A few words about the (now previous) owner.

   I watch a lot of episodes of Hoarders, produced by the A & E network, so I know there are a lot of people who destroy their homes with varying amounts of crazy. Although the last owner was not a hoarder, he was certainly very neglectful of the house.  Here's what we know so far about the last owner as it pertains to the house.

 The previous owner, David, bought the house from his father in 2001. Its pretty obvious he was unable or unwilling to maintain the property. When the house was inspected we learned from a neighbor that he had cancer. (He is still living today, we think he resides in an apartment building across town. He has not lived in the house we bought since 2012) At first we believed the cancer was the root cause of all the problems with the house. I felt incredibly guilty for potentially taking advantage of someone's misfortune, but the story is not that straightforward.

One of the reasons the sale took nine months to close was because of the various liens on the house. He stopped paying his mortgage, property taxes and utilities, which I suppose can happen if a person is very ill and cant work. However, one of the liens was for a fur coat he bought with a store credit card and never paid.  (I joked with the realtor that he needed the fur coat to keep warm in a house with a non working boiler.) The fur store owner took him to court and won. He is employed now but I suppose he was not working when he was sued. No wages to garnish and the judge put a lien on the house. While cleaning out the house right after the sale I found an unpaid bill for the grand piano in the living room. There is a set of encyclopedias that were never paid for either. He also borrowed a  $50,000. home improvement loan that was never paid. I don't know in what order these events occurred, but he certainly lived beyond his means.
   
The last unresolved issue is the car left behind in the yard. Its been there since at least 2012. It belongs to David's nephew, who is currently incarcerated. I'd like to get it towed to his house and dump it on to his yard.