Hoarders - General Discussion

[Ligeia]

Just watched the new Carol episode. This woman, like many other hoarders, should be jailed. I'm tired of the "mental illness" BS excuse : they are perfectly capable of manipulating people and playing the system to death to escape facing responsibilty for what they do. They know what they're doing.

I have no doubt she indeed targeted this family. She set her sights on their money and did what she had to do to get it. Dave mentioned Carol was "very controlling" and he was an ideal target given his weak character (which shows on screen as he's a nonentity). I noticed the son said his mother's death was "ruled as a suicide". He did not say "it was a suicide", there's a difference and I bet the sons are suspecting Carol had something to do with Bea's death.

There are just too many shady things about her :

- the 2 other hoarded houses Dave paid for

- moving in two days after Bea died

- the joint account money she stole

- she was using Bea's credit card right after her death

How can we blame Missy for being upset about the money ? She completely ripped off the old man, destroyed his house and left him to agonize in her trash !

The happy ending was fake AF. So now suddently it's all family love, open arms and tears of joy ? Gimme a break. At least the epilogue was real (but sad).

Carol was there for the cleaning because there would have been no show without her. They needed her to do their usual "you're calling the shots" fake routine and to provide some drama.

[ItsHelloPattiagain]

Quote

Agree with what other people have said. That old harpy had moved out so why let her have any say in the clean-up? I really loathed that awful old woman. I have no doubt she took money from her husband and hid it in her separate account. I hope she begins “cluttering” 🙄 her son’s home. Mary the granddaughter was awesome. She needs to become a professional mediator or a mental health professional.

Carol was a bitch on wheels when she was younger, but the first thing I thought when I saw her on screen is that she has some kind of dementia at this point. **ducks flying objects***  The way she kept repeating herself with this nonsensical generic weird comments sounded like she did have some kind of cognitive disorder now. That may have been the way they got in there to clean the hoard and family members ended up taking the house and trying to sell it. 

I felt very sorry for Dave. He didn't have a chance when his wife died and bossy mean/ sane Carole moved in. I was happy to see the firefighters helping out in the house. Firefighters always look out for each other, even the retired ones. 

Did anybody notice the location? Ferguson, Missouri - yes that Ferguson. This is obviously out of the actual downtown city. 

[atlantaloves]

Oh man, I'm glad to see this show back, because I think I'm losing it, but anyway, Carol is a total con woman, I wanted to smack her.  I had no idea she didn't live there any more, why was she there, (God, what a mouth breather) and you guys are right, DRAMA. Damn I wish they would have been able to keep that house in the family, that broke my heart. 

[Awfarmington]

A couple posters have mentioned it, but Kevin’s phrasing “it was ruled a suicide’ was very telling. My first impression was he thinks there was more to it. 
 

Another possibility; She found out about their affair and it drove her to take her own life? I actually went even deeper with my thoughts about that, but it might be a little too conspiracy-ish. Yes, I watch far too much ID channel. 

Edited July 23, 2020 by Awfarmington

[CoyoteBlue]

On 7/21/2020 at 12:11 PM, enoughcats said:

Corey was found guilty of first degree murder with two special circumstance

`I read this and had to click through because my first thought was "Corey Chalmers?! Did a hoarder finally make him crack?" 🤣

[Ligeia]

Here's a bit I loved, it was priceless :

First we get this :

And a few minutes later we get this 🤣

[QuinnInND]

IMO, Carol doesn't have dementia. Her bullshit of repeating those comments has always worked for her. She's a manipulative bitch. People like her will say anything to make people feel sorry for them and let them get their way. And I also think there was more to Be's suicide. It was ruled a suicide because they couldn't prove otherwise. If she waa actually depressed and whatnot, Carol could have driven her to do it. Maybe helped. Who knows. I wouldn't put anything past Carol. 

[essexjan]

Wow, what a piece of work Carol is. I believe every word Missy said about her financial shenanigans and that she'd moved in on Dave just to get the house. After all, once the house was clean and clear again, I'm sure Carol realised it might once again be worth something now it wasn't a giant trash pile and thought if she could move in again she'd be in line for a nice inheritance when Dave croaked. It was obvious from looking at that poor old man that he wasn't long for this world, and that witch probably hastened his departure, at the very least by ensuring he was living in discomfort and squalor (although I think at the start Kevin said that he'd brought his dad from the house to live with him).

