't want to/couldn't pay her debts. I'm willing to grant that at some earlier point, when she could have remedied any of these circumstances, she wasn't as BSC as she now seems to be. I agree with Matt, that the sight of all "her" possessions being physically taken or destroyed, that the reality of the situation she herself placed herself in, pushed her right over the edge. If we are assigning fault, she and only she is certainly guilty of getting herself into this mess.

But: I don't care how much it would have cost Michael and Eric to have the hoard cleared out, that's what they should have done. The fact that they would expose this poor woman--and I know plenty of Southern belles, and Sandra isn't one; she's of that breed of shrewd Southern businesswomen, often in real estate sales, who knows when to pour on the helpless charm and when to stab you in the back--*for entertainment* so they could save (a considerable amount of) money is immoral imo. The fact that they are clearly planning to run the property as a money-making enterprise in itself isn't wrong--I'd probably do the same--but the fact that they are not really facing financial ruin if they pay for the hoard removal is. The removal of the hoard--which they knew about in advance of purchase--is a predictable expense of doing business in this situation, and probably deductible as a business expense. IMO.

I understand your points. For the entertainment factor blame, I'd place that squarely on the show producers. I've dealt with reality shows at my job. Some popular, some not. Some I watched, some I wouldn't touch. One that I loved was a somewhat short-lived show about a large and well-known business entity, and their day to day operations. One day, they called in to place an order. I asked them if their show was coming back. His response was a very quick "Lord, I hope not". He went on to say that the show that was pitched to them was very different from the finished product, which was more focused on drama, and while I didn't think the drama was too bad (because I wouldn't have watched otherwise), the business entity (not naming names) finally pulled the plug because they felt it was portraying them in a bad light, and I can see that. And in the end, it never did come back.

So I can see that the homeowners (who aren't completely blameless), tired from the constant and lengthy court battles, have someone tell them that they can get the house cleaned out in exchange for their appearance, and they'd also help the hoarder in the process (plus they get recognition for their property, and interest in it). For them to be in the best light, they should have called a halt to everything about a day in, and said "This is stressing her out too much an we're opposed to letting this play out like this. Lets just stop now and send her off the property." but that could have made them look worse. Keeping it off TV, hiring local people looking for extra bucks, and taking longer to clean the house out would have been a better option, but this was such a convoluted mess (with Sandra center stage) that I don't think anyone would have come out of it lookin good, no matter what.

CrazyInAlabama · April 11, 2019

That is something that always bothered me about this show. The whole point of the show is to get an hour or two to get on TV. The psychologists aren't doing therapy, because they aren't licensed to practice in the states they work in (unless it's their home state).

I know this because, when a certain blond singer was in for mental health treatment, a certain talk show host did a show about the situation, and talked as if he knew what the entire situation was, and how it should be handled. There was a big uproar, and complaints made to the licensing board in California that governs psychologists, and their licenses. The ruling was that the person never applied for a license to practice in that state, and the TV show was entertainment, not therapy. So the counseling we see on this show is not real.

However, I'm wondering what kind of persuasion they use on the family members they con into being on the show, and how they keep getting them to stay when the hoarder is mean, screams at them, and won't clean anything out.

In this particular show, the two men who bought the place let the auctioneers go through and gather items to sell to benefit Sandra, and they didn't have to do that. Sandra refinanced in the early 2000s, never paid anything back, and a 1.7 million refi ended up over $2.5 million by the time of the repossession, and ensuing years in court to get her out of the house.

This is the case where Matt Paxton and Dr. Zasio both quit working with Sandra, and just tried to clear out as much as they could, and Zasio only worked with the brothers, and the new owners. Sandra had actually been removed by the Sheriff's office a while before the filming, because she was finally evicted by the new owners, and refused to leave peacefully. She had five full years to take items out of the house, and sell to finance something she could afford, and did nothing. I think she never got a warehouse or anything because she thought she would try one more time, and get her house back. My guess is that she will never accept that her own actions cost her the house.

ItsHelloPattiagain · April 12, 2019

8 hours ago, Mothra said:

Sandra is an awful person. How much of this is Sandra and how much is mental illness we can't know. The fact that she had good friends, who seemed to be lovely people, who were willing to work so hard to help her out (without really understanding what it was she was asking them to do) tells me that somewhere in her, there's a nice person. We didn't get to meet the nice Sandra, assuming she exists, or existed.

I know people who are very two faced, showing their charming side to some, and turning into total jerks behind the scenes. That's not necessarily mental illness to the point of delusion - that's just narcissism and manipulation. IMHO Sandra showed whatever face/side that she needed to get what she wanted and when she didn't get what she wanted, she turned into a spoiled child. Not the same as people who have houses filled with dead sailcats and roaches, people consumed with depression so that they can't hardly function, or people who have bottles of urine and dirty adult diapers piled up in their homes.

