Gross Filth Houses

Just when I think that I have literally seen it all. Just when I think I have been in and cleaned the most disgusting home anyone could possibly imagine, I get called to another one.

I saw on t.v. a women in a suburb of Tampa get busted by the animal control and police having 43 dogs in her house. To make matters worse, her sister had died in the house, and the women put her body on the back yard porch so she could continue to collect her social security check. I guess she didn't realize the smell would be that bad and neighbors called the police. That wasn't the first time the police were called. There were several code violations for animal neglect, obnoxious smells coming from the house etc. The t.v. news report mentioned two deaths in the residence, but didn't elaborate on the second one. The women looked disheveled but spoke to reporters. She said that she had two dogs and took great care of them. She said she kept taking in homeless dogs and they kept breeding. She said it got out of control and they eventually took over her house. The police did not prosecute her for failing to take care of her animals or her property.

Then here I am 3 months later and I get the call. It was blatently obvious by speaking to the women on the phone that she has mental health issues. Its not surprise considering the issues that occurred with her. I agreed to meet her at the residence, which was condemned according to her. I was on time as usual to give her a bid.

The women showed up in an older mini van driven by a white male in his 30's. The guy appeared to have some issues of his own. A younger woman got out of the front passenger seat and she was......well not all there either. Then last but not least, the owner of the house, and the woman I had seen on t.v. I introduced myself and she immediately started ranting on different tangents. From the street I could see the bright orange condemned sign on the garage door. The trees were very over grown. The woman asked me if we were extreme makeover and if we were going to clean up her house for free. I have no idea where she got that from, but if she's not schizophrenic, then I am not writing this right now. My company has done countless free jobs for the elderly, the poor, and just people I have felt sorry for in the past. To do free jobs, I usually do them myself to avoid paying out labor. I can only do so many free jobs every year and still try to maintain a profit. This particular job would absolutely not be a free job. I'll explain why.

The woman, who I'll call Mary led me to the side door of the house. When she opened the side door leading to the garage I was immediately hit with a strong odor of urine, mold, and dampness. I saw roaches scurry among the clutter. The garage was completely full with appliances, furniture, clothing and other pack rat items that are worth absolutely ZERO. She started talking to herself out loud and I mumbled under my breath how disgusting this shit was. Then we walked in the main living area, and I was cussing myself out underneath my breath. Why you ask? Well mainly because I had given a bid a few weeks ago at a cat house that was also condemned and I wasn't given a warning before walking in. Needless to say when I got out of that house 15 minutes later I was eaten alive by fleas. This particular house was sitting vacant for so long that I figured the fleas had all died because their host was gone. NOT QUITE!!!!!

As I walked in I saw probably 50 red bags of O'l Roy dog food that was chewed up and strewn all over the house. The feces was so old and dried up it had turned into a grey dust. Some of the formation of dog feces was still present and it was evident of what it was. The furniture was eaten, wood on the arms of chairs exposed. The mattresses had huge holes in them, covered with feces. Parts of the ceiling was gone, and the beams were the only thing left. Some insulation was hanging out of the wall. The bathrooms had brown stains all over the tile. The kitchen was non functional, and appeared to not have been used in years. The back patio sliding door was slightly ajar which led me to believe someone or something had been coming and going as they pleased. I could see the large fruit trees in the back yard were over grown and had an abundance of fruit.

"Mary" started to get agitated and yelled that she thought someone had been in the house rifling through her stuff. Did she not realize that nothing in that house was even nice enough to be pissed on at a truck stop? Did she not realize that living that way is not Ok? Those are thoughts that go through my head, but I never ask. Most times they are embarrassed enough, other times, they have no idea what's going on and really don't care.

This woman has no money, and the house is being foreclosed on. The bank will eventually hire us to clean it up so they can get contractors in there to repair the structural damages and flip it in this crazy market. All in all I feel horrible for the animals. We get so many of these calls for cleanups after the animals have been removed. My heart breaks for these animals. They are held captive in these houses and very hungy. By looking at the furniture its evident they were very hungry.

That's how the other half lives!