The Horror of Haiku ....

Something like 8 years ago, we were sitting talking with a friend about the pros and cons of owning rental property.  He basically said, "Really, what's the worst that could happen?"  Well, Chuck, let me run it down for you.....

We had our HUD tenant vacate one of our units up in Haiku.  He and his now 14 year old daughter had been living there for 3-1/2 years.  There is no question that he did not clean, dust, vacuum, sweep, wipe down or so much as brush away a crumb in all that time.  Based on the eye-watering stench, between the chickens (yes, chickens) running around inside (yes, inside) and the cats, the carpeting seems to have served as a passable toilet for them both.  Well, sure.... because the real toilet was so filthy and disgusting, not even fit for a barnyard animal.

And the tenant kindly left us some food, too.

Perhaps needless to say - but I shall nonetheless - the condition of the inside of the unit was abysmal: filthy, reeking of cat urine, chicken feathers and garbage on the floor, stains and cat-claw damage to the carpets and curtains, cobwebs, cockroaches, curtains ruined, the curtain rod pulled off the wall in one bedroom, the wardrobe broken in one bedroom, blinds caked and furry with dirt, window screens torn, the ceiling fans black with dirt, the bathroom filthy, toilet stained and area disgusting, the refrigerator still full of rotten food, the freezer completely iced up and full of food, and the front door screen missing entirely.

We flea-bombed the interior of the unit. An astonishing number of cockroaches and other dead bugs now litter the already disgusting floors in the unit. 

Big, giant coackroaches scattered all throughout the unit, pinschers up.

Oh, but it doesn't end there.  Noooooo.  He also left us what will likely be three to four truck fulls of junk, trash and debris to be taken to the dump. 

Stacked behind this fence is a 4-5' wide stack o' crap.  Plus there's a double-wide storage locker still full of more crap and a pile of yet additional crap in front of the storage area.

But, on the positive side (say, what?), those pots you see nicely lined up have been removed by the oh so thoughtful tenant.  They are each full of dirt and very likely many seeds of the mighty marijuana plant.  (HUD may not have known about his "home business" before, but they do now.)  And get this - those were all INSIDE the unit, among all his other hoarded furniture, boxes, toys, clothes and stacks and piles of whatever he could accumulate and keep inside the unit.  Along with the chickens and cats. 

We've got quite a bit of work (and expenses) ahead of us to get this place back into a habitable condition.

So really, what's the worse that could happen?  Maybe a fire would have been worse.  Maybe not.