Sunday, October 14, 2007

San Jose Squatters Making Themselves At Home In Vacant Foreclosures

In San Jose, California, KPIX-TV Channel 5 reports:
  • [W]e visited a San Jose home that had recently been foreclosed on. After residents moved out, gangs moved in, taking over the vacant property. [...] Graffiti covers one side of the house, and around the corner, bullet holes. [...] And at another foreclosed home we found more evidence of squatters-- two blankets. A window to a bedroom was shattered. Both homes are in east San Jose. That's the area with the most homes in various stages of foreclosure in the city. [...] Real estate agent Mark Detar of Intero thinks the squatter problem is only beginning. "With an increase in foreclosures, you're going to see things like this," Detar said. "With a house being vacant, certain elements come into play."

For more, see Squatters Settle Into Foreclosed SJ Homes, or watch the Channel 5 video report, Foreclosure Squatters.

For another foreclosure squatter story, see Squatter Causes Anxiety For Neighbors (Bank Has Not Evicted The Resident). (KCRA 3, Sacramento, CA), or watch the KCRA 3 video report.

Go here for other posts on foreclosures and squatters.zebra