If your HOA hasn’t already encountered a problem with hoarding in your community, odds are it will happen at some point in the near future. It’s a growing problem with HOAs across the country that can come with some pretty serious ramifications, particularly for condominium communities and multi-family buildings.

Hoarding is the compulsive collection of items that have little value or that appear useless to most people, and it can even involve animals. It becomes a real issue when this compulsive collection of clutter interferes with the use of living spaces as they were intended to be used and causes problems in day-to-day activities.

For HOAs, hoarding becomes a problem when it threatens the appearance or safety of the community. For example:

  • When hoarded items (i.e., junk piles) are kept in outdoor areas that are visible to the rest of the community, like a driveway, front porch, or front lawn.
  • When piles of hoarded items present fire hazards and restrict the entrances and exits of a living space.
  • When hoarded items and trash trigger the infestation of pests and rodents that threaten the well-being of surrounding neighbors.

For Arizona HOAs and community members, hoarders can be more than an inconvenience. In fact, just in the past few years there have been several hoarding-related fires across the valley in Glendale and Tempe. But it’s a delicate situation because hoarding is often linked to other mental health issues. So when HOAs deal with hoarders, they have to remember that they’re also dealing with someone who has a mental illness.

Related: When to Use Your HOA Insurance

So how do you deal with hoarding situations?

Well, the best way is first to make sure your bases are covered in your CC&Rs. Your bylaws should include provisions that require owners to maintain clean and sanitary conditions in their residences and a neat, tidy appearance with their outdoor property. From there you should:

  • Act on tips from other residents – If a community member contacts you about seeing or smelling signs of hoarding from one of their neighbors, don’t wait to act on it.
  • Make use of valid inspections – If your association is performing valid inspections for insurance or local code compliance, use them as an additional tool to be on the lookout for any potentially hazardous hoarding situations.
  • Talk to the owner – Before you act on any tips you receive, make sure you talk to the owner of the property. If the hoarder is a renter, the owner may be able to initiate eviction proceedings. Or the owner may be able to speak to the hoarding tenant or their relatives to try and mitigate the situation or find help for them.
  • Enforce your CC&Rs – If the owner happens to be the hoarder, then start by sending a violation letter that states the bylaws are being violated by the situation.

If the hoarding situation in your community reaches the point where it becomes a health code violation or safety hazard to others, seek help from resources available in your area, such as:

  • The Arizona Hoarding Task Force (www.AZhoarding.com)provides statewide resources for communities and individuals affected by hoarding.
  • Potential health code violations can be reported to the Maricopa County Environmental Services Department at (602)506-6616.
  • Suspected cases of animal hoarding and endangerment can be reported to the Arizona Humane Society (AZhumane.org).

While hoarding situations are frustrating for community members and HOA boards alike, try to remember that hoarding is an illness first and a violation of CC&Rs second. As you deal with the situation, focus on the owner’s need for help rather than just the enforcement of your community’s rules.

For more questions regarding the management of your HOA community, contact Spectrum Association Management today!