Of course I don't see the homeowners as totally selfless either, but they bought the house fair and square, and whether they wanted it for a family home, an AirBNB or to raise an army of dancing hamsters, it was their choice to do whatever they wanted with their property. Perhaps they saw the Hoarders show as an opportunity to finally get Sandra off the property without being "the bad guys". They didn't have to let her take ANYTHING. They could have just evicted her and had the sheriff haul her off, kicking and screaming.

JudyObscure · April 12, 2019

19 hours ago, Mothra said:

A&E used a helpless sick person's disease in cooperation with two healthy, seemingly happy and well-off, young people to further the financial well-being of the two younger, healthier people.

9 hours ago, ItsHelloPattiagain said:

I know people who are very two faced, showing their charming side to some, and turning into total jerks behind the scenes. That's not necessarily mental illness to the point of delusion - that's just narcissism and manipulation.

18 hours ago, funky-rat said:

I waffled back and forth on these points. In the end, I think everyone was just using everyone else to their own end, so it's hard to assign blame to me.

17 hours ago, terrymct said:

Sandra, however, I know she's mentally ill. I know that something happened that led to her divorce.

She told us what led to the divorce, her husband wanted her to sell the house and go somewhere with him and she chose the house.

I agree with all the posts I quoted. Basically I'm with Funky-Rat, it's hard to assign blame.

I think Sandra's a little bit mentally ill, but also a very greedy woman who simply could not part with the material possessions. She said she "would rather die" than live in a little house or an apartment. I think that's because she saw herself as a great lady of the manor.

I'm starting to think the young men aren't as perfect as I first thought either. They've now had trouble with several more designers and remodeling the house and becoming rich B&B owners is not proving to be all gravy for them.

For me, that house is the kind of thing I would like to tour, but I would hate actually living in anything more than about 2500 sq. ft. I like something small enough so that I don't require servants and over which I can feel in control.

Mothra · April 12, 2019

22 minutes ago, JudyObscure said:

I'm starting to think the young men aren't as perfect as I first thought either.

I think that's really the nub of my problem with this episode, and I feel like we were at least a little manipulated into thinking they were being kind when they were also being mercenary. I still believe the Sandra we saw was very ill, to the point of not being competent to give permission to film her--and I don't think she was this sick when the whole process began--and that her illness was exploited by the new owners (so they could be on the show and thus get the hoard removed for free, as well as to get publicity for whatever they plan to do with this magnificent house) and by A&E for viewership. We here certainly are paying a lot more attention to this episode than we ordinarily do to a Hoarders ep.

I believe Sandra was greedy and conniving in the years leading up to this catastrophe. I am not sure she actually believes that the bailouts of 2008 erased her debt to the bank, and to that extent she may be pretending to be crazier than she actually is. That delusion aside, though, I think her basic disbelief that this removal was actually happening was genuine, and insane.

I am not so noble as to say I wouldn't have done the same thing to get all that crap cleared out of my newly-purchased house, but I hope I would have the decency to demur on camera when I was being praised for my "sainthood" in treating Sandra as she was treated. I hope I would at least have said something like, "well, I needed to get the house emptied, and this was one way to do it."

I have learned from other posters that my expectations for decency from reality-show producers are the stuff dreams are made on, so I guess that (sort of) lets A&E off the hook as far as my moral judgment goes--and I will continue to watch the show--so I share the guilt, too.

terrymct · April 12, 2019

49 minutes ago, JudyObscure said:

She told us what led to the divorce, her husband wanted her to sell the house and go somewhere with him and she chose the house.

I don't believe her version of it. The house was probably part, but I suspect her mental condition was manifesting itself by that point.

JunkFoodTV · April 12, 2019

47 minutes ago, terrymct said:

I don't believe her version of it. The house was probably part, but I suspect her mental condition was manifesting itself by that point.

My step monster was a hoarder. She had an "antique shop", so justified over shopping as being an investment. She was, at one moment, a sweet southern Belle and a screaming harpy bitch the next. Her "hobby" literally killed my dad. The stress, the financial crisis, the trails to try to get from point A to point B. She was so f ing greedy and wicked. She died alone in her mess. So I personally had no sympathy for Sandra. Just another evil woman trying to be a lady of the manor. Her motley crew of helpers looked like they came from the food bank or senior meals (Luther excluded). Not life long friends from her more sane days, ladies from the garden club or neighbors from across the street. Sorry, just opened old wounds. 😢

funky-rat · April 12, 2019

3 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

She told us what led to the divorce, her husband wanted her to sell the house and go somewhere with him and she chose the house.

I agree with all the posts I quoted. Basically I'm with Funky-Rat, it's hard to assign blame.

2 hours ago, terrymct said:

I don't believe her version of it. The house was probably part, but I suspect her mental condition was manifesting itself by that point.