I agree with others upthread who said that maybe the sons were seeing their family life through rose-tinted glasses, but then again, who knows the extent to which Be hid the true extent of her mental health issues? It's obvious that as soon as Be died, things changed immediately once Carol moved in and the house suddenly became off limits to the rest of the family.

I hate the way the experts on this show pussyfoot around the hoarders. After her initial resistance, Carol said more than once that she didn't care what happened to all the stuff. That should have been the cue for Dorothy to say "okay! we're on it!" and tell the cleaning crew and the firemen to go ahead and throw the damn lot in the dumpster rather than taking Carol's non-existent sociopathic 'feelings' into account. I wish Matt Paxton had been there ...

Also, I have to give a huge shoutout to Missy and Mary, probably the best family members we've ever seen on this show. I'm so glad Missy unloaded on Carol. I bet the producers were high-fiving each other, as it was brilliant TV. And Kevin and Missy should be so proud of what a wonderful daughter they have raised in Mary.  A caring, compassionate young woman, but she also wasn't prepared to take any shit from Carol either.

I'm glad the family cut Carol off, but I think it's probably a good thing the house has to be sold.  The family needs to move on. I forgot to note the name of the town, otherwise I'd have had a look for the house listing on Zillow.

[AZChristian]

53 minutes ago, essexjan said:

I forgot to note the name of the town, otherwise I'd have had a look for the house listing on Zillow.

It was Ferguson,  Missouri. 

[essexjan]

1 hour ago, AZChristian said:

It was Ferguson,  Missouri. 

I found the address, but it must have been a private sale as there's nothing on Zillow, Realtor or Estately, other than it sold for $99,000, when other similar properties were selling for three times as much.  It must have needed major structural work. What a pity. I hope someone restores it and makes it a loving home once again.

[ForumLou]

On 7/22/2020 at 1:56 PM, Ligeia said:

Just watched the new Carol episode. This woman, like many other hoarders, should be jailed. I'm tired of the "mental illness" BS excuse : they are perfectly capable of manipulating people and playing the system to death to escape facing responsibilty for what they do. They know what they're doing.

I have no doubt she indeed targeted this family. She set her sights on their money and did what she had to do to get it. Dave mentioned Carol was "very controlling" and he was an ideal target given his weak character (which shows on screen as he's a nonentity). I noticed the son said his mother's death was "ruled as a suicide". He did not say "it was a suicide", there's a difference and I bet the sons are suspecting Carol had something to do with Bea's death.

There are just too many shady things about her :

- the 2 other hoarded houses Dave paid for

- moving in two days after Bea died

- the joint account money she stole

- she was using Bea's credit card right after her death

How can we blame Missy for being upset about the money ? She completely ripped off the old man, destroyed his house and left him to agonize in her trash !

The happy ending was fake AF. So now suddently it's all family love, open arms and tears of joy ? Gimme a break. At least the epilogue was real (but sad).

Carol was there for the cleaning because there would have been no show without her. They needed her to do their usual "you're calling the shots" fake routine and to provide some drama.

Yeah, Im such a sucker, i was all awwwww she mellowed.  Until i read where she reneged on every thing she said.  No aftercare.  Wonder if she kept that $$ too.  Didnt move into the house.  Sadly Dave did pass away. 

[joypa17]

On 7/22/2020 at 4:19 PM, ItsHelloPattiagain said:

Carol was a bitch on wheels when she was younger, but the first thing I thought when I saw her on screen is that she has some kind of dementia at this point. **ducks flying objects***  The way she kept repeating herself with this nonsensical generic weird comments sounded like she did have some kind of cognitive disorder now. That may have been the way they got in there to clean the hoard and family members ended up taking the house and trying to sell it. 

I felt very sorry for Dave. He didn't have a chance when his wife died and bossy mean/ sane Carole moved in. I was happy to see the firefighters helping out in the house. Firefighters always look out for each other, even the retired ones. 

Did anybody notice the location? Ferguson, Missouri - yes that Ferguson. This is obviously out of the actual downtown city. 

