Truth About ‘America’s Worst Neighbor’ and His Trash-Filled $1.3M Home

For years, the owner of a Spanish-style bungalow in Los Angeles was branded the neighborhood’s blight. Mountains of garbage spilling from the property left residents dealing with rats, foul odors and mounting frustration.

Yet court records, neighbors and friends describe a far more complicated portrait of Raymond Gaon.

Rather than viewing him as a neighborhood villain, they say he is a man in need of help.

People who know the 72-year-old, along with court documents, say his mental health deteriorated during the pandemic lockdowns. They describe Gaon as a struggling Vietnam War veteran.

His run-down bungalow sits between newer multimillion-dollar homes and carefully maintained lawns in Los Angeles’ affluent Fairfax District.

When the Daily Mail visited the property on North Martel Avenue last week, Gaon was sorting through bags of bottles and cans. Local television stations have referred to the site as the notorious “LA trash house.” As neighbors passed by, some stared and pointed.

“He’s having a hard time right now, so he won’t make any comments,” Gaon’s friend Tonya Lee Jaynes told the Daily Mail while helping him load bags of recyclables into a U-Haul.

Jaynes said Gaon collects recyclable materials to earn money and is struggling to manage his circumstances.

Legal documents filed by Gaon’s attorneys offer a similar account. They state that he has been diagnosed with “hoarding disorder with poor insight” and that collecting items helps ease his anxiety and brings him happiness, while discarding them causes significant distress.

According to the documents, Gaon told a psychiatrist that he began collecting bottles and recyclables in “2020 when COVID started.”

The psychiatrist, retained by Gaon’s defense attorney, said he did not pose a threat to the community and could benefit from a mental health program.

Records show, however, that city officials have repeatedly tried to intervene. Gaon has received more than a dozen citations over the past decade, with authorities ordering him to clear the bungalow and surrounding property.

Neighbors said Gaon made efforts to clean up each time he was cited, but the piles of trash began returning within weeks.

Karla, who lives behind Gaon’s home, said the repeated cleanups have done little to solve the underlying problem.

“It’s just a Band-Aid,” she told the Daily Mail. “Gaon is a nice man, but I don’t understand why the city doesn’t help him because it’s more than a trash issue.”

“It’s a mental health issue.”

On Monday, the Daily Mail watched as a frustrated Gaon backed a U-Haul truck onto his property, and with Jaynes’ help loaded it with trash bags full of bottles and cans.

Gaon refused to comment when approached.

Neighbors walking by with their dogs stared and pointed at the home as Gaon slowly looked through each bag, contemplating what to toss and what to keep.

After loading the truck for hours, the pair drove to a nearby recycling center where they were assisted by workers.

While a pile of bags in the front yard were discarded, aerial footage taken by the Daily Mail showed there were still mounds of trash bags, a broken-down car, clothes, metal parts and other junk in the back and side of the property that could take days to clear.

Neighbors said they don’t believe Gaon is dangerous, but they are worried something else worse than vermin could damage their historic enclave.

‘Many of these homes are 100 years old and fires are always a concern,’ said Karla. ‘It only takes one spark in that house to go up in flames, and all these wooden houses are connected. That would be devastating.’

Gaon has owned the two-bedroom Spanish bungalow home since he purchased it for $144,000 in 1996, according to city property records obtained by the Daily Mail. The property is now valued at $1.3 million, according to Zillow. 

Neighbors said the elderly Vietnam veteran can be seen walking down Melrose Avenue and West Hollywood with a small cart that he fills with recyclables and other items he collects on his walks.

In 2024, local news helicopters filmed the property from above after a string of complaints, dubbing it ‘LA’s trash house.’

LA City Attorney’s Office then filed a misdemeanor criminal complaint against Gaon for failure to clean his property and comply with various city building and safety codes.

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LA County Public Health also ordered the city to clean up Gaon’s property at his expense.

The city declared a health emergency on the property, and the city’s Sanitation Department conducted a massive cleanup in April 2024 that cost $58,549, according to court documents obtained by the Daily Mail.

