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Hoarding Disorder Legal Assistance

Since 2013, Hoarding Disorder (HD) has been recognized as a complex psychiatric diagnosis by the American Psychiatric Association in the Diagnostic Statistical Manual – 5th Edition.

Hoarding Disorder affects 3 – 5% of the population and touches countless families and communities.

The manifest features of hoarding are excessive acquisition and saving of items, and inability to discard – even when facing chronic disorganization that affects a person’s health, safety and ability to function in the home.

Shame and denial tend to isolate people with Hoarding Disorder, and cause them to reject comments, criticism or offers of help to alleviate their situations.

Without intervention, the hoarding situations become increasingly worse, often leading to environmental/structural disrepair; infestation of insects or rodents; and in the most dire circumstances – death.

As elder law attorneys versed in the legal issues that surround cases of Hoarding Disorder, Plan Today for Tomorrow can represent and advocate for the individual when an eviction notice or public health notice has been received or the homeowner, landlord, co-op board or building management company on how to proceed legally where there is an occupant suffering from Hoarding Disorder.

Contact Plan Today for Tomorrow for help with a Hoarding Disorder legal issue. Call us at 914-925-1010 (Rye Office) or 914-245-2440 (Yorktown Heights Office) to schedule a consultation or complete our online form.

In certain instances, we may represent the family of a person suffering from Hoarding Disorder to commence a guardianship proceeding as a form of legal intervention.

Salvatore M. Di Costanzo is a member of the Advisory Board of the Hoarding Disorder Training and Resource Group and frequently lectures and consults with professionals and municipalities on Hoarding Disorder and legal interventions.  More information on the Hoarding Disorder Training and Resource Group can be found at https://www.HoardingDisorderGroup.education

It is important to use a multidisciplinary team approach to supportive Hoarding Disorder interventions coordinated by a Geriatric Care Manager/Aging Life Care Professional that includes the individual, people in the community they trust, a Professional Organizer, Mental Health Specialist, Attorney and Occupational Therapist. 

Our firm regularly handles hoarding disorder cases in Westchester County, Rockland County, Putnam County, Dutchess County, Orange County, New York City (Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Bronx), Nassau County and Suffolk County. Contact us by completing our online contact form or by calling us at 914-925-1010 (Rye Office) or 914-245-2440 (Yorktown Heights Office) to schedule a consultation

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Hoarding Disorder Testimonal