This house is actually in the heart of Ferguson in an older, well-established area.  Ferguson has many beautiful, older homes.

Edited July 25, 2020 by joypa17

[TVbitch]

I can only watch one or two episodes of Hoarders a season, cuz they get very similar to me. And the looooong sorting of the stuff is just too boring. 

Carol strikes me as a sociopath and hoarder, who was probably more savvy when younger and was assertive enough to take control of Dave. Dave is an easy mark, clearly a really passive guy who is going to let Carol wear the pants and make the decisions. He doesn't seem to understand or care that she is taking advantage of him. Maybe he did at one time, but some guys will still choose such a relationships cuz for some reason they want/need a dominant partner to run their life.  My dad is the same way. 

I understand hoarding is a bona fide disorder, but I have never seen an addiction interventionist give so much coddling and control to the addict so that they wouldn't freak out or shutdown. It is always: This has gone too far, you are ruining lives, and you are going to treatment or else here are your consequences." Chatting with a hoarding specialist for a week is not going to cure a hoarder. 

[Ligeia]

6 hours ago, TVbitch said:

I understand hoarding is a bona fide disorder, but I have never seen an addiction interventionist give so much coddling and control to the addict so that they wouldn't freak out or shutdown. It is always: This has gone too far, you are ruining lives, and you are going to treatment or else here are your consequences." Chatting with a hoarding specialist for a week is not going to cure a hoarder. 

Exactly ! Especially when children's lives are at stake, there's definitely no "you're calling the shots" or "respect your stuff" ! It should be "clean out and shut up".

[AZChristian]

9 hours ago, Ligeia said:

Exactly ! Especially when children's lives are at stake, there's definitely no "you're calling the shots" or "respect your stuff" ! It should be "clean out and shut up".

We were watching a Hoarding:  Buried Alive marathon yesterday, but the situation fits with this discussion.  Two married schoolteachers had a set of 2-year-old twins.  The mother was a hoarder, and the house was inherently unsafe.

Their "person who has never been in the house" was one of the mother's friends, who was a teacher at the same school.  When she walked into the house she was - as they all are - aghast at the condition of the inside of the house.

So . . . aren't ALL teachers mandated reporters?  We couldn't figure out why she didn't say, "This is way beyond a TV show.  As a mandated reporter, I am REQUIRED BY LAW to report your children's unsafe living conditions."

I know that sometimes the psychologist will tell the hoarders with children, "I am required to report this," and then they use that leverage to say, "I can delay the report for 48 hours, but we need to get this place to a safe level before then, or I WILL call."

I don't think they should be given ANY leeway.  Get the kids out NOW and see how willing the hoarders are to clean things up to get the kids back.  Some would never see their kids again, nor should they.

[Ligeia]

3 hours ago, AZChristian said:

I don't think they should be given ANY leeway.  Get the kids out NOW and see how willing the hoarders are to clean things up to get the kids back.  Some would never see their kids again, nor should they.

Children & relatives affected by the hoarding should definitely matter more than the hoarder's precious "feelings".

[FormerMod-a1]

Looking forward to seeing Cory in tomorrow's episode!

[LittleIggy]

10 hours ago, Ligeia said:

Children & relatives affected by the hoarding should definitely matter more than the hoarder's precious "feelings".

And animals!

[CrazyInAlabama]

I feel sorry for the children, relatives, and pets, but also for the neighbors who have to live next to a hoard.   You can't even sell and move with a pile of garbage and vermin next door, or risk being sued by the new buyer.     I feel nothing for the hoarders, but disgust at what they've done to their kids, relatives, homes, and neighbors, and their helpless animals.   

[Schnickelfritz]

My  biggest heartburn with this show is that they don't seem to help. You know in your heart that the hoarders involved almost certainly went right back to hoarding.

Anyone ever see the British show, The Hoarder Next Door? The doctor on it, Stelios Kiosses always seemed to get good results. For starters, the show did not come in with dumpsters right away and force the issue. He seemed to actually treat the patient and got them to start clearing the hoard then the show would step in. It was a long process (weeks) and he used different techniques tailored to the patient.  You got the sense that they were well on their way to recovery. Probably just as big of a lie as most reality tv but at least it gave you hope. This show is just designed to give you angina.

