History YMMV / Hoarders

** The cleanup crew often finds large amounts of the hoarders' own urine/feces around the house if the plumbing is broken or the water has been shut off. Shanna took it up to about 11,000 - using multiple buckets instead of the toilet, and then dumping it in bottles or the front yard, with one of the specialists saying it was the worst home he'd ever been in. He ended up doing so much damage to her house that it would have cost less money to demolish her home and rebuild it from the ground up than clean it.

** From the [[WhamEpisode same episode]] is Gary, a manchild who refuses to even *talk* with counselors despite him and his disabled wife being threatened with eviction, intentionally sabotages discussions between the counselor and his wife, and acts like he's being discriminated for owning bunnies (which have roamed free for so loan that they have eaten through the wiring and walls, and volunteers must remove the feces coating the floor with shovels.) He ends up storming off mid-episode while his landlords discuss whether or not to evict him.

** Dick from S9 E7, who refused to admit he had a problem even after 26 tons of trash was removed from his house, his apartment, and **nine** storage facilities. His hoarding also damaged his girlfriend's home to the point where she was unable to pay for the repairs, and ended up choosing his hoard over his partner of 30 years.

** Sir Patrick, who turns out to be a sex offender who kept dolls because they reminded him of his 9-year-old neighbor.

** The cleanup crew often finds large amounts of the hoarders' own urine/feces around the house if the plumbing is broken or the water has been shut off. Shanna took it up to about 11,000 and ended up doing so much damage to her house that the costs of repair and of demolition/rebuilding were almost the same.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: The season 6 episode featured Manuel, an older gentleman whose hoarding caused a chain reaction that resulted in his son John and daughter-in-law to lose custody of their four children (social workers discovered the horrid condition of Manuel's house ''and'' his son's house, neither of which was deemed fit for children to live in.) Although you can understand the pain and anger felt by all family members (and the son [[FridgeBrilliance possibly getting his own habits from his father]]), the fact that John refused [[NeverMyFault to accept ANY responsibility]] for his own actions resulting in him losing custody his own children (leaving them in his father's care in spite of the conditions of the home, making him the primary and sole caretaker, not being bothered to clean up/repair his own home, etc.) made him this trope. Even the cleaning crew members were quick to call him out on this.

** The cleanup crew often finds large amounts of the hoarders' own urine/feces around the house if the plumbing is broken or the water has been shut off. Shanna took it [[UpToEleven up to about 11,000]] and ended up doing so much damage to her house that the costs of repair and of demolition/rebuilding were almost the same.

* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments: The story of Al, a widowed father who lost custody of his son, Frankie, because of his hoarding, is ultimately this. His cleanup is unsuccessful, and Cory Chalmers predicts that he will never get his son back. However, a follow up episode reveals that Al did manage to regain custody of his son. It is also revealed that the county inspector who had Frankie taken away in the first place provided help and support to Al during the whole process, even while suffering from advanced prostate cancer. He died shortly after the follow up was filmed, and the episode is dedicated to his memory.

*** Producer Jodi Flynn later revealed that the crew went to considerable lengths to save as many rats as possible, working with the Humane Society to capture them alive, bringing in special trucks and taking them all to a facility in northern California. From there, they were sent to rat rescues all over the country. There were well over a thousand. In the revisited episode, we learn that Dr. Zasio adopted two of the rats herself. She named them LaurelAndHardy.

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*** Producer Jodi Flynn later revealed that the crew went to considerable lengths to save as many rats as possible, working with the Humane Society to capture them alive, bringing in special trucks and taking them all to a facility in northern California. From there, they were sent to rat rescues all over the country. There were well over a thousand.

** One animal hoarder's house had a carpet that was so thoroughly saturated with urine and feces that it was too heavy to pull up by hand. The cleanup crew had to cut it into pieces and haul it out in chunks.

** One animal hoarder's house had a carpet that was so thoroughly impregnated with urine and feces that it was too heavy to pull up by hand. The cleanup crew had to cut it into pieces and haul it out in chunks.

** In the same episode as Ruth was Dave, a man who suffered from brain damage after an ATV accident and lost his memory. He began hoarding in an effort to trigger his memories and lived with his father up until he died of suspected suicide. By the time he's given an intervention, he's living in complete squalor and prefers to spend his nights digging through gas station dumpsters for aluminum cans to sell and old lottery tickets. And while his sister and uncle are initially late to the clean up, it's due to the fact that they also haven't been to the home ever since their father/brother died and they're also still deeply affected by his death. But in a happy conclusion, Dave is able to clean his house, receives a special makeover to give him a clean start, and has reconnected with his sister and uncle, who help him out.

** Ruth, whose husband died suddenly of a heart attack (she was unable to remove his trousers from where he left them before he died) and whose son committed suicide by hanging himself in the bathroom. Seeing her talk about how she's been in recovery from hoarding for five years as of early 2017 can turn her story into one of happy tears.

* PointAndLaughShow: As it says on the main page, some people who work with hoarders complain that the show presents a stereotypical view of hoarders as "trailer trash", i.e. working class folks. There is a certain amount of class/income privilege assumptions at work here; a sense that middle- to upper-class people with a lot of stuff are collectors (especially if their stuff is neatly organized, like books on shelves, figurines in cabinets, etc.), working/lower-class people (who maybe can't afford to organize their collections) are hoarders.

* BasedOnATrueStory: Most of what you see is real and not even as bad as some actual situations encountered by hoarding/cleanup people. The crew acknowledges that some of the family strife is ginned up to create dramatic conflict. A production team member in an early season revealed that they were making some of the homes messier than they really were; he said to watch carefully and you'd see the same stuff appearing in different houses.

* Heartwarming: The story of Al, a widowed father who lost custody of his son, Frankie, because of his hoarding, is ultimately this. His cleanup is unsuccessful, and Cory Chalmers predicts that he will never get his son back. However, a follow up episode reveals that Al did manage to regain custody of his son. It is also revealed that the county inspector who had Frankie taken away in the first place provided help and support to Al during the whole process, even while suffering from advanced prostate cancer. He died shortly after the follow up was filmed, and the episode is dedicated to his memory.

* HeartwarmingMoments: The story of Al, a widowed father who lost custody of his son, Frankie, because of his hoarding, is ultimately this. His cleanup is unsuccessful, and Cory Chalmers predicts that he will never get his son back. However, a follow up episode reveals that Al did manage to regain custody of his son. It is also revealed that the county inspector who had Frankie taken away in the first place provided help and support to Al during the whole process, even while suffering from advanced prostate cancer. He died shortly after the follow up was filmed, and the episode is dedicated to his memory.

** Laura, a wife and mom fighting cancer whose aim was to get her house cleaned up and her hoarding under control before she died. [[spoiler:She didn't live to see the episode air, but she was at peace having achieved her goal.]]
** Ray and Tony, a pair of elderly brothers living in a squalid San Francisco rowhouse. The night before the cleanup starts, [[spoiler: Tony dies in his sleep, leaving Ray to deal with both his passing and cleaning their condemned house.]]
** Ruth, whose husband died suddenly of a heart attack (she was unable to remove his trousers from where he left them before he died) and whose son committed suicide by hanging himself in the bathroom. [[spoiler: Seeing her talk about how she's been in recovery from hoarding for five years as of early 2017 can turn her story into one of happy tears.]]