One family’s dream home turned into a nightmare after their hoarding neighbor turned their property into an unofficial dumping ground, blocking their driveway with trash.
Elena Malone and her husband purchased their three-bedroom family home in Sun Valley, California, in 2021 for $1.2 million.
But soon after moving in, the plot of land belonging to his neighbor, David Ferrera, 50, began to overflow with… human excrement, condoms, sex toys, as well as more than 100 abandoned vehicles, broken electronic devices, scrap metal and chemical waste.
The family and other neighbors told The LA Times that in addition to looking unsightly, the trash poses a serious health and safety risk, but authorities have taken no action.
Malone said:It was so beautiful. I really feel that a person should not have the ability to sacrifice the safety of the community.
Elena Malone and her husband bought their three-bedroom family home in Sun Valley, California, in 2021 for $1.2 million, but three years later it has become a living nightmare as their neighbor’s land is overflowing with trash.
When Malone, her husband and two young children moved into the house on Wildwood Fire Road, it was beautiful, set on a half-acre of landscaped gardens with fireplaces, exposed beams and an open kitchen.
But three years later the family is desperate to leave.
His next-door neighbor, Ferrera (whom relatives told the LA Times is a mentally ill hoarder) has turned his land into an unlicensed dump.
It reportedly littered the surrounding area with piles of trash and metal, hazardous waste and more than 100 broken and rusted vehicles.
On one occasion, when trash made his house inaccessible, he moved into his car outside the Malones’ home.
The driveway and front yard began to fill with hypodermic needles, bags of marijuana, human excrement and condoms.
Malone had to stop her children, ages nine and eleven, from playing in the front yard.
She told the LA Times: “This is just not right.”
When he found Ferrera and his girlfriend passed out in the car, he said: “I couldn’t wake them up. I was afraid they would die of an overdose.”
His next-door neighbor, Ferrera (who relatives told the LA Times is a mentally ill hoarder) has turned his land into an unlicensed dump, visible in aerial images.
When Malone, her husband and two young children moved into the new home on Wildwood Fire Road, it was beautiful, set on a half-acre of landscaped grounds with fireplaces, exposed beams and an open kitchen.
The family and other neighbors turned to local authorities for help, but told The LA Times that nothing has been done.
Ferrera’s plot belongs to his 80-year-old mother, Mary, who agreed it was a serious problem and told The Times she had tried to help him sort it out but there was nothing more she could do.
She told The Times: “He began looking for metal to survive, which may have triggered or worsened his hoarding.”
Mary was charged with violating the property code for failing to clean up the property in 2021 and sentenced to 180 days in jail.
She reportedly sobbed as she told the judge she removed 21 truckloads of garbage from the site only to watch her son fill the lot with more trash.
She was released after spending a night in prison.
Now neighbours are increasingly concerned about the possibility of a fire breaking out on the property and in the surrounding areas of their own homes.
Scout Raskin, who lives on the street, told the Times: “There are no side alleys we can escape through. If the fire gets around us, we’ll all die.”