[AZChristian]

30 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I feel sorry for the children, relatives, and pets, but also for the neighbors who have to live next to a hoard.   You can't even sell and move with a pile of garbage and vermin next door, or risk being sued by the new buyer.     I feel nothing for the hoarders, but disgust at what they've done to their kids, relatives, homes, and neighbors, and their helpless animals.   

Not to mention the landlords.

My hoarding brother lived in a privately owned subsidized, but well maintained, senior housing single-story apartment complex.  I'd been in a unit where the floor plan was identical to his, but it was occupied by an elderly widow who took pride in her surroundings.  It was so pretty that I actually teared up, comparing it to my brother's place.

My brother's place was so stuffed that he had started putting overflow on his back patio.  I mentioned it to him myself a couple of times and his response always was, "Other people have stuff on their patios, too."  No, they had lawn furniture and plants, NOT piles of boxes of Christmas ornaments or non-functioning VHS players.

Finally, the owner of the complex had their maintenance crew go around and take pictures of patios which were in violation of the lease.  My brother went BALLISTIC.  "This is my home.  They have no right to tell me how to live.  Did other people get notices, too?"

I said, "This is where you live, but you do not OWN this property, nor do you OWN the right to create an eyesore."  We got it cleared off enough to keep him from being evicted, but the pile started building back up within a month or so.  

When he died in the apartment, we got all of the belongings out of it within a week.  Even so, the landlord had to have a hazmat team go in to rip up the carpet and replace all the floors.

I wonder if he's in hell whether he's been assigned to an apartment identical to the one he left.  And he can't eat or sleep until the mess is cleaned up.  He's been dead for 10 months.  I wonder if he's eaten or slept in that time.  If he put as much effort into his hell apartment as he did to his earthly one, probably not.

[enoughcats]

Tonight, July 27

Sherry's justification for hr massive hoard is that it protects her from the outside world; now, she must now clean up her hoard to start getting her life on track.

So saith the info on Directv. 

Forewarned is forearmed. 

[auntjess]

The hoarders they feature are way too unlikeable to watch for 2 hours.  Is the show longer because of coronavirus, and they have masks and respirators anyway?
 

[enoughcats]

48 minutes ago, auntjess said:

to watch for 2 hours.

The A&E website has each episode at an hour and twenty five minutes.

They may have gone 'longer' because the one set in North Carolina and the mansion and the stuff (I really would love to have had one of the chairs, I admit shamefacedly) was so much. That was a major jump from the less than 30 minutes per hoard.  I'd expect the editors had said repeatedly that they had so much more they could have included. 

Without seeing their financials, I'd guess that they got two hours of air time without going to four cities, four set ups, etc. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

4 hours ago, AZChristian said:

Not to mention the landlords.

Yes, at least half of the hoarders on either series are renters.   Since hoarding is now a mental disorder, I wonder if that will make evictions even harder?  

[AZChristian]

3 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

Yes, at least half of the hoarders on either series are renters.   Since hoarding is now a mental disorder, I wonder if that will make evictions even harder?  

Great question.  I don't know.  We tried to have him declared in need of (state-funded) assisted living, but a psychiatrist met with him.  Because bro knew the current year and the name of the president, the doc said he was competent to live alone.  So if he was mentally aware enough that a doctor said he could live alone, perhaps that would be an "out" for the mental illness defense.

I don't remember them ever raising that as a "you can't evict this renter because of his mental illness" defense on either of the hoarding shows.  It should NOT be grounds.  Also, the renter would not be evicted because of his/her mental illness; it would be because they were in violation of the terms of the lease.  All leases I've ever seen require the tenant to keep the property in an acceptable, habitable condition.  Perhaps they could just refuse to renew a lease???? 

[sara1025]

Random, but Sherry's voice reminds me of Dawn from the 9/11 hoarding episode. She's also as argumentative as Dawn. The son is grating on my nerves as well.

