House of hoarder ‘out of control’; officials order clean up

The cats peering through the grimy kitchen window of a Mira Mesa house, perched atop mountains of debris that covered every surface, were three of more than 20 found on the property. That’s not including half a dozen found dead, wrapped in plastic bags in boxes in a freezer.

They weren’t the only animals to have taken up residence at the San Diego County house.

“We found four opossums yesterday,” San Diego police Lt. Natalie Stone said Wednesday. “There were somewhere between 50 to 100 rats. When they cut down a bougainvillea, rats just went everywhere. This is the worst I’ve seen.”

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For more than five years, neighbors watched as the cream-colored abode disappeared behind and under a growing pile of debris. There were family photos, tool chests still in their boxes, stacks of yellowing newspapers, Ghillie suits, piles of ammunition and firecrackers, an oversized Zippo lighter, and much more. All of it was mixed with trash.

After years of complaints, citations and court hearings, a team of agencies moved in last week to clean the place. The process is expected to take weeks and cost tens of thousands of dollars.

The homeowner could not be reached for comment.

The city’s Code Enforcement Division first started looking into the home in 2010 after receiving complaints from nearby residents about “excessive storage violations,” according to court documents. Neighbors and family members pitched in to help the homeowner tidy up, but it didn’t last.

Lily Larranaga and her husband were part of that effort. She said soon after that cleanup, though, the piles began to return. She stopped opening her windows because her daughter was allergic to cats, and she bought air purifiers for their house.

“It was a health issue, a safety issue, a fire hazard,” she said. “It was out of his control, and we needed to get involved.”

For years, the city doled out notices and citations.

“City staff could not access the front door to contact Defendant due to the large piles of junk blocking the pathway leading to the door,” court documents referenced one visit.

Another visit described a city attorney’s investigator entering the home armed with an inspection warrant.

“The investigator climbed onto a path created by large piles of junk, trash and debris that was 3-4 feet off the ground,” court documents said. “The rooms inside the dwelling were completely covered with storage items and all the hallways were blocked.”

Police think the homeowner entered and exited the house through a kitchen window.

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Winkley writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.