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Hoarder's House Auctioned For $35,000 In Schaumburg

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. (CBS) -- The foreclosed home of a reported hoarder in Schaumburg has been sold at auction.

As WBBM Newsradio's Lisa Fielding reports, John Wuerffel lived in his car, which was parked in his driveway. The Village of Schaumburg had declared his home too much of a health hazard and said he couldn't live there.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio's Lisa Fielding reports

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The Daily Herald now reports the Hoffman Estates-based real estate company Right Residential bought the foreclosed home for $35,000.

The firm plans to gut the home, located on the 1400 block of Hampton Lane, and renovate it to bring it back to its approximately $175,000 value, the Daily Herald reported.

The house and garage were filled floor-to-ceiling with items Wuerffel claimed he planned to sell to recyclers, the Daily Herald reported. Among the items were metal cans, full cardboard boxes, about 30 automobile tires, an old Jaguar, a motorcycle, bicycles, handguns, rifles and shotguns.

The Daily Herald reports in the colder month, Wuerffel stayed in homeless shelters, or parked his car away from his house and turned the heater on and off. But he returned to his house and lived in his car in the driveway when the shelters were closed, the newspaper reported.

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