[CrazyInAlabama]

The Sherry and son relationship is so hostile to the outside world.   Look at the daughter.   When the show contacted her, she should have told them to stop bothering her.   The doctor walked her right into the Lion's Den, with the mother, and brother just waiting for her to show up so they could scream at her.    I wonder how people like the doctor can call themselves professional, when they deliberately humiliate people like that?  It's all about the ratings.   When Sherry told Lauren to leave, then she should have, and told the producers where to go, and how to get there.  

Sherry, and Matt (the brother) are two parts of the same dysfunctional, hostile person.    I feel so sorry for Lauren (the daughter) who has been told from her earliest memories that she wasn't wanted by her mother.   The daughter should have cut contact with her mother and brother long ago.   She should stop trying to be a family with them, because it's never going to happen.    I've learned over the years, that spending your life trying to get people to love you, who are incapable of love, is wrong.    The mother will never care about the daughter.   The Dr. Tolin is totally useless, he's standing there while Sherry, and her son get angrier, and scream louder, what's he waiting for, a physical assault?   

A hoarder with a hoarded out car?  How typical. 

"I'm just a horrible person", says Sherry.   Truer words were never spoken.  She's horrible, and her son's horrible.   The daughter will never have any relationship with her mother, but the mother abusing her.   

No aftercare, what a surprise, and she's rehoarded the basement so much that repairs to the water line can't be made, so no running water.   

.  Lauren needs to quit trying to have a relationship with these people.   Blood relationships do not equal love, or respect, especially in this family.   Poor Lauren, I wish she would stop caring, or at least look forward, and never look back.   She deserves better than what these people will do to her.  Her mother and brother will never be any different than they are now, and have already deteriorated.     

Edited July 28, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[fonfereksglen]

Two hours of a woman in a manic phase of her disease and her loser son verbally abusing her daughter.  Great work AE productions.  😡

[lb60]

Word of advice, Lauren.

Run!

Far, far away.

And don't look back.

Also, please know that you tried your best.

 

[QuinnInND]

The son and Sherry are sharing a room now. Ewww. There's a sick dynamic between mother and son. And he's 27?? I pegged him about 40. 

Lauren should cut that branch off the family tree and go have a life. 

No husband or father of the kids was mentioned. Wonder what the story is there? 

[enoughcats]

I'd be in favor of changing the name of the show to Loathsome families, but some of these might chose not to participate.  OTOH, for a washing machine and some sort of cleanup Sherry would probably sign anything.  The son is so far beyond acceptable behaviour that he and his mom are a matched pair. 

I want Lauren to realize how much of her life is in front of her and how much better it can be. (And I do know someone who was told by the mother that she wished she'd had an abortion instead of that birth-never has gotten over it, but does get some relief knowing others have had similar treatment and verbal abuse.)

[auntieminem]

OK I am ready for a hoarder who I can feel empathy for and who actually is redeemable.  These first two episodes had totally unsympathetic hoarders who I knew would not change.  I felt so bad for Lauren.  They should have offered her therapy after putting her through that on the show. She needs to cut them out of her life and not waste another minute waiting for them to change and care about her. They won't.  

[satrunrose]

Yeah, I watch Hoarders as a motivational tool to keep my pack-rat tendencies from getting out of hand, but two hours of horrible families is too much. I think I'm switching to Hot Mess House on HGTV, it's like proto-Hoarders where the folks getting profiled have one of those rooms where you just shove all of the stuff that doesn't go other places. The host helps the families to purge and organize via Zoom. No yelling, swearing or carrying on over rat poop. Plus, the host sends them some pretty awesome storage solutions. 

In regards to this episode, Run,St Lauren, run! 

[LittleIggy]

This season, I watch Hoarders so I can shout “F**k you!” at someone other than the guy in the Oval Office. 😆 Man, they’ve really found some hateful people so far. I bet Sherry and Matt were so mad about Lauren calling for a wellness check because the next morning all of Wheeling, WV knew about how they lived. Bet Matt never saw his sensible friend anymore. Oh, and good luck with that $80,000’s worth of equipment! 🙄 Great to see Corey again. Bet he had to take a sick day due to the mold. BTW, I thought Dr. Tolen was supportive of Lauren. 

