Mess overwhelms another landlord

It could be the end of the road for notorious Whangarei hoarder Keith Montreal and his huge collection of second-hand goods.
The 72-year-old has worn out his welcome where he lives off Pipiwai Rd, Kamo, in a run-down caravan beside a 150sq m shed he has filled with machinery, whiteware and furniture. The compulsive collector's hoarding has cost him two marriages and seen him kicked out of five homes - this week he received notice that he is to be evicted from his sixth.
His landlord, Peter Weel, who lives in a shed at the back of the property, has handed him an eviction notice, giving him two weeks to leave the property or he will be charged with trespass. Mr Montreal now has to find an alternative site for his collection of second-hand goods or he fears it will be dumped.
The notice came after vandals smashed the windscreens of about six of his 12 unwarranted cars and there have been complaints about the vehicles being parked on the roadway. "He hadn't considered the magnitude of my ability to hoard. He says I'm nothing but a problem for him," says Mr Montreal.
It's not the first time his collecting has caused problems. In 1992 the Whangarei District Council ordered Mr Montreal to clean up his section when he lived in Onerahi and in 1998 his disorder landed him in strife with Housing New Zealand when he began filling his Otangarei unit with his collections.
To fully understand the extent of Mr Montreal's addiction, a visit to his shed is needed. It's impossible to walk into the shed - a wall of tyres, planks, bikes, hand tools, engine parts, ladders, mattresses and whiteware lines the entrance. A ladder is needed to get to the top of the pile and the room is marked by the smell of oil.
"I know everything I have. Just don't ask me where it is," he says.
Mr Weel has difficulty using his driveway because of his tenant's collection of cars. A utility and a boat belonging to the landlord are in the shed, buried under Mr Montreal's mountain of goods.
Mr Weel knew his tenant had a compulsive hoarding disorder but he "didn't think it was this bad".
"I'm worried about the value of my property going down. He should go on a farm somewhere."
Mr Montreal has a four-year lease on the property and says he has no option but to fight the eviction notice. "I have a massive amount of stuff and I haven't got anywhere to take it and I have nowhere to go. If it is to go to Re:sort, who is going to pay? There's 50 truckloads of stuff here.
"At the end of the day I will have lost everything that meant something to me. Wherever I will go now people will know me - my reputation is so wicked."