One of her brothers said that she started "curb killing" (his term) fairly early on in their living at that house, using her business as justification for it, and it upset her husband. Then Sandra said someone offered her husband a lot of money to buy the house, but they wanted to tear it down, and she refused, so he left, and she enlisted the help of the local preservation society to have the house declared a landmark, and keep people off her back. I could see how it could have gotten so out of hand - especially with no one there to keep her in check. That house was so honking huge that she could hoard up huge portions of it, and not even have to look at it. Then one day, there was just nowhere else to go with it. Eons ago, very early on in one of the Hoarding shows (not sure which one) they had a woman who had filled the bottom portion of her house with stuff - she was also an interior designer, and afraid to get rid of anything, in case a client might need it. She got help from a good organizer, and she ended up cleaning up well, and keeping the house clean - I think she just needed some help to get back on track. But I can also see how a designer could lead to hoarding if left unchecked because they never know when they might need something, and to them, the time to get it is when you see it. And if you can get it for free, more profit.

2 hours ago, Mothra said:

I think that's really the nub of my problem with this episode, and I feel like we were at least a little manipulated into thinking they were being kind when they were also being mercenary. I still believe the Sandra we saw was very ill, to the point of not being competent to give permission to film her--and I don't think she was this sick when the whole process began--and that her illness was exploited by the new owners (so they could be on the show and thus get the hoard removed for free, as well as to get publicity for whatever they plan to do with this magnificent house) and by A&E for viewership. We here certainly are paying a lot more attention to this episode than we ordinarily do to a Hoarders ep.

I believe Sandra was greedy and conniving in the years leading up to this catastrophe. I am not sure she actually believes that the bailouts of 2008 erased her debt to the bank, and to that extent she may be pretending to be crazier than she actually is. That delusion aside, though, I think her basic disbelief that this removal was actually happening was genuine, and insane.

I am not so noble as to say I wouldn't have done the same thing to get all that crap cleared out of my newly-purchased house, but I hope I would have the decency to demur on camera when I was being praised for my "sainthood" in treating Sandra as she was treated. I hope I would at least have said something like, "well, I needed to get the house emptied, and this was one way to do it."

I have learned from other posters that my expectations for decency from reality-show producers are the stuff dreams are made on, so I guess that (sort of) lets A&E off the hook as far as my moral judgment goes--and I will continue to watch the show--so I share the guilt, too.

Part of the thing with her trying to get out of the loan and pay nothing is that there were well-publicized cases of people doing just that all through the housing crash and banking crisis, and I'm sure she figured she could do the same thing. But by the time she got to it, I'm sure the loopholes had been closed. She just didn't know when to say when, and give it up.

Someone upthread mentioned her hoarding up her rented room. The footage they showed when her brother was talking about that was from early in her episode. She was sleeping in a hoarded room in her hoarded mansion. So that wasn't new footage.

CrazyInAlabama · April 12, 2019

Thanks for that, funky-rat. I thought the brother's voice over was supposed to match the film, so if it was her own bedroom, then she at least had a place to sleep. I should have been more suspicious of what they showed for the after.

The articles I read about the filming said Sandra had been forced out of the house weeks or more before the filming started, and was living in the truck or van with the dogs (the dogs ended up with a brother), so I bet the bedroom filming was long before the actual clean out.

Edited April 13, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

funky-rat · April 12, 2019

1 minute ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

Thanks for that, funky-rat. I thought the brother's voice over was supposed to match the film, so if it was her own bedroom, then she at least had a place to sleep. I should have been more suspicious of what they showed for the after.

NP. When I read people talking about it, I paid attention, and had it on my DVR, so I could rewind. The part at the end where her brother talked about it used footage from early in the episode, before she left the house. Kind-of sneaky, if you're not paying attention.

CharlizeCat · April 12, 2019

I didn't know that there were new episodes until I received a FB notification from the Julian Price House about their show.

I just watched Andy and Becky and good lord. First of all, I call total BS on the "kumbaya" moment at the end of the show. That was totally production-driven if I ever saw. The bigoted attitude that couple exhibited, along with their extreme hate, paranoia and victim mentality as too deeply ingrained to change overnight. As soon as the code enforcement people show up again to do a progress check, the claws and venom will come right back out.

I also don't believe that the neighbors were helping to be benevolent neighbors. It was in THEIR best interest to get all of that cleaned up. It's unbelievable that they put up with that for so long and WTH with the city for dragging that out for so long? Andy and Becky should have been forced out of there years ago.

I don't know what more I can say that hasn't been already said. Is Erica the replacement for Matt or Cory? Girlfriend is NOT cut out for that type of work. While I like Dr. Tobin OK, I think Dr. Green would have been a better fit. Dr. Green tag-teamed with Candy from Intervention.

The daughter and son seemed like decent people, so I hope that they can continue to more ahead with their lives and not get sucked up in to the vortex of filth, paranoia and hatred of their parents.

DC Gal in VA · April 14, 2019

On 4/12/2019 at 1:51 PM, CharlizeCat said:

I just watched Andy and Becky and good lord. First of all, I call total BS on the "kumbaya" moment at the end of the show. That was totally production-driven if I ever saw. The bigoted attitude that couple exhibited, along with their extreme hate, paranoia and victim mentality as too deeply ingrained to change overnight. As soon as the code enforcement people show up again to do a progress check, the claws and venom will come right back out.