Edited July 28, 2020 by LittleIggy

[sara1025]

1 hour ago, LittleIggy said:

This season, I watch Hoarders so I can shout “F**k you!” at someone other than the guy in the Oval Office. 😆 Man, they’ve really found some hateful people so far. I bet Sherry and Matt were so mad about Lauren calling for a wellness check because the next morning all of Wheeling, WV knew about how they lived. Bet Matt never saw his sensible friend anymore. Oh, and good luck with that $80,000’s worth of equipment! 🙄 Great to see Corey again. Bet he had to take a sick day due to the mold. BTW, I thought Dr. Tolen was supportive of Lauren. 

I thought so too, I feel like it's rare to see the doctors on the show completely take the side of the sane family members, usually they don't want to upset the hoarder so they tiptoe around the arguments. I found it very gratifying when Dr. Tolen was calling Matt out for how nasty he was being towards Lauren.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I didn't think Dr. Tobin was very supportive of Lauren, because he just stood there while she was being yelled at by her mother, and brother.  (Others may disagree, but this is my opinion, and I bet we all see things skewed by our own experiences).    It was nice he called her brave, but I think she was lured to the clean up with false hope,   Both of them said before she even arrived that they hate her, and always would, and they were not kidding.   I believe Lauren has a good heart, and would help if the mother and brother would let her help, but they're both so sick that no amount of therapy, or clean ups will change anything.   

I wish in this instance, Dr. Tobin would have told Lauren to get further away, from Sherry and Matt.    I think Sherry is seriously unbalanced, but Matt is dangerous.  

I think the family members are lured to helping by the promise that things will change, this time will be different, and they won't be pushed to put up with abuse.   Every freaking time the family members who come to help are abused, yelled at, and talked into staying by the cast (I'm calling the on camera people cast, because this is just as scripted as any other 'reality' show, with the same formula every week).     I'm afraid that one of these times, someone will actually get attacked, or worse by a hoarder and their enablers.   

Lauren should never have kept in touch with the mother, and should never have agreed to be humiliated on national TV like that.     I was really worried in a few scenes that the brother or mother would physically attack Lauren.   She's the family scapegoat, and always will be.    Lauren should never have come to the house, and should have left when it was clear that her mother and brother were so hostile to her.    My personal opinion is the therapists, and other personnel are just there to get 2 hours of show done, and they all should realize that they are not helping anyone but the network, and the producers by filming the temporary cleanups.   

I feel sorry for Lauren, and for the neighbors, who have to live with a filthy hoard, full of vermin.     Sherry, and Matt are hopeless, and vicious, and this was another case of not helping anything, but putting on a show for ratings, and advertising dollars.   The product placement is getting ridiculous too.     

People are so desperate for love, that they will accept almost any behavior from an abusive parent, and keep running back for more.      Lauren needs to cut off contact, and leave her mother and brother in their nasty hoard, that's already been rebuilt.   I don't believe that mother or brother ever cleared any more living space, and I bet everything is just as bad as ever.   I hope the city codes enforcement has stepped in, along with the fire inspectors, and forced repairs to the water lines at least, but so many city officials tiptoe around hoarders that I doubt anything has been done.     

Edited July 29, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[Taeolas]

I'm tired of the 2 hours, 1 hoarder format of the show now. It's just too much. 😞  Hell, it was too much the first time the show returned. 

If it was even just 2 hours, 2 hoarders (as in 2 distinct locations, not 2 hoarders at 1 location or who share 2 locations), it would probably be tolerable. 

 

I've been watching repeats of TLC's Hoarding Buried Alive a bit lately, and it feels ot me that H:BA method tends to be a bit more effective. Like the UK show someone mentioned earlier, the specialist seems to try to work with the hoarder one on one a bit before the big cleanup happens, and then there tends to be more recovery time after. It feels like H:BA has more successes in the end. 

But at the same time, Hoarders feels like it tends to have the more extreme cases, especially in later/current seasons. So they're starting in a more extreme hoard to start with, and generally have less time to work with. It's not surprising that there are more failures. 

[AZChristian]

I almost didn't watch any part of last night's show, because what I read here made me think it would be too much like reliving my own family history (mother who targeted me as the child to blame for everything and hoarding brother who was an idiot, but thought he should continue blaming me for all of the family's woes).  But there was nothing else on, and I decided to watch the last 30 minutes or so.  

