Hoarder still missing as work set to begin renovating his former home

The real estate company that bought the foreclosed Schaumburg home of a well-known hoarder is now free to begin renovating it for resale, though there’s still no sign its former owner knows about his former residence’s fate.

Representatives of Hoffman Estates-based Right Residential visited the Hampton Lane home formerly owned by John Wuerffel on March 2, after legally taking full possession of the property that has been under the microscope of village authorities for years.

Wuerffel, who at times in recent years has lived in vehicles parked in his driveway because the home was deemed unfit for habitation, hasn’t been seen or heard from since November.

Wuerffel had been in regular contact with social workers at the Schaumburg Police Department, but he fell out of touch around Thanksgiving, Sgt. John Nebl said.

Schaumburg police are not actively looking for Wuerffel, nor would they necessarily be contacted if his car were found abandoned by another law enforcement agency, Nebl added.

He has sometimes traveled out of town or spent significant periods of time in the hospital, but Wuerffel has not returned several calls by the Daily Herald to his cellphone in recent months.

Schaumburg Public Health Officer Mary Passaglia accompanied the March 2 visit to the house, when the main mission of Right Residential was to straighten up its exterior for the benefit of neighbors, she said.

Entering the house and the start of a full renovation are pending, Passaglia said.

Right Residential’s Executive Vice President Christopher Shaxted said Friday he expects to conduct a walk through of the home’s interior next week. Initial plans called for the home to be back on the market by late April, but Shaxted said that may be delayed now.

It appears many of Wuerffel’s belongings are still on the property, he added, but there was no indication the former homeowner had been to the residence recently.

When completed, the renovation is expected to boost the house’s value from the $35,000 the firm paid for it at auction to the approximately $175,000 more typical of the neighborhood.

Though Wuerffel still has belongings in the house, Shaxted has said his company would be willing to keep them in storage until the renovation is completed.

Even before Wuerffel lost possession of the house through foreclosure, health officials prohibited him from living inside due to the shut-off utilities and the floor-to-ceiling accumulation of items he said he planned to sell to recyclers as his only source of income.

In the fall of 2010, village officials obtained a court order to forcibly clean up both the interior and exterior of the house, which they argued had become a health hazard for the neighborhood.

Among the items found were countless metal drink cans, about 30 automobile tires, an old Jaguar, a motorcycle and two bicycles. Wuerffel also was charged for not having a permit for the two handguns, two rifles and two shotguns found inside the home.

The house was sold at auction just before Christmas. Wuerffel was sent multiple notices about a Feb. 1 court hearing regarding the sale, but he did not appear. After a 30-day moratorium during which Right Residential could not enter or begin work on the house, the company took full ownership last week.

Wuerffel, who bought the house in 1971 with his then wife, said his health began to decline in 1999 and eventually affected his ability to work.