Hi CharlizeCat. I remember those two. They had that weird my way or the highway mentality when it came to abiding by any kind of "gub-ment" rules, a couple of really WAY off-the-grid types. I don't recall anything about them exhibiting bigoted behavior--I was probably too horrified at seeing that hoard so I must have missed that. Could you, or anyone else here, please clarify?

Thanks.

ItsHelloPattiagain · April 15, 2019

Quote

I also don't believe that the neighbors were helping to be benevolent neighbors. It was in THEIR best interest to get all of that cleaned up. It's unbelievable that they put up with that for so long and WTH with the city for dragging that out for so long? Andy and Becky should have been forced out of there years ago.

I live in a townhouse and several years back, the owner next to me rented to a hoarder, a woman with four adult kids and a couple of young grandkids popping in and out. One of the daughter would sit in the driveway and smoke and then throw the cigarette butts into the shared garden space until there was a mound of butts - I'm talking half a garbage can full. Then the roaches started coming through our shared wall. When they finally left (in the middle of the night of course) they left piles and piles of roach-infested debris on the shared lawn/garden area. I'm talking straight garbage out of the bag/ papers/rotten food/clothing with tags/ broken toys, etc etc. Years later I'm still paying an exterminator to make sure no roaches come back. So yes it was in my best interest to make sure that got cleaned up. Ironically another neighbor from down the street came and picked up a significant portion of that hoard and placed it in her garage. When it started spilling out into the driveway, I called code enforcement several time and let them deal with it. No more Ms. Nice Guy.

atlantaloves · April 15, 2019

Good for you honey.....bugs and probably rats should never be tolerated. God, I hate hoarders, I know a bunch of them.....why is this so rampant?

DC Gal in VA · April 15, 2019

On 4/10/2019 at 1:14 PM, BlazingBloomers said:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1994-01-23-9401230385-story,amp.html

I’ve never tried to post a link so I hope this works. It’s an article from 1994 that talks about people renting rooms in their homes to attendees of some huge home show near Greensboro and they interview Sandra. They estimated she could bring in $25,000 just renting out bedrooms during the show.

I don’t think they showed any pictures of Sandra’s current location. Her brother made it clear in his follow up interview that she was still hoarding but that she had refused to participate in the new show. I think the footage they showed was from the first show. It may have been unaired footage but I don’t think they had anything new of her.

Thanks for posting this link BlazingBloomers; I only just got around to reading the entire article. Oh my, the section on Sandra was really eye opening. She actually sounded so coherent, charming and, most especially, SANE. It sounds as if the mansion was still very beautiful back then before her hoarder-ation of it. She was quite the savvy business woman and probably turned a respectable profit in how she rented out the rooms. What a difference between her then and the boatload of crazy she is today.

BTW, I see by your screen name that you have already pre-assigned your own personalized pair of gasoline soaked drawers!😁

DC Gal in VA · April 15, 2019

On 4/10/2019 at 1:15 PM, terrymct said:

Here's an article with a lot of photos of the renovated house.

Really appreciate this terrymct. I thoroughly enjoyed the virtual tour.

Here's another link showing some of the same rooms in the link above but with more detailed views as well as other rooms all with name of the designers of each.

https://www.journalnow.com/gallery/news/photos-julian-price-house-former-hoarder-s-house-is-ready/collection_d128e400-4bc9-5ce3-98f6-60da9056f88d.html#1

CrazyInAlabama · April 15, 2019

Matt Paxton (the cleaner on this episode), and other experts say 1 in 25 homes are hoarded in this country.

With Sandra's house, the wall paper inside the house, had never been changed, and the rooms looked just like the previous pictures, from the older articles. So the nothing was ever changed from the original.

DC Gal in VA · April 16, 2019

On 4/11/2019 at 9:16 AM, 3girlsforus said:

Wow - I’d seen Sandra’s episode before but it was just as difficult the 2nd time around. That woman is a horrible shrew. I know Matt apologized for his behavior but I was appaulding that finally someone was getting in her face and confronting her with reality.

MIchael and Eric tried so hard but it was pointless. I really do believe that Sandra’s intention was always to continue legal action against them no matter what they did she just was no longer able to do so. I wouldn’t be surprised if she thought the show would have lawyers lining up to help her pro bono. Michael seemed more aware and less sympathetic than Eric who seemed just emotionally devastated by the entire thing.

One thing I do think Michael and Eric are wrong about though is the idea that it would be good to have Sandra back to visit. A few posts above mentioned that she could become a squatter or go postal on the place which is certainly possible but what I was thinking is why on earth would anyone want to go back to visit a house they lost to foreclosure? Why would it bring anyone joy to see another family living in a home you desperately wanted but coudln’t keep. To me that house would just be a big reminder of the worst time in my life.

So so very sad about Luther. He was so kind and patient. When the postscript said he passed away on his birthday and it sounds like quite an incident, I have to wonder if he was celebrating. No matter how it happened, it’s such a loss at such a young age.

