We need to clean, how do you cut down on stuff

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Our son has had a number of obsessions over the years and our daughter too, all of which have been indulged by relatives giving gifts related to, so we have a room full of stuff from past obsessions , duplos xevox, legos, pokemon, transformers bionicles, my little pony.... you get the idea there are crates and boxes of books toys and well the room is full to overflowing or at least the closets and the shelves and under the bunk.

Anyhow the landlord has demanded on threat of evicting us that this stuff be mostly removed no shelves lining the walls no full closet no stuff under bunks.

The problem is my son becomes upset if anything of his goes away, really upset he just lays there refusing to talk or move. He doesn't get violent. he just lays there limp refusing to talk or move eat go to the bathroom. he can keep this up for a really long time over a day even.

So is there any good way to involve him in clearing the stuff out, or what should we say to explaine things. Or what could we say.

This is a big change the stuff wasn't dirty it is in boxes or on shelves but they want it out and we want to keep or nice large relatively inexpensive apartment (because we have been her 18 years the rent is about 1000$ less then comparable apartments in the area due to laws on what rent is allowed to be raised per year) We would probably have to move out of the city to my husbands grandmothers house(It's empty since she passed away and we haven't been able to sell it) in a rural area if we couldn't live here we don't make a lot of money.It would be a bigger more distressing change to move for certain.It's also irritating because this is the first year they have had any complaints and it's not really any different mess wise.

what about getting a storage unit ?....then he can still visit the stuff, and you won't be getting rid of it

Use this search term on Google. Include the quote marks: "landlord tenant disputes" Here's a booklet from Missouri: http://ago.mo.gov/publications/landlordtenant.htm Use the name of your state with the search terms to research the law. In Missouri the landlord cannot evict without a court order. Many cities have free legal aid that you can use, also.

This will give you a good start on learning how to handle this dispute. The landlord obviously wants you out so that he can get out from under rent control. The next tenants won't know how much you were paying. Even when you clean up you have to get out from under the nitpicking which is most likely illegal. If you document what is going on and can demonstrate that you are clean enough and he keeps harassing you, you might be able to sue and get a nice nest-egg for moving with.

You should clean up and since you have things boxed and on shelves you have a leg up on that. It's your decision if you want to use a storage unit. If you feel that you do have things picked up and neat and clean, then volume is the problem. Do you and your children actually need the stuff enough to keep caring for it and spending money on it? If none of it is junk or trash but you have far too much to ever enjoy, maybe you can convert it to money on Ebay. Be sure to charge enough for handling to cover postage and packing materials. I suggest that you never spend money on keeping items that you don't use in storage. I also suggest that when you do clean up and organize, make it work for you and your family, not for a landlord who probably won't like the fact that you are in compliance and legally deserve to stay.

Sometimes you have to risk the wrath of your child. If he won't make the decisions, you make the decisions. Make it clear that you sharing any of the proceeds will be directly related to the amount of work he puts into it, the quality of the work that he puts into it, and his attitude. Also make it clear that when the choice is between cleaning up or being evicted, you will clean up. No "either-or" here. You will take charge and you will have the results that you want.

I have to wonder who's complaining and why. Do they have any business even knowing what you have in your home? Do you actually have a mess? It's nice to have a clean home but the person who is on your neck probably doesn't belong there either. You might want to consider them part of the junk that needs to be out of your life.

I agree that your son could be more motivated to part with his stuff if he knew it could be sold and he could keep the money for his new interests. Even if it seems like complete junk someone on Ebay will buy it if it is cheap enough.

Thanks for the advice,My mom will be able to store a few boxes at her place and my son finally agreed we could toss anything that was broken. He understands that we need to do this and it also helped to let him read what was posted.

As for the possibility that they want us out of here because of the lower rent, I had suggested it the day we got the notice but my husband felt it was paranoid , and there are two open apartments here and they have something of a shortage of new renters at least at this time of year. I still can't help noticing though that the demographic makeup of the building has changed in the last year to mostly white middle upper class University students and couples from mostly immigrants and Latino familys. Th management representative was in to test the fire alarms and look at plumbing they do that yearly. We do keep everything clean and dust free as we can because of allergys and asthma so everything was in plastic tubs and sealed for ease of cleaning except one box of legos and two boxes of pokemon toys.

They want a reason to throw you out.

That thought occurred to me also.

In what ways would the move to the grandmother's house be hard?
Can you afford it financially?

If so, then is it all emotionally upsetting for various reasons?

What if you start cleaning up the apartment by slowly moving items to the house until you actually move in to live?
Maybe a slow progressive move can help ease the transition.

Would life, in general, be harder living out in the country in the house or staying in the apartment?

I have my son go through his things and decide on yard sale items or charity donations. We do this throughout the year. However, he still has a fair amount of stuff. I am considering renting a storage unit.

ebay, craigslist, etc

It doesn't sound like your house is unsanitary, which is what the law usually requires as a reason for eviction, if that's what the landlord is claiming. Stacked and properly contained possessions are none of their business. Make sure that you take thorough photographs of each room, in case there is a legal dispute (after you get some of the stuff moved out). Definitely check with Legal-Aid. They are looking for a way to get rid of you.

P.S. If you own grandmother's house outright, it could be a good thing financially, and if there is land for your son to play outside, that could be a wonderful thing. Beings outdoors saved my sanity as a child. Your son may protest for a while, but he will love it, eventually.

my aspie child has a mania for miniatures of all sorts......if it is tiny, yet accurate to life.she MUST have it. This makes her room very hard to keep tidy. how ever she also loves to have her things in those boxes that are see through with the snap on lids...I always have issues with the manager on the state of the room and it always seem as if a hurricaine has struck in there.
We have struck a deal . she has a few boxes...one for each sort of toy( doll, animal, motor, cars, ect.) the way to keep out clutter is I got her to agree that she can only keep the toys she can fit in the proper box..Usually this means that if she wants a new toy , she has to throw away , get rid of , or donate, a toy to make room in the proper box....

hopefully this helps........