Fuming neighbors slam city as trash house owner slumbers in bug-ridden filth

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The elderly owner of a notorious “trash house” in Los Angeles has been spotted snoozing amid piles of stinking garbage in his front yard — as neighbors fume that the grotesque eyesore has festered for years next to their multi-million dollar homes.

Neighbors around the 600 block of N. Martel blame city officials for failing to end the unsightly nightmare at owner Raymond Gaon’s Spanish-style two-bedroom home in the city’s affluent Fairfax District.

A foul smell wafts over the mountain of garbage and into the street steps from Melrose Avenue as residents complain of rodents, cockroaches and other bugs. 

Images obtained by the California Post captured Gaon, 72, taking a nap surrounded by the putrid mess back in August. 

“Neighbors are angry. The city needs to do its job. Why hasn’t this been cleared up already?” one disgusted neighbor called “Robert,” who declined to give his last name, told the California Post.

In a statement to the Post, Mayor Karen Bass’s office called it “extremely disappointing that the owner of this private property has once again allowed the conditions to disintegrate and neighbors are forced to live near this mess. The office has previously attempted to clean up the mess “on more than one occasion.”

A criminal case against Goan is “ongoing.”

Sanitation crews in hazmat safety gear removed over seven tons of trash in 2024, along with 1,000 pounds of household hazardous waste. There was a similar multi-agency clean-up in 2025. 

But the trash has returned.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health will reportedly inspect the property for sanitation violations, mounting garbage and possible rodent infestations. A criminal investigation is also underway.

Goan’s friend, Tonya Jaynes, 61, was at the trash-ridden home Thursday, trying to clear the reeking piles of garbage.

Jaynes previously told The Post that Goan is a military veteran who suffers from PTSD.

“He’s a nice person who’s got a lot of problems,” she said. “Who doesn’t?”

She added the piles of trash are “recycling, not garbage. He’s taking care of himself by recycling. This is a way for him to make money. He has to do it a certain way which takes time. It’s so hard on him. He needs help.”

Jaynes refuted claims that the waste is a bio-hazard. “Nothing here is toxic,” she asserted. “No chemicals, no cockroaches or rats.”

Instead, her friend is “helping the world. There’s tons of butterflies and hummingbirds.”

“Everything here has a purpose. He’s an artist. People need to love that about him not make him out to be a horrible person.,” she said. 

Bass’s office urged the L.A. County Department of Mental Health to push for a court-apointed conservator to “serve as a responsible party to ensure that property never deteriorates into this condition again. 

“If appropriate legal action is not expedient, we will pursue all actions necessary to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”

LA City Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky’s office previously called the recurring conditions “completely unacceptable,” criticizing the city for a slow response. 

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