Foreclosure forces families out of their homes, usually in a last minute rush and under extreme duress with very tense emotions.
As a result, most foreclosure properties are not left in sanitary condition, and some are downright dangerous. Not only may furniture and personal items be left behind, but items in the home like cabinetry or fixtures might be broken and rooms vandalized. Often houses will be soiled with urine and feces, or other unpleasant surprises, in an attempt to strike back at the financial institutions that may be seen as the problem. We tend to agree with them.
Foreclosed homes or evictions can be a nightmare for banks, realtors, investors and your everyday homeowner. These topsy turvy scenes of carnage and devastation present many unforeseen hazards to the uninitiated, as many times there are dangerous pathogens contained within the decomposing trash, bodily fluids, even dead pets that can be left behind at one of these homes, suitable for only those who are knowledgeable about the proper removal and decontamination techniques that will ensure the safety of future inhabitants.
Advanced Bio Treatment is a highly trained, professional scene cleanup service with extensive experience handling such difficult cleaning. Our foreclosure cleanup teams also handle hoarding, gross filth, death scenes, and crime scene cleanup jobs. Advanced Bio Treatment has the experience and training to properly handle foreclosure cleaning and biohazard removal services. From the removal of biohazards to the complete sanitation of damaged properties, our teams can restore foreclosed homes to a habitable condition.
One home that we had been called out to restore was located in a particularly steamy part of the deep south: Pensacola, Florida. The call had originally come into our Atlanta office, but was transferred to the Sunshine state’s regional teams.
The house was an older home in a well established neighborhood along the bay, but after extensive remodeling, the property had been transformed into a very charming, Florida abode. Unfortunately, after the couple who had been leasing the home had gotten through with it, it was no longer a cozy, coastal retreat. It was more like a scene out of Amityville horror or Dawn of the Living Dead.
According to our client, the relationship between the couple and the homeowner had gone south after an argument over, what else, money. The homeowner had promised to pay for half the cost of a pool, and would guarantee to extend the rental lease agreement for two years with no increase in the amount of rent. After they had ponied up all the cash, and the pool had been installed, the homeowner had pulled a quick one, and had not only refused to reimburse them for her half, but also claimed that she had never signed any lease with them and that they were on a month to month basis only.
When the woman who owned the property had called to inform the scorned pair that she had decided to sell the home, and that they would need to repaint the walls of their new nursery to white in case the house sold quickly, it was the straw that broke the camel’s proverbial back.
Just before they disappeared in the middle of the night (moved into nearby community supposedly), taking with them most of their property with them, they decided to get a little revenge. They loaded the home with bags of trash, fish carcasses and rotting meat that had been pulled out of the freezer and left to sit in the sweltering heat inside the house with the air conditioning off.
Toilets had been backed up intentionally, and loaded up with at least a few weeks worth of urine and feces. They had used hot cooking grease down every drain in the property it seemed, clogging and melting plastic PVC piping.
In the attic, they had taken slices of bologna and tossed them like pizza dough through the air until they stuck to the overhead beams and insulation. You can imagine what that smelled like. Not. Good. I still won’t touch a bologna sandwich to this day.
The home was full of horrors, and we slowly, methodically, made our way through it, cleaning and sanitizing as we did. Floors had to be scrubbed, and toilets snaked, as well as a fair number of pipes, some of which had to be replaced altogether.
Carpet was steam cleaned, and the walls were patched and repainted. Which helped with the odor of decaying meat somewhat.
The problem was the flies. They were everywhere, and before we could really decontaminate the home, they had to go. We had to set up bug bombs, then air out the toxic fumes, before heading back in to vaccuum up thousands of the hairy black bugs and their wriggling maggots, all of which had been attracted to the smell of the rotting trash. Finally, after the home had been scrubbed until it shone, and every surface had been thoroughly cleaned and sanitized, we brought in the Ozone Machine to filter the air on a molecular level. That effectively kicked the last of the smell out of the house.
In the end, I had mixed feelings about returning the keys to the woman who introduced herself as the owner of the property. She had done some shady things, and I for one, believe in karma but it’s not my job to pass judgment. My job is to restore a home and someone’s peace of mind.
Regardless of whether the scene is at your home and personal property, a commercial business, or industrial site, we’ll strictly adhere to OSHA regulations and API Worksafe guidelines in our cleanup efforts. We only deploy EPA registered hospital grade cleansers and disinfectants.