One last comment about the house that I’m sure is not a popular opinion. I think they did a fabulous job on the renovations and the house is fascinating with amazing architectural detail, but as far as somewhere to live it just doesn’t appeal to me. It just seemed like one room connected to another room connected to another room etc with no real coherence.

Hi 3girlsforus. ITA re: everything you said but especially the bolded part.

My new guilty pleasure is the HGTV show My Lottery Dream Home where I can fantasize about the kind home I would purchase or custom design if I can hit big with one of the lotteries. I can definitely say it would not be a house like the Julian Price Manor. Living in a "home" like that would feel more like living in a museum or being the only resident in a luxury hotel; nothing homey about it at all, at least for me so, like you, it doesn't appeal to me either. I would love to tour it though.

I just posted a link showing more details about each of the rooms. Loved the kitchen (hey, if the kitchen ain't right then the house ain't right, LOL!). Mixed reactions on the rest of the house: some rooms I found to be stunning and elegant, others fun and whimsical like the bedroom for their twin girls. However, others seemed crammed with too much stuff while there were a couple that went a bit nutty with wallpaper on the walls AND ceilings, some with drapes that matched the wallpaper pattern! Thanks but no thanks on that.😊 I was really wowed by the variety of chandeliers and other light fixtures. Overall, a very stunning building.

BTW, do you or anyone else know what the current value of the renovated mansion is? I searched all over the internet and all I could find was the price paid for the wrecked, hoarded house--$415,000--and that the new owners said, prior to the renovation, it would cost millions to renovate it but later wouldn't share exactly how much money has been put into it to date.

Edited April 16, 2019 by DC Gal in VA
Typo.

enoughcats · April 16, 2019

4 hours ago, DC Gal in VA said:

Loved the kitchen (hey, if the kitchen ain't right then the house ain't right,

When we lived in the French Quarter, a major renovation happened across the street. (You'd recognize the names of a couple who were the second owners after the renovators.) The wife was smart and had great taste and great decision making. When we talked about decisions she made, we talked about her kitchen. She was so pleased with it because it was the third kitchen she'd designed for herself and she had decided that it took three times to get it right the first time. The first two times were to find out what great ideas didn't work for her and the third time, all the parts came together early on.

3girlsforus · April 16, 2019

13 hours ago, DC Gal in VA said:

Hi 3girlsforus. ITA re: everything you said but especially the bolded part.

My new guilty pleasure is the HGTV show My Lottery Dream Home where I can fantasize about the kind home I would purchase or custom design if I can hit big with one of the lotteries. I can definitely say it would not be a house like the Julian Price Manor. Living in a "home" like that would feel more like living in a museum or being the only resident in a luxury hotel; nothing homey about it at all, at least for me so, like you, it doesn't appeal to me either. I would love to tour it though.

I just posted a link showing more details about each of the rooms. Loved the kitchen (hey, if the kitchen ain't right then the house ain't right, LOL!). Mixed reactions on the rest of the house: some rooms I found to be stunning and elegant, others fun and whimsical like the bedroom for their twin girls. However, others seemed crammed with too much stuff while there were a couple that went a bit nutty with wallpaper on the walls AND ceilings, some with drapes that matched the wallpaper pattern! Thanks but no thanks on that.😊 I was really wowed by the variety of chandeliers and other light fixtures. Overall, a very stunning building.

BTW, do you or anyone else know what the current value of the renovated mansion is? I searched all over the internet and all I could find was the price paid for the wrecked, hoarded house--$415,000--and that the new owners said, prior to the renovation, it would cost millions to renovate it but later wouldn't share exactly how much money has been put into it to date.

My thoughts exactly on all of it. I looked for current value too and couldn’t find it. I don’t know if there is a difference in the way a property is valued or recorded when it’s a business vs when its a residence. Personally I’m skeptical that they are actually going to live there. At the end of the first Hoarders the end cards said they plan to move in when the renovations are complete but it also said the same thing at the end of the second Hoarders and even after the update. The house is clearly done enough to live in but that end card makes it sound like they still aren’t so I think maybe they don’t plan to. Their website says to contact them to book a room, although provides no information on what rooms are available or prices, and there have been articles about taking a tour. Neither of those things seem like something you do in a house where you are raising young girls. That’s really kind of creepy to me.

As far as ‘Lottery Dream Home’, I laughed hard when I saw your comment on that. I like that show too but it depresses me. I reminds me that I’m paying lottery dream home prices for a regular old home that desperately needs new siding and windows LOL. Got to love Northern Virginia real estate prices.

Edited April 16, 2019 by 3girlsforus

DC Gal in VA · April 18, 2019

On 4/16/2019 at 9:28 AM, 3girlsforus said:

My thoughts exactly on all of it. I looked for current value too and couldn’t find it. I don’t know if there is a difference in the way a property is valued or recorded when it’s a business vs when its a residence. Personally I’m skeptical that they are actually going to live there. At the end of the first Hoarders the end cards said they plan to move in when the renovations are complete but it also said the same thing at the end of the second Hoarders and even after the update. The house is clearly done enough to live in but that end card makes it sound like they still aren’t so I think maybe they don’t plan to. Their website says to contact them to book a room, although provides no information on what rooms are available or prices, and there have been articles about taking a tour. Neither of those things seem like something you do in a house where you are raising young girls. That’s really kind of creepy to me.

