Lifnprogres
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA
Earlier this year my Grandmother signed over her house to me on a quit claim deed. She has been a hoarder (just like the TV shows) ever since my Grandfather died about 15 years ago. I live in Las Vegas and she lives in the property in question in PA. Her condition has gotten worse over the years and now is at a point where she accuses family members who visit of stealing her belongings. I flew in to handle the situation because I was the only one she trusted (I was overseas in the military so could not have possibly stolen anything from her). She routinely locked the doors of her house and would not answer them (dropped off the radar) for days / weeks at a time so getting her to even meet was a challenge. The property is not worth much and Gram had been trying to sell it for years to family for 20,000.00 (enough for her funeral expenses). She was of sound mind but depressed and very stubborn in her age.
So after talking to family members (two of her daughters live in the same town as her) I decided that I needed to help. Because she trusted me I was able to get a lot further with her than anyone else. I went in and after seeing the damages to the property actually thought about putting her in an apartment and having the house condemned. The roof leaks, rat damage, and there is a support beam that is cracked in the basement. Estimated 30-50k worth of damages to fix. I spoke about this at length with my grandmother and since I knew her tendency to lock herself away told her that I would help clean up the mess as long as I got a key so she could not lock me out. She seemed grateful for the first week. We managed to remove nearly 27 tons of trash, clothes, and general junk from her house. That is when we found the extent of the damages and realized that the house may not be worth fixing up.
After another talk with gram she agreed to sign the house over to me with her having a life estate. (I would have nearly as much money into the house for repairs as it was worth and far more than she was willing to sell it for so that seemed like more than a fair deal). She went and had the document notarized and we filed it with the recorder of deeds office. The verbal agreement was that I would fix up the house and we would rent out the upstairs which would give her an income to help with expenses.
Unfortunately I have a life and had to fly back to Vegas to continue working. I left the rest of the clean up (we only had about half of the house cleaned out) to her daughters to handle with me funding it. Within the month she began accusing me as well as everyone else involved of stealing and had the locks on the house changed. While it is true that a good deal of "stuff" was removed from the house. Hoarders often place unrealistic value on items. In order to make the house safe things had to go. Nothing valuable (over 50.00) was thrown away. I spent several months trying to talk to her but simply can not take that much time off work to be there and hand hold. No work = no money to fix the house. When we would make appointments to get the roof fixed, or to put in the new shower she simply would not answer the door. So currently she only has a toilet in the house which is more than she had when I got there. The new shower has sat in the yard for nearly 7 months now. The roof currently has at least 6 leaks in it. When she stopped answering my phone calls I began sending her checks hoping that at least if she had the money she would get the house fixed. That has not happened and so I am at the point where I have a problem.
The house is currently un-insurable and so the insurance company has given me a 60 day time frame to bring it back up to code. The way I see it I only have four options.
A) Because I own the property, break the door and force the needed fixes to happen. This could include tons more items being thrown away so that repair crews could get to the needed spots and make the house safe for her to live in. This is also a very traumatic event for the person who has the hoarding disorder. Not exactly legal but I can't imagine any cop not siding me repairing the house.
B) Take gram to court and have the life estate revoked. I believe that the hoarding and damage to the property would constitute "waste" and I could win this judgement. Than evict her and put her up into an apartment until I can complete repairs. This could be costly since I would be paying for both repairs and her rent. Not to mention if she destroys the apartment that bill would also likely be in my name.
C) Have the property condemned so that she is forced to move out and allow the repairs to happen. She would probably never speak to me and may not even move back in when repairs were completed. This is the "nuclear" option.
D) Force the fixes needed to insure the property. Than allow the property to fall apart, catch on fire, or collapse. Hope that she is not inside when it does.
She is at the point where she vehemently believes that she is right not matter how illogical it is. She actually writes in the memo lines of the checks I send her "for damages caused" or "for items stolen from". This behavior is how she treats everyone.
So I guess my question is both a legal and a moral one. What is my best option and why?