As someone who had a similar visit with a therapist who had treated my brother and then saw what his behavior did to me, I think Dr. Tobin was appropriately helpful to Lauren.  He kept calling her brave for even trying to help the family situation, although she thought she was just stupid for doing it.  They had her so beaten down that she couldn't even have a positive thought about herself.  When an outsider - a trained professional - gave her that one word to hang onto - "brave" - she was able to focus on that positive idea and even thank him for it.

Sherry and Matt deserve to be the people who are found dead under a pile of moldy refuse months after they died.  And Sherry just needs to know that she did her best and THEN some, and grab onto all the happiness she can for the rest of her life.

[sempervivum]

It's a shame that the pathology that produces hoarding behavior doesn't produce suicidal behavior (although I guess these sad sacks are all slowly killing themselves).

The lady in next week's previews seems to be a bit more likeable; I hope we get someone to root for. This is starting to seem like the parade of repulsive fatties from 600 Lb. Life.

[LittleIggy]

If Sherry hasn’t paid the mortgage in two years, why hasn’t the bank foreclosed? Do they just not want to deal with mess?

[CrazyInAlabama]

Depending on the location, the mortgage company might have so many homes in the same situation that they didn't get around to foreclosing yet.   Or the mother is one of those internet warriors, who reads all of this garbage about how to fight foreclosures, and fights for years.   Eventually the marshals will be delivering the paperwork, and the eviction proceedings will start, but I'm sure she'll play the poor old lady card, and delay it even more.     Also, who knows how true the 'facts' they tell on TV are?   

Where I used to live there were a lot of foreclosures, and the banks would file the paperwork, and foreclose.   Then usually they sold to one of two national banks that liked handling foreclosures.    Then they would resell the most expensive first.    Depending on the price of the house, they might have a crew come out, change locks, and winterize the house.   Some of the crews also striped all of the junk out, and sometimes ruined carpets or other items to clean out the house.     Some would take years to resell.  

Remember Sandra in the mansion that ended the season a few years ago?    She had refinanced, and didn't pay the mortgage for five years, then fought the foreclosure in court even after the house was auctioned off to the two buyers we saw on the show.    She had been evicted long before the show filming happened, so her non-payment to foreclosure, to resell, to clean out took a over seven years.  

The clean up company from last night's show did an interview with a local news station, talking about the wonderful clean up they did.    Sorry, they did a decent job on one bedroom, and scraped some stuff out of the house, but the rest of the upstairs was still full except for that bedroom, and the basement only had enough room to put in the washer, and water heater, (and is re-hoarded according to the ending screen on the TV).   

Sherry and Matt's dysfunctional relationship is so sick.  It turned my stomach when the show cleared only one bedroom for the two to share.    If they'll admit the main water line broke, and the basement is hoarded again, I'm betting the rooms that had a path are back to full again.   Some day the show will be filming, and there will be a tragedy from some out of control hoarder, or their enabler attacking someone.  

Edited July 28, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[essexjan]

10 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

Lauren should never have kept in touch with the mother, and should never have agreed to be humiliated on national TV like that.     I was really worried in a few scenes that the brother or mother would physically attack Lauren.   She's the family scapegoat, and always will be.    Lauren should never have come to the house, and should have left when it was clear that her mother and brother were so hostile to her. 

I wonder if Lauren stuck it out during filming, despite the abuse, precisely so that she could show to the world what she'd been enduring all her life.  I felt so sad for her and I wish Dr Tobin had been much firmer with her mother and, particularly, her brother when they were kicking off at her.

Both mother and son have serious mental health issues. The son in particular seemed dangerous to me, with that hair-trigger temper and uncontrollable rage. His dynamic with his mother was very unhealthy. I was also shocked that he's only 27 and thought he was in his early 40s. I'm not surprised Sherry re-hoarded. The production company should have diverted the aftercare money to Lauren, who surely deserved it much more than Sherry or Matt.

 

[Sile]

At one time, (probably before they were in it), that house was magnificent.  But I don't know if it would even be possible to bring it back at this point.

I think their sense of money is somewhat skewed.  Some old synthesizers and a portable organ from the 80s is worth 80K, but a $100 gift card will keep them in groceries for three months.