As far as ‘Lottery Dream Home’, I laughed hard when I saw your comment on that. I like that show too but it depresses me. I reminds me that I’m paying lottery dream home prices for a regular old home that desperately needs new siding and windows LOL. Got to love Northern Virginia real estate prices.

Hey neighbor! I had to laugh when you said that the show My Lottery Dream Home depressed you because, although I love this show and the host David, it depresses me too but for a different reason.

Here in Northern Virginia as you said about real estate prices and actually the entire DMV, I often think "Damn, even if I won a million dollars I wouldn't be able to buy or even custom build my dream home with the approximately $600,000 left over after taxes." Yes I could move elsewhere but as David has said, the vast majority of his clients on this show prefer to stay in or near where they already live. That's me too.

Unlike the show, there haven't been big, beautiful brand new homes in the 300k, 200k and definitely not anything in the 100 thousand dollar range for a long time in this area which seems to be an option for so many winners in this show. I always sigh and think that I would need to win at least $3,000,000 to fully realize my dreams.

Back to the Julian Price Manor, not having the value of the manor/home be public information is so odd to me. I know that that type of information would be public and readily accessible here.

From one article that I read, the owners said that "for now" they didn't think that they wanted their small daughters living there and that they would move them in when they are older. Whatever they decide is alright by me as long as that Banshee Sandra is kept away.

CrazyInAlabama · April 18, 2019

I think the renovations, and designer rooms took a lot longer than expected. I know the designer makeovers were for home tours to raise money for the historic association, restoring the older houses in town. The design mart that happens twice a year in town is a huge deal, with designers, furniture companies, and everyone that's connected to the industry meeting in one place for a week or more. There are a lot of people that make a lot of money renting vacation rooms, or entire houses during the design marts, and pay their entire mortgage for the year with the proceeds.

From what I read, the furniture market is every six months in High Point, but that's close enough to Greensboro to stay there.

After all of the publicity, and the ongoing risk of the return of you-know-who, I wouldn't want to actually live in the house with two little kids either. Or I would move out during peak rental periods.

A lot of other towns have similar events, where houses are rented out for astronomical prices.

Edited April 18, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

toodles · April 25, 2019

On 4/15/2019 at 4:06 PM, DC Gal in VA said:

BTW, I see by your screen name that you have already pre-assigned your own personalized pair of gasoline soaked drawers!😁

Waaay off topic, but I decided to ask the 600 pound mod if we could make gasoline soaked drawers the official drawers of My 600 Life Pounders.

I think the honor could also apply to this thread too.

My son walked by the other day during 600 pound and said this is the grossest show ever. I told him it was nothing compared to Hoarders.

atlantaloves · April 26, 2019

You got that right, those 600 lb cows can at least get some surgery to get rid of their grossness. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

Mu Shu · May 1, 2019

On 4/1/2019 at 11:30 AM, ItsHelloPattiagain said:

South Florida in the hooouuussse!!!! **waves at EnoughCats and Julyolo**

I was wondering when Hoarders was going to put together a South Florida version and this did not disappoint.

Bulk Pick-up down here is a hoarder's paradise. Basically one day a week, one can put anything that doesn't fit in the regular garbage can out in front of the house and Waste Management will pick it up. It's useful to get rid of stuff like a used mattress or an old couch. Since there are lots of transients, household clean-outs are a popular Bulk Pick-up contributor and there are people driving around late at night and early in the morning on Bulk-Pick-Up day in old trucks and station wagons picking stuff off lawns (and even looking in garbage cans) for whatever. One guy comes around looking for scrap metal and old appliances in my neighborhood. I'm sure he sells the scrap metal for cash and perhaps fixes appliances. One of my neighbors has a treasure trove of baby stuff in her hoarded roach-filled garage (which spilled out into her driveway a couple of times prompting bitchy old me to call code enforcement on her sorry self.

Also, the Swap Shop is located in Sunrise, Florida and hosts a drive-in theater with a huge outdoor flea market/junk-o-rama during the daytime hours. I

I don't know how Patricia pays for those houses. The one is in Plantation, Florida (both Cooper City and Plantation are western suburbs of the Fort Lauderdale area). That Plantation house alone could be sold for probably $400,000 to $500,00 if cleaned and fixed up. That would buy a lot of cigarettes. After the fines which will be attached to her house, there will be nothing left after Patricia takes her giant dred-locked banana with her to her final resting place.

And did anybody else think it was odd that Patricia was still walking around in scrubs years after leaving work at the ER? I'm surprised she didn't sell those scrubs to somebody driving by.

I figured out where the Plantation house is. Looks like that super cool neighborhood bordered by University, Peters road, and 595. The one with all those Asian inspired homes. I think the canals are ocean access. Very desirable area as is Cooper City. Did we ever find out where the third house was?

