Woman Refusing to Return Wedding Dress Found in Hoarder House Applauded

A homeowner has won the backing of the internet after detailing an ongoing dispute over a wedding dress and jewelry left at the property she purchased.

While on first appearances, the idea of someone retaining what might be considered family heirlooms might not sit well with many, in this instance the situation was complicated further by the fact the previous owner had been a hoarder and left the property in a nightmarish state.

Hoarding disorder, to give it its clinical term, refers to a condition whereby a person has continued difficulties getting rid of possessions with attempts to do so resulting in considerable distress.

As a result, living spaces often become cluttered, restricting the ability to use them and potentially leading to other problems around maintaining a safe and clean living space.

The American Psychiatric Association estimates as many as 2.6 percent of the population suffer from hoarding disorder, with the condition found to be most common in people over the age of 60 who have pre-existing psychiatric diagnoses such as depression or anxiety.

While a hoarder's day-to-day life is affected dramatically, the condition can also impact close loved ones who are often tasked with addressing the situation.

Sadly, though some are able to reverse the cycle of hoarding, for others the problem, quite literally, continues to pile up until they either move or pass away, leaving a mountain of mess to deal with.

In the case of one post shared to Reddit under the handle throwaway5638134, it proved too much for one family; yet their desire to rid themselves of the problem ended up creating more issues further down the line.

According to the post, it all started back in May 2018 when the family of a recently deceased hoarder decided to wash their hands of dealing with the contents of her six-bedroom home.

They instead opted to sell it, as it was, to a woman who was willing to put in the time and money to turn the uninhabitable into her dream home. "When I bought it, the contract stated that I take ownership of the house and everything in it," the homeowner writing the post explained. "The lady who owned it died, and her heirs could not deal with the stench and literal mountain of junk and waste in it."

According to the woman, the situation was so severe you could barely open the front door while "some rooms had the junk filling them wall to wall and floor to ceiling." She said it took her four years of "cleaning, fixing and updating" to fix the issues, but while cleaning, she made several amazing discoveries including "more than $20,000 of money, some nice jewelry, antique furniture, and finally a stunning 40s style, lace covered wedding dress."

The woman went on to spend money restoring the dress and other heirlooms. That was when the problems began. After getting in touch with the previous owner's family to pass on some "pictures and mementos," she was dismayed when one of them contacted her asking for the wedding dress and jewelry back, having seen them listed for sale on Facebook.

Despite her demands, however, the homeowner failed to acquiesce. "I refused to give them back, and legally they can't do anything," she said. "If they meant that much to them, they should have cleaned the house on their own, not sell it to me."

Since refusing to bow to her demands, the woman said the previous owner's relatives have been calling her out on social media, prompting her to have doubts over the decision.

For those reading on Reddit, the new homeowner was entirely within her rights to hold on to the items. Xakatekaluka said: "Legally, you are in the right. Morally, you are also in the right... I would want someone who cared enough to restore and respect the items to have them."

PizzaCutter agreed, commenting: "I absolutely wouldn't begrudge the new owners from keeping things, although if they found something that was actually intact, it would certainly be difficult for me, but I wouldn't be calling anyone names over it, it would be more regretful of my own decisions."

"It's a lot to clean a hoarder's house," AGirlHasNoName2018 said. "They could have hired a service if they were mentally unable to do it but instead they dumped it on someone else who paid them to take the house and all that's in it."

Intelligent_Pass2540 wrote: "You risked your health and sweat equity, time and money... I think it's suspect for them to resurface only trying to collect the rewards from all your hard work."

Sudden_Short agreed, posting: "The physical and emotional load that you took on to clean out that house is overwhelming. There's a reason this family didn't want to clean it out themselves. You took it on and now you get to enjoy the treasures you found."

Newsweek reached out to u/throwaway5638134 for comment.