I hadn't paid much attention to the reboot, as I stopped watching the original when it basically became a gross-out contest.  So I just happened to see this was on and tuned in.  It took me a few minutes to even recognize Dr. Tolin.  What happened to my Dr. David Blue Eyes and when did he become Dick Cheney? 

Then I realized just how long it's been since the show started and cut him some slack because I don't look like I did back then, either.  He still has his sparkle and charm, though.  He was becoming more and more attractive to me as the show went on.

[FormerMod-a1]

Cory was doing his best to maintain a blank face, but you could tell he was exasperated more than a few times.  Not that I blame him.  But despite how they were behaving, he did need Sheryl's and Matt's "ok" to do things since it is their house and their stuff.  Plus he is a professional.  But that 80-200K for the old computers and music equipment?  No one could contain their disbelief at that.  They just walked out and were like "ok, then". 

[Claire85]

I’m about 15 minutes in and the brother is already freaking me out. He is dangerous, for sure. 

[OoogleEyes]

She was fired because she hoarded her office? Yikes. 

"Sometimes you just gotta shit in a bucket!" 

This house could be so nice, look at the woodwork. 

 I just cringe when I see that nice new clean bedding taken in to these nasty homes because you know it will be trash in no time at all

That was depressing 

Edited July 28, 2020 by OoogleEyes

[FormerMod-a1]

I do wonder what happened to Sheryl that she builds literal walls of trash that even block the doors.  Other hoarders this bad have things stacked to the ceilings, but the entrances to the houses are usually a bit more open.  Then again, often when we hear the "trigger" it's usually hard and/or stressful, but not always extreme like you'd think to devolve into this.  Sometimes it's just a divorce, or death in the family.  Sometimes it is more, of course, like multiple deaths of loved ones, or abuse.  I'm just saying it might not explain this if we did know.  

If this wasn't a portrait in how different people cope with horrible situations, I don't know what is.  Lauren shut down and "learned to take it", while Matt wanted to avoid at all costs and ended up so entwined with Sheryl that he's now co-dependent and a hoarder himself, too.  

Lastly (maybe 😛 ) I wonder why Matt doesn't work.  He says he left his job in CA after 2 years  Why didn't he stay there?  Did mom guilt him into coming back?  Was he fired?  Has he tried to find a job back home?  Why doesn't he work? 

[Ligeia]

Gosh, Sherry is so bad she's hilarious in a way.

Matt did freak me out a bit with his serial killer-wannabe looks.

Lauren should just forget about them and let them die in their trash.

[mamadrama]

On 7/22/2020 at 5:20 AM, CrazyInAlabama said:

Yes, Missy was telling the truth, and it should have been done when Carol moved into the house two days after the woman committed suicide.   I'm guessing Carol didn't just leave, but moved on to one of her other properties, or another man she could bleed dry.    I'm sick of the shrinks and organizers, on this show coddling the hoarders, and telling family and friends they conned into helping with the show to keep filming.    I admire the relatives and friends that walk away, and stay gone.     This show changes nothing about the hoarder, except making them feel important, and reaffirming that they're the center of the universe, and control everything.     I wish more people would leave, and stay gone, and cut off the hoarders.    The only person a hoarder cares about is the hoard, and that a big F.U. to the rest of the world.   

When I read about Zasio's testimony for the hoarder who murdered a man, that did it for me.    Who has this show actually helped?    The answer is only one or two, who weren't hoarders, but did clean up.    I can only think of one case, a young man who was in a hoard with his father, and that issue wasn't hoarding, but the father's drinking problem.   The fact that children, and animals live in these hoards, but very little is done to help them is disgusting.     It's all about the ratings, and keeping the filming going.   

As a child of a hoarder it's helped me a lot. I honestly had no idea other people lived like that. Several of the show therapists help out in our support group and have provided me, personally, with a lot of assistance over the year. Dr Suzanne is one of the only doctors out there who's focusing their research on CoHs and I've participated in her studies. I'll admit that not many on the show appear "helped" but addicts don't usually clear up after a single weekend, either. It's a lot of ongoing care and therapy, and many of the people are already at the end of their lives. It's taken my mom 13 years of therapy to get to where she could downsize even a little.