Bill can piss right off. He’s a skeezer living off Pat, and so is the 4 year sober daughter. They both need to pack the fuck up or shut up. Like it or not, pat runs the show. It’s her house/houses. Don’t like the crazy lady’s rules? Don’t mooch off the crazy lady. Sorry you moochers, but once pat passes, which could be another 15 years or so seeing how spunky she is, the cities will get her properties.

pat was a damn pistol. “you wanna fistfight??” I bet before she got so crazy and sun dried she was gorgeous.

I’m corner eying Jenny and her woe is me act. It’s good she cleaned up, but 4 years sober she should be in some type of decent living situation and taking some responsibility for her daughter. Donna dictates because Jenny manipulates, and pat is fucking nuts. Im sure she expected Jenny to at least be working toward some solution at this point. I don’t care how much a bitch Donna is, it’s a pretty big responsibility to take on another child.

CrazyInAlabama · May 1, 2019

My guess is one reason Donna didn't trust Jenny, or put up with her whining and promises is that she's been raising the daughter for at least four years. I bet Jenny drops in, tells the girl that Patricia's house is going to be cleaned up any day now, and then the daughter will move in and they'll live happily ever after. And then the girl is disappointed when nothing happens, or when Jenny claims she's coming for a visit, or makes other promises, and they turn out to be lies.

Patricia will never clean up, Bill will never move out and leave the gravy train behind, Jenny will never leave that house, and the granddaughter will always be an after thought to the three of them. The fighting between Patricia and Bill was horrible too.

Edited May 1, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

ItsHelloPattiagain · May 1, 2019

7 hours ago, Mu Shu said:

I figured out where the Plantation house is. Looks like that super cool neighborhood bordered by University, Peters road, and 595. The one with all those Asian inspired homes. I think the canals are ocean access. Very desirable area as is Cooper City. Did we ever find out where the third house was?

That's pretty much where I thought it was. Those are some older homes but with beautiful vegetation and upscale neighbors. I can't imagine any of them are happy about having the hoard-o-rama in their neighborhood. Cooper City is VERY desirable as well with all the people that have moved out of Miami driving up property values. I didn't remember where house #3 was (did we even see it?) I'm guessing it's close to that area (Davie, Plantation, etc area). Again, if she cleaned up those houses and sold them, she would make a pretty penny.

Mu Shu · May 1, 2019

3 hours ago, ItsHelloPattiagain said:

That's pretty much where I thought it was. Those are some older homes but with beautiful vegetation and upscale neighbors. I can't imagine any of them are happy about having the hoard-o-rama in their neighborhood. Cooper City is VERY desirable as well with all the people that have moved out of Miami driving up property values. I didn't remember where house #3 was (did we even see it?) I'm guessing it's close to that area (Davie, Plantation, etc area). Again, if she cleaned up those houses and sold them, she would make a pretty penny.

It’s so frustrating. Those two homes are an easy 800k combined, so house number 3 would put her over 1 million. Sell the damn things. Get a nice 2/2 55 plus condo for 125k and have income from the proceeds. we are in Davie on the acre lots, but the damn seniors who can no longer keep their properties up and are too greedy to spend any money or too stubborn to sell out are a problem. Some people just can’t live without strife and misery.

FormerMod-a1 · May 5, 2019

According to Cory, Hoarders is casting for new episodes!

https://www.facebook.com/147690848603609/photos/a.272404546132238/2280259468680059/

CrazyInAlabama · May 5, 2019

I think the third house was the two story, but I'm not sure. People like Patricia will never give up their hoards, fix up the houses, and sell. Their entire self image is in keeping stuff, irritating everyone from their relatives to neighbors, to code enforcement. Look at all of the attention she gets from hoarding, with everyone dancing to her tune, and begging her to change. I can't see her ever letting go of her hoard, and moving to somewhere that she can't pile up with junk.

The fact that she makes everyone around her miserable is her greatest joy.

They're casting for eight, two-hour episodes for the next season. I didn't realize the producers turn people down, someone posted that their friend applied a few years ago and was rejected. I wonder if they'll reconsider, and maybe get someone that's not such a lost cause.

The three houses are the one Patricia and Bill, and Jenny live in, the second was another ranch, and the third was the two story, with the stuffed garage. As I recall, Patricia said she hadn't even been at the third house for a couple of years.

Edited May 8, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

atlantaloves · May 6, 2019

Oh goodie, new Hoarders with Cory, I can now sleep at night. Ha. Thank you God, I do love this show. (but this season made me ill)😵

May 7, 2019

On 5/5/2019 at 5:24 PM, aquarian1 said:

According to Cory, Hoarders is casting for new episodes!

https://www.facebook.com/147690848603609/photos/a.272404546132238/2280259468680059/

Zipqltonal · May 13, 2019

New around here but I have been watching this show for years as a secret obsession horror show.

