In addition to health hazards elderly hoarders often face eviction and expensive clean-up bills.
In the last few years the problem of hoarders has been brought to the public's attention thanks to television shows about the people with the issue. Hoarders are people who collect and keep everything. Their homes become so full of stuff that it is impossible to clean.
Often it is impossible to even walk around except by following narrow paths through the home.
Recently, Next Avenue had a story about one elderly hoarder and the problems that has caused for his family in "The Painful Costs of Elder Hoarding."
In this case a Florida man was living in a mobile home retirement community. The homeowner's association threatened eviction because of everything spilling over from inside to outside of the home. The cost to his family for cleanup was $4,000.
It was then discovered that the inside of the home was in even worse state and contained many health hazards for an elderly person. Cleaning up the inside of the home by professionals came at an estimated cost of $15,000, which the family was unable to afford.
Fortunately, the man's air conditioning unit broke and the family was able to convince him to do some cleaning in exchange for a new air conditioner.
Hoarding by the elderly is a serious problem that does not have any easy solutions.
If you have a family member with the problem, contact an elder law attorney or an elder advocacy group to see what resources are available in your area to help.
Reference: Next Avenue (March 23, 2016) "The Painful Costs of Elder Hoarding."
