Hoarder at Condo

I decided to post http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2014/03/bug_rodent_infestation_in_hoar.html">the whole article:

An infestation of cockroaches, fleas and rodents caused by conditions in an Ypsilanti Township hoarder condo has forced one neighbor to move and another says she is moving out at the end of the month.

“I’m kind of in the same boat as (the neighbor who moved out),” said Stacie Vinson, one of the neighbors in the four-unit building. “It’s a nuisance, a headache, it’s embarrassing and there’s a stigma to it.”

The township condemned the condo, located in the 1500 block of Wingate in the Wingate Condominium complex, for its highly unsanitary conditions on Feb. 11, and joined a lawsuit against the owner brought by the condo association.

A Washtenaw County Circuit judge gave the owners 10 days to clean the condo and address an infestation. That deadline was set for Monday, though township officials said the various attorneys would determine a day and time to inspect the property.

Photos of the unit and officials’ description of the home show an interior filled with piles of garbage, spoiled food, clothes, household items and junk. The owners also have several dogs and the floor is covered in the animals’ feces.

Township officials confirmed the infestation is so severe that it drove one neighbor to move out and, once the apartment is cleared, an extermination service will have to address each of the other three units and the garages.

“The infestation did affect the entire building,” said Ron Fulton, Ypsilanti Township’s building director. “The owners say they are going remove everything and scrub the bare walls and floors.”

Vinson, who rents from the condo’s owner, said she has complained about the issue for around two years after beginning to find cockroaches in her kitchen. She said the neighbor who moved out relocated within Wingate and she said she would like to do the same but no units are available.

“I would love to stay (in Wingate). This has been the only issue,” she said.

However, she added it is a major issue.

“They’re always really nice,” Vinson said of the hoarder condo owners. “You never would know what was going on if you saw them.”

The owners include a man living with his daughter, who has a small child. Officials aren’t sure of the child’s age.

The township also issued notice of violations for similar conditions on Feb. 10, 2011 and again in October 2011.

Fulton said Washtenaw County Child Protective Services was called on the homeowners in 2011 because a baby was living in the unsanitary conditions. Officials aren’t sure about the outcome of the case and CPS doesn’t share information on their cases.

The Humane Society of Huron Valley also got involved in 2011 because the family owned around six Chihuahuas. A subsequent court order prohibited the homeowners from keeping any pets at the home. Two dogs were found living there in the latest inspection.

Fulton also noted that scenarios where homes are packed with garbage, clothes and other items present a fire hazard. He cited statistics from the Hoarding Taskforce of Washtenaw County that state 70 percent of house fires can be contained to the room in which they start, but 75 percent of homes with an increased “fire load” end up a total loss.

Mike Radzik, director of the township’s office of community standards, said the Wingate Condominium Association initiated the lawsuit and started taking action before the township was involved.

“They’re being very proactive in getting this thing taken care of,” he said.