I have noticed a theme in the later episodes and especially in the latest season of them all blaming depression, loss of something, someone taking away something as reason they hoard. They all seem to have the reason prepared canned response.

While most of them hoarded long before and it just escalated or exploded out of every closet, bin, cabinet in house and they couldn’t hide it anymore.

I unfortunately have intimate dealings with several hoarders and have had to do at least a 2 dozen clean outs over the last 20 years. Several of which were after a sudden death, and everyone wanted to act shocked to discover that he/she was hiding 30 tons of crap in their house. Even tho they hadn’t let anyone in the house in years.

I seen several comments about hoarding being a disease and wondering if medications or lobotomies would work. They do still perform ECT in extreme mental disorder on a case by case basis no idea if they ever tried it to correct hoarding.

I think if they got to the true root cause of someone’s hoarding and it was more chemical imbalance based medications could result in a 180 on the behavior.

In my personal experience and I am not a professional doctor in any capacity. I just seem to be a hoarder magnet as the friend/distant family member who is OCD neat freak won’t stop till place is emptied cleaned organized, who gets roped into helping with the hoard. Most hoarders are selfish, needy, narricistic, controlling, temper tantrum, manipulative people with deep personality disorders. Who look for someone, something or an event to blame for their issue if they are ever confronted about their hoard. Others I see an event that triggered it and then they become overwhelmed and spend all their time organizing, shifting, moving the hoard while buying more to corral it. And for everything they manage to put away and organize 5 more things take their place.

Sorry for the long post.

On 3/7/2019 at 6:24 PM, StatisticalOutlier said:

There could be the dead body of someone who's been missing for a few years and they could clear a cold case. You never know.

I keep waiting for this situation to happen not that I think it would be aired but it would make headlines. The hoarding anti social couple would not have been surprising to have rat eaten dead bodies in there.

On 3/8/2019 at 9:24 AM, Jeeves said:

I do balk at the extreme cases that this series has presented. I think there's a lot to be learned from episodes featuring the less extreme, more reachable, hoarders. But yeah, the extreme cases bring the shock value and potential ratings. Sigh.

I honestly hope these extreme cases cause more people to intervene in hoarders in their own life before they escalate to anything close to these levels. So many people never say a word or enable hoarding.

CrazyInAlabama · May 14, 2019

From what I've read about hoarding (Matt Paxton's book, Jeannette Walls, and a lot of articles) hoarding is now in the mental illness guidebook, DSM-V, under OCD. Like other illnesses, the person has to want to change, and the people on the TV shows simply refuse. I think a lot of it is showing the rest of the world, that they can't make them do anything they don't want to do.

Look at Patricia, and her three hoarder houses that emptied out, and repaired would bring hundreds of thousands in profit. Instead she had one house she hadn't been in for several years, and she will never stop hoarding those houses. I feel sorry for the neighbors of those houses, with their vermin infestations, property values plunging, and having to put up with someone like Patricia piling up thousands of tons of junk , inside and outside the house.

If you hear the back story, a lot of these hoarders get cleaned up, or move to another place, and rehoard very quickly.

Edited May 14, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

funky-rat · May 14, 2019

14 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

From what I've read about hoarding (Matt Paxton's book, Jeannette Walls, and a lot of articles) hoarding is now in the mental illness guidebook, DSM-V, under OCD. Like other illnesses, the person has to want to change, and the people on the TV shows simply refuse. I think a lot of it is showing the rest of the world, that they can't make them do anything they don't want to do.

Look at Patricia, and her three hoarder houses that emptied out, and repaired would bring hundreds of thousands in profit. Instead she had one house she hadn't been in for several years, and she will never stop hoarding those houses. I feel sorry for the neighbors of those houses, with their vermin infestations, property values plunging, and having to put up with someone like Patricia piling up thousands of tons of junk , inside and outside the house.

If you hear the back story, a lot of these hoarders get cleaned up, or move to another place, and rehoard very quickly.

It is definitely tied to OCD. My disorganization was at it's worst when the OCD was in full-on action. My brain was so jumbled that I would attempt to work on something, and would rapidly become overwhelmed, and stop. Meanwhile, I was looking for that high I used to get from going to flea markets, thrift stores, etc, and finding stuff for various collections. I finally had to abandon the "ALL THE STUFF!!" mentality, because I finally realized that there was no way in the universe to complete some of the collections, so I shifted focus.

Some things just went out the door, lock stock and barrel (ie: memorabilia for a sports team my husband no longer rooted for). Some that I genuinely enjoyed were focused on to a single area (ie: paring Olympics related items down to just postage stamps). Others, I had to do the "When was the last time I can recall using this?" method to get stuff gone down to a reasonable level. Going forward, I acknowledge that for certain things I know that I can get out of hand on, if something new comes in, at least one old thing goes out the door, and it's served me well.

Of course, I wanted to change, and I actively sought help.

LizDC · May 16, 2019

Sign In

Hoarders - General Discussion

Recommended Posts

Link to comment

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Popular Posts

zillabreeze

Hellohappylife

PaulaO

Posted Images

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Guest

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment