Now I started connecting the dots when the HVAC repairman mentioned he hasn’t been to the next door a while to perform HVAC maintenance yet the heater already failed.
I live in a quiet neighborhood where every resident minds their own business. The most conversation I have heard with my immediate neighbors is probably a brief greeting across the parking lot. In the evenings, you can see one or two neighbors jogging or brisk walking and that’s it. Now, back to our house, we rarely leave the house, and this habit has led me to know every corner of the house and what’s in it. Even our basement is sparkling clean and neatly arranged. Yesterday, a mouse ran past me while I was taking a leak and scared me. I finished up, looked at its escape route and informed everyone else. A close inspection led us to a trash pile up from one of the neighbors. We are not nosy people but the first glance into his home after knocking at his gate confirmed our fears. Having had a small talk and taken the days that follow to monitor him, we realized we were dealing with a hoarder. Now I started connecting the dots when the HVAC repairman mentioned he hasn’t been to the next door a while to perform HVAC maintenance yet the heater already failed. We experience very freezing winters and I wonder how he copes with no functioning furnace, boiler repair, or heat pump. In fact, I doubted if any heat or AC product was functioning at this point since he wouldn’t let any heater maintenance take place, even with a court order to let in a licensed heating dealership. But since the law always wins, the council got an eviction order that made the neighbor change his mind and let cleaning, repairs and furnace/heater installation take place by a designated heating business. With time, the tenant was expected to conform to having hybrid heating or hydronic heating in place to match up with regulatory requirements.