About seven tons of trash was collected from the property in 2024, along with 1,000 pounds of household hazardous waste.

Gaon pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor complaint, but his criminal case was later moved to diversion court, according to court documents.

Under the 12-month misdemeanor judicial diversion program, Gaon is allowed to complete a court-ordered rehabilitation instead of facing a criminal trial.

As part of the program, Gaon had to complete mental health evaluation and treatment. He also was prohibited from storing trash at his property.

In August 2025, Gaon’s attorney filed a motion and asked the court to consider a mental health diversion for the senior, citing that Gaon is not a danger to the public and that he has been diagnosed with ‘hoarding disorder with poor insight.’

‘Mr Gaon’s hoarding behaviors have been further reinforced by his emotional investment in defending the value of the items,’ wrote his attorney Rana Parsanj in the motion. ‘Regardless of their actual value, Mr Gaon experiences persistent distress when faced with the notion of discarding them.

‘Mr Gaon demonstrated a limited understanding of the severity of the problem and associated health and safety risk. He reported that collecting these items helps manage his anxiety and increases happiness. This indicated that his behavior was driven by symptoms of his hoarding disorder, not intentional noncompliance.’

A report filed by a psychiatrist hired by Gaon’s attorney showed that the senior acknowledged having ‘some conflicts’ with his neighbors and feeling ‘uncomfortable’ at being stigmatized by the community.

‘He expressed embarrassment about his house being featured on the news and being referred to as the ‘trash house,’ wrote psychiatrist Dr Britney Ranker in her report. ‘Despite this expressed discomfort, he did not show concern or distress about the accumulation of items in and around his home; instead, he was more focused on the community’s reaction.’

Ranker also wrote Gaon claimed that he has never been diagnosed with mental illness, but one ‘collateral record’ made a brief reference that suggested he is autistic.

‘There were no additional records provided to substantiate or clarify this reference, and as such, the presence of this disorder remains unconfirmed at this time,’ the psychiatrist wrote.

Ranker also said she believes Gaon ‘will respond to treatment’, including psychotherapy and psychoeducation.

However, prosecutors opposed sending Gaon’s case for diversion and argued in court documents that the senior would continue to violate the law.

Prosecutors also claim Gaon’s hoarding has gone beyond his property and identified a broken-down RV packed with more trash inside and at least two other vehicles parked a block away that also belong to the senior.

‘Absent being held accountable to the underlying violations of this case, Mr Gaon will likely never adequately recognize the danger and wrongfulness of his conduct,’ prosecutors said in an August 2025 motion. ‘This would likely lead to a recurrence of hoarding and a renewed public health risk to the community.’

A judge initially allowed Gaon to participate in the diversion program. During a progress report hearing on June 8, however, the judge, over the objection of Gaon ‘s attorney – declared a doubt to Gaon’s mental competence.

The judge then suspended Gaon’s criminal case and ordered another court-appointed psychiatrist to examine the 72-year-old, according to court records.

The court-appointed psychiatrist has been ordered to also prepare a report on Gaon’s current mental status, according to court records.

While Gaon’s criminal case was placed on pause, the 72-year-old is also fighting back.

In May 2025, Gaon filed a $3.6 million civil complaint against the City of Los Angeles, the LAPD, Mayor Karen Bass, Councilwoman Kathy Yaroslavsky, LA City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto and others claiming damages to his personal property, battery, slander and emotional distress.

In his civil complaint, Gaon said he was a Vietnam vet and claimed Los Angeles Police unlawfully detained him and confined him for three hours in a police car while city workers went through his property and removed tons of items without his consent.

‘Plaintiff had organized over seven tons of recyclable materials on his property, which he collected and prepared for deposit as part of his regular means of earning a living,’ Gaon wrote in the lawsuit.

‘Defendants destroyed and removed Plaintiff’s personal belongings, including, but not limited to, recyclable materials, yard furniture, a guitar and a collection of high-quality Craftsman tools that Plaintiff had accumulated over many years.’

City officials filed a response and denied all of Gaon’s allegations. The case is ongoing.