Cleanup After Hoarder Dies
Jim Snedeker, snedeker@brookvilleohio.com, Economic Development, Zoning/Property Maintenance Officer, City of Brookville; Phone 937-833-2135; Fax 937-833-3347 asks the following questions:
We have been faced with the challenge of a hoarder who passed away leaving the City a huge problem with what he left behind.
We have stated the process with a demolition company for the house which has been ruled structurally unsafe.
Is there a company that specializes in the clean up process?
We have found several items of value that we don’t know what to do with.
We deal with these situations in the course of our demolition program in two ways.
Our primary method is to contract with local refuse haulers (we got our initial list from the Health Department and sent invitations to bid to all haulers) - We have a mandatory pre-bid walk-through of the structure and accept bids for the removal of all items not able to be removed to a regular Construction/Demolition landfill. This includes upholstered furniture, appliances, clothing, and other items of value that were abandoned by the property owner. All items (garbage, appliances, works of art, machinery, tools, toys, etc.) that are removed becomes the property of the respective hauler company and they may do whatever they wish (resale, destruction, etc.) as long as they do it on their own facility/site and it does not create a nuisance or violation of our local codes.
Our second method is to discuss with the demolition contractor the need for the demo/abandoned debris to be taken to a site that accepts this "mixed load" for us the closest facility is in Vandalia and therefore there is a subsequent increase in costs that in out experience outweighs the costs incurred using method 1.
We have had a great deal of success with this process and have seen demo costs drop because of it. There are also certain letters we send to clarify that the items left at the time the demolition process begins (for us usually a 2 week period from start to finish) are considered abandoned and will be dealt with as such.
If you/anyone have questions let me know.
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In Canton,Ohio we advertise for bid on the property and the contractor who is awarded the bid has the full responsibility to remove everthing and can do whatever is left on the property.
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