How to get hoarder sibling to empty/sell elder’s home?

[Anonymous]

Who has the power of attorney? If it’s you, just make an appointment to have the haulers come in 30 days and inform sibling. You want to have all the paperwork in hand because sibling might try to block the activity on the day claiming it’s unauthorized, so you need to make sure you can prove to the company that it’s legal. You can also hire an elder care company to handle this stuff (not 100% sure what it’s called, but there are people who specialize in dealing with elder/dementia support for all of the associated issues)

If you are not the POA, you can’t do anything without the legal owner’s consent.

[Anonymous]

Give Karen or Veronica a call: https://greatfallsorganizers.com/

They can help sort out any valuables that you might want to save, arrange to sell anything that might be salvageable and coordinate with the junk haulers. They also can push their bill to the sale of the house so that it isn't a financial burden on anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who cares? Tell them they have until 1/31 and on 2/1 when they haven't done it, call the junk haulers.

+100 yup that's it. We had to do this with my sister. Then follow though do NOT enable this person by not following through no excuses on their end. That's it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Give Karen or Veronica a call: https://greatfallsorganizers.com/

They can help sort out any valuables that you might want to save, arrange to sell anything that might be salvageable and coordinate with the junk haulers. They also can push their bill to the sale of the house so that it isn't a financial burden on anyone.

Have the done hoarders homes before like full on hoard like the tv show or just organize rich peoples nice stuffed closets and pantries? There's a HUGE difference. Their website doesn't look like they deal with hoards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you have POA for your mother? If so, you don’t need to fool around with this any longer. Set the junk haul date and let your sibling worry about where to put the stuff they want to keep in the meantime. Do not rent a storage unit or take anything into your home that is not for you and your family. Your sibling will have a fit and badmouth you to their family but you have to do this for your mother’s sake. Stay strong.

+1
And to pile on, you need to sell this house to get it back into circulation. We have an empty (??) house on our street that the children are not taking care of; parent has died; won't sell. We don't know why. Get that house cleaned out and sold.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give Karen or Veronica a call: https://greatfallsorganizers.com/

They can help sort out any valuables that you might want to save, arrange to sell anything that might be salvageable and coordinate with the junk haulers. They also can push their bill to the sale of the house so that it isn't a financial burden on anyone.

Have the done hoarders homes before like full on hoard like the tv show or just organize rich peoples nice stuffed closets and pantries? There's a HUGE difference. Their website doesn't look like they deal with hoards.

If I'm understanding correctly, the sibling is the hoarder and not the parent?

[Anonymous]

Take pictures of every room, document blocked pathways, etc., to make your case in case it goes to court.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who cares? Tell them they have until 1/31 and on 2/1 when they haven't done it, call the junk haulers.

I will have to deal with character defamation and screaming and 10 phone calls a day so I care.

OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who has the power of attorney? If it’s you, just make an appointment to have the haulers come in 30 days and inform sibling. You want to have all the paperwork in hand because sibling might try to block the activity on the day claiming it’s unauthorized, so you need to make sure you can prove to the company that it’s legal. You can also hire an elder care company to handle this stuff (not 100% sure what it’s called, but there are people who specialize in dealing with elder/dementia support for all of the associated issues)

If you are not the POA, you can’t do anything without the legal owner’s consent.

I’m the first POA and hoarder is second if I don’t want to do it.

This makes me feel better. Thank you. I’ll make sure to have the paperwork.

Hoarder did allow junk people to haul some items away, which was surprising. There’s just a lot of junk and hoarder has not moved the furniture they want for years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you have POA for your mother? If so, you don’t need to fool around with this any longer. Set the junk haul date and let your sibling worry about where to put the stuff they want to keep in the meantime. Do not rent a storage unit or take anything into your home that is not for you and your family. Your sibling will have a fit and badmouth you to their family but you have to do this for your mother’s sake. Stay strong.

+1
And to pile on, you need to sell this house to get it back into circulation. We have an empty (??) house on our street that the children are not taking care of; parent has died; won't sell. We don't know why. Get that house cleaned out and sold.

I’d like very much to have the house sold and so does owner parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Elderly parent moved out two years ago. If we don’t sell house by a certain point, it will be expensive taxwise for the elderly parent with dementia.

Hoarder sibling has filled several of their own houses and a storage unit with junk and is in no hurry to empty the stuff they want (most everything) from the house.

While I can stand firm and say I will call the junk haulers by a certain date, I will definitely be screamed at and hoarder sibling will tell their family I’m a horrible person.

Any advice for getting this house cleared out and sold?

One idea I had is to rent a storage unit and pay to have all the crud the hoarder wants moved to that location.

I can’t make them hire a moving company.

I am pretty sure they lie when they say the take trash from our clearing out process and throw it away at home. Hoarder has fought me over a trash bag filled with trash.


I DO NOT want to end up as a co-owner on a house with the hoarder. If I do, can I make them sell the house??

Dear OP, I don't have time to read all of the comments but we had a very stressful similar incident in our family. My parents were hoarders. They lived in fear of County Services being called. We never did that, although it was discussed. Whatever adult child did that (call in help) would be tossed out of the will. Then, one parent fell outside and was unobserved by anyone but the other parent who had dementia. The primarily hoarding parent wouldn't allow the other parent to call because the condition of the house would be discovered. Fortunately, a neighbor found them and called. County services DID then get involved because of their condition at the hospital and they were sent to a nursing home until all of the work on the house could be done and the County inspected (mold, water damage, filth). that was a blessing. It was extremely painful for everyone involved. So if you can somehow get an outside party to investigate (Police will do a "wellness check"), do it, but bear in mind the parents can usually figure out who made the call - and that was the problem in our situation. Check with your local county's offices. Today, most counties have divisions that deal with this kind of problem

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give Karen or Veronica a call: https://greatfallsorganizers.com/

They can help sort out any valuables that you might want to save, arrange to sell anything that might be salvageable and coordinate with the junk haulers. They also can push their bill to the sale of the house so that it isn't a financial burden on anyone.

Have the done hoarders homes before like full on hoard like the tv show or just organize rich peoples nice stuffed closets and pantries? There's a HUGE difference. Their website doesn't look like they deal with hoards.

If I'm understanding correctly, the sibling is the hoarder and not the parent?

Yes. Sibling is the hoarder.

Parents crammed cabinets, basement, and drawers but you could walk around the the house safely and it looked okay.

There have been about 50-100 boxes of books, tools, paint, and other junk.

OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Give Karen or Veronica a call: https://greatfallsorganizers.com/

They can help sort out any valuables that you might want to save, arrange to sell anything that might be salvageable and coordinate with the junk haulers. They also can push their bill to the sale of the house so that it isn't a financial burden on anyone.

This sounds perfect. Having another person involved will reduce the screaming from the hoarder. They usually act okay in front of strangers.

OP

[Anonymous]

Tell sis you need to sell items to make money that will be applied to pay estate fees such as property taxes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you get it carted away to storage who is going to pay for the storage unit?

Can you rent a pod that they deliver and tell sibling either to fill it or it’s all going in the dumpster.

Then OP will be on the hook for the pod.