I’m sure you’ve seen the TV program Hoarders and know what these properties can look like. People who are hoarders will accumulate all kinds of things in their homes until every inch of their home is packed with belongings. Hoarders can’t seem to let go of unnecessary items to clean their homes. In a lot of situations a hoarder’s home can become dilapidated and very dangerous.
If you manage such a property, there are a few things you can do to clean it up. You can clean it yourself with some planning and preparation, you can call a professional, or you can attempt to collect from the hoarder’s insurance company to pay for the cleanup. However, a lot of hoarding messes can’t be safely cleaned without the help of a professional. You should look at filing a claim on the hoarder’s renter’s policy to see if the coverage is provided. If you report it to the hoarder’s insurance company, you’ll have to wait until the company comes out to inspect and assess it. Be sure you don’t clean anything until after the insurance company has assessed the damage. If you end up cleaning the property yourself, make sure you create a strategy to clean the property. You will need to assess how severe the hoarding damage is and plan accordingly. Your strategy should focus on breaking the project up into smaller sections and doing one section at a time. Following are some things that will need to be done in order to clean the property:
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Assess the property and what it’s going to take to get it cleaned up. As you develop your strategy, focus on cleaning up smaller areas at a time and create small projects for each section.
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You’ll need a dumpster from a waste disposal company to throw out all the trash and major junk. Many of the companies that provide dumpsters will also dispose of the trash for you.
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Sanitize every area and start with the largest areas needing the sanitation. Some hoarders create health hazards because they neglect sanitation in the kitchen and bathrooms. You should start with cleaning and sanitizing these areas first.
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Remove useless objects and trash them. Some of the objects can be salvaged once they’re cleaned. All of the trash and junk should be thrown away before you start dealing with re-usable items.
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After you’ve cleared the waste and sanitized the home, you can sort through the other property to determine what can be sold or given to thrift stores.
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