Comments on: Dumpster-diving tenant evicted after Winnipeg apartment seriously infested with bed bugs

By: Blue_Ox

Blue_Ox — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 03:43:20 +0000

my question is - was it really mould or was it bedbug poop?

By: parakeets

parakeets — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 18:04:19 +0000

Hoarding is treated as a diability and, as such, tenants with disabilities are entitled to accommodations. So social serivces, visiting nurse associations, elder services, etc., should be called in to assist the tenant. Some municipalities are creating “Hoarding Taskforces” similar to “Bedbug Taskforces” to address the problem of hoarding. In Massachusetts there was one case where $16,000 was spent to clean out and treat a unit and tenant where the tenant was a hoarder. A year later the unit was back to where it was. Hoarding is a difficult problem to treat. Seminal studies have been done by researchers Tolin, Frost and Steketee and cognitive therapy seems to give some help. There can be co-morbidities such as dementia, depression, and other disorders which also have to be treated. There is no easy solution and with the population growing older, this will become an increasingly prevalent problem. Hoarding definitely impacts a bedbug problem. Though clutter does not cause bedbugs, a tenant who hoards is more likely to have a unit that cannot be successfully treated for bedbugs and the tenant may be likely to bring bedbugs in if he or she continues to dumpster dive.

By: nobugsonme

nobugsonme — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 17:15:59 +0000

Parakeets,
That is a very interesting statistic.
What can be done in such cases? Do you agree with the landlord here that social services should be assisting the tenant?

By: parakeets

parakeets — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 16:54:21 +0000

Experts estimate that 2% of the population are hoarders, and a higher percentage than that among the elderly. After non-payment of rent, hoarding is the second most common reason for eviction of tenants. Since many PCOs simply refuse to treat a unit with clutter for bedbugs, this is a conundrum that cannot be easily resolved. Even if all the clutter were removed from a unit in question and the entire building was successfully treated for bedbugs, the tenant could bring bedbugs in the next time he or she picks up something from a dumpster and reinfest the building. Hoarding syndrome is very difficult to treat and the hoarding behavior often continues, even with medication and counseling.