Thanks in advance,
Justin
Earlier this year my Grandmother signed over her house to me on a quit claim deed. She has been a hoarder (just like the TV shows) ever since my Grandfather died about 15 years ago. I live in Las Vegas and she lives in the property in question in PA. Her condition has gotten worse over the years and now is at a point where she accuses family members who visit of stealing her belongings. I flew in to handle the situation because I was the only one she trusted (I was overseas in the military so could not have possibly stolen anything from her). She routinely locked the doors of her house and would not answer them (dropped off the radar) for days / weeks at a time so getting her to even meet was a challenge. The property is not worth much and Gram had been trying to sell it for years to family for 20,000.00 (enough for her funeral expenses). She was of sound mind but depressed and very stubborn in her age.
So after talking to family members (two of her daughters live in the same town as her) I decided that I needed to help. Because she trusted me I was able to get a lot further with her than anyone else. I went in and after seeing the damages to the property actually thought about putting her in an apartment and having the house condemned. The roof leaks, rat damage, and there is a support beam that is cracked in the basement. Estimated 30-50k worth of damages to fix. I spoke about this at length with my grandmother and since I knew her tendency to lock herself away told her that I would help clean up the mess as long as I got a key so she could not lock me out. She seemed grateful for the first week. We managed to remove nearly 27 tons of trash, clothes, and general junk from her house. That is when we found the extent of the damages and realized that the house may not be worth fixing up.
After another talk with gram she agreed to sign the house over to me with her having a life estate. (I would have nearly as much money into the house for repairs as it was worth and far more than she was willing to sell it for so that seemed like more than a fair deal). She went and had the document notarized and we filed it with the recorder of deeds office. The verbal agreement was that I would fix up the house and we would rent out the upstairs which would give her an income to help with expenses.
Unfortunately I have a life and had to fly back to Vegas to continue working. I left the rest of the clean up (we only had about half of the house cleaned out) to her daughters to handle with me funding it. Within the month she began accusing me as well as everyone else involved of stealing and had the locks on the house changed. While it is true that a good deal of "stuff" was removed from the house. Hoarders often place unrealistic value on items. In order to make the house safe things had to go. Nothing valuable (over 50.00) was thrown away. I spent several months trying to talk to her but simply can not take that much time off work to be there and hand hold. No work = no money to fix the house. When we would make appointments to get the roof fixed, or to put in the new shower she simply would not answer the door. So currently she only has a toilet in the house which is more than she had when I got there. The new shower has sat in the yard for nearly 7 months now. The roof currently has at least 6 leaks in it. When she stopped answering my phone calls I began sending her checks hoping that at least if she had the money she would get the house fixed. That has not happened and so I am at the point where I have a problem.
The house is currently un-insurable and so the insurance company has given me a 60 day time frame to bring it back up to code. The way I see it I only have four options.
A) Because I own the property, break the door and force the needed fixes to happen. This could include tons more items being thrown away so that repair crews could get to the needed spots and make the house safe for her to live in. This is also a very traumatic event for the person who has the hoarding disorder. Not exactly legal but I can't imagine any cop not siding me repairing the house.
B) Take gram to court and have the life estate revoked. I believe that the hoarding and damage to the property would constitute "waste" and I could win this judgement. Than evict her and put her up into an apartment until I can complete repairs. This could be costly since I would be paying for both repairs and her rent. Not to mention if she destroys the apartment that bill would also likely be in my name.
C) Have the property condemned so that she is forced to move out and allow the repairs to happen. She would probably never speak to me and may not even move back in when repairs were completed. This is the "nuclear" option.
D) Force the fixes needed to insure the property. Than allow the property to fall apart, catch on fire, or collapse. Hope that she is not inside when it does.
She is at the point where she vehemently believes that she is right not matter how illogical it is. She actually writes in the memo lines of the checks I send her "for damages caused" or "for items stolen from". This behavior is how she treats everyone.
So I guess my question is both a legal and a moral one. What is my best option and why?
Thanks in advance,
Justin
