Squatters take over foreclosed homes

[peejay 327]

NYT: Squatters call foreclosures home

Advocacy groups screen potential residents, move them into vacant homes

By John Leland

The New York Times

updated 10:31 a.m. CT, Fri., April 10, 2009

MIAMI - When the woman who calls herself Queen Omega moved into a three-bedroom house here last December, she introduced herself to the neighbors, signed contracts for electricity and water and ordered an Internet connection.

What she did not tell anyone was that she had no legal right to be in the home.

Ms. Omega, 48, is one of the beneficiaries of the foreclosure crisis. Through a small advocacy group of local volunteers called Take Back the Land, she moved from a friend’s couch into a newly empty house that sold just a few years ago for more than $400,000.

Michael Stoops, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, said about a dozen advocacy groups around the country were actively moving homeless people into vacant homes — some working in secret, others, like Take Back the Land, operating openly.

In addition to squatting, some advocacy groups have organized civil disobedience actions in which borrowers or renters refuse to leave homes after foreclosure.

The groups say that they have sometimes received support from neighbors and that beleaguered police departments have not aggressively gone after squatters.

“We’re seeing sheriffs’ departments who are reluctant to move fast on foreclosures or evictions,” said Bill Faith, director of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, which is not engaged in squatting. “They’re up to their eyeballs in this stuff. Everyone’s overwhelmed.”

On a recent afternoon, Ms. Omega sat on the tiled floor of her unfurnished living room and described plans to use the space to tie-dye clothing and sell it on the Internet, hoping to save some money before she is inevitably forced to leave.

“It’s a beautiful castle, and it’s temporary for me,” she said, “and if I can be here 24 hours, I’m thankful.” In the meantime, she said, she has instructed her adult son not to make noise, to be a good neighbor.

'A modern-day underground railroad'

In Minnesota, a group called the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign recently moved families into 13 empty homes; in Philadelphia, the Kensington Welfare Rights Union maintains seven “human rights houses” shared by 13 families. Cheri Honkala, who is the national organizer for the Minnesota group and was homeless herself once, likened the group’s work to “a modern-day underground railroad,” and said squatters could last up to a year in a house before eviction.

Other groups, including Women in Transition in Louisville, Ky., are looking for properties to occupy, especially as they become frustrated with the lack of affordable housing and the oversupply of empty homes.

Anita Beaty, executive director of the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, said her group had been looking into asking banks to give it abandoned buildings to renovate and occupy legally. Ms. Honkala, who was a squatter in the 1980s, said the biggest difference now was that the neighbors were often more supportive. “People who used to say, ‘That’s breaking the law,’ now that they’re living on a block with three or four empty houses, they’re very interested in helping out, bringing over mattresses or food for the families,” she said.

Ben Burton, executive director of the Miami Coalition for the Homeless, said squatting was still relatively rare in the city.

But Take Back the Land has had to compete with less organized squatters, said Max Rameau, the group’s director.

“We had a move-in that we were going to do one day at noon,” he said. “At 10 o’clock in the morning, I went over to the house just to make sure everything was O.K., and squatters took over our squat. Then we went to another place nearby, and squatters were in that place also.”

Mr. Rameau said his group differed from ad hoc squatters by operating openly, screening potential residents for mental illness and drug addiction, and requiring that they earn “sweat equity” by cleaning or doing repairs around the house and that they keep up with the utility bills.

“We change the locks,” he said. “We pull up with a truck and move in through the front door. The families get a key to the front door.” Most of the houses are in poor neighborhoods, where the neighbors are less likely to object.

Kelly Penton, director of communications for the City of Miami, said police officers needed a signed affidavit from a property’s owner — usually a bank — to evict squatters. Representatives from the city’s homeless assistance program then help the squatters find shelter.

To find properties, Mr. Rameau and his colleagues check foreclosure listings, then scout out the houses for damage. On a recent afternoon, Mr. Rameau walked around to the unlocked metal gate of an abandoned bungalow in the Liberty City neighborhood.

“Let the record reflect that there was no lock on the door,” Mr. Rameau said. “I’m not breaking in.”

Inside, the wiring and sinks had been stripped out, and there was a pile of ashes on the linoleum floor where someone had burned a telephone book — probably during a cold spell the previous week, Mr. Rameau said.

“Two or three weeks ago, this house was in good condition,” Mr. Rameau said. “Now we wouldn’t move a family in here.”

So far the group has moved 10 families into empty houses, and Mr. Rameau said the group could not afford to help any more people. “It costs us $200 per move-in,” he said.

Moving back home

Mary Trody hopes not to leave again. On Feb. 20, Ms. Trody and her family of 12 — including her mother, siblings and children — were evicted from their modest blue house northwest of the city, which the family had lived in for 22 years, because her mother had not paid the mortgage.

After a weekend of sleeping in a paneled truck, however, the family, with the help of Take Back the Land, moved back in.

“This home is what you call a real home,” Ms. Trody said. “We had all family events — Christmas parties, deaths, funerals, weddings — all in this house.”

On a splendid Florida afternoon, Ms. Trody’s dog played in the water from a hose on the front lawn. The house had mattresses on the floors, but most belongings were in storage, in case they had to leave again.

“I don’t think it’s fair living in a house and not paying,” Ms. Trody said.

She said the mortgage lender had offered the family $1,500 to leave but was unwilling to negotiate minimal payments that would allow them to stay. She said she and her husband had been looking for work since he lost his delivery job with The Miami Herald.

In the meantime, she said, “I still got knots in my stomach, because I don’t know when they’re going to come yank it back from me, when they’re going to put me back on the streets.”

The block was dotted with foreclosed homes.

Three of her neighbors said they knew she was squatting and supported her. One is Joanna Jean Pierre, 32, who affectionately refers to Ms. Trody as Momma.

Ms. Pierre said Ms. Trody was a good neighbor and should be let alone. “That’s her house,” Ms. Pierre said. “She should be here.”

Ms. Trody said that living here before, “I felt secure; I felt this is my home.”

“This is where I know I’m safe,” she added. “Now it’s like, this is a stranger. What’s going to happen?”

Even without furniture or homey touches, she talked about the house as if it were a member of her family.

“I know it’s not permanently, but we still have these couple days left,” she said. “It’s like a person that you’re losing, and you know you still have a few more days with them.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30148409

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

My neighborhood is 100% owner or renter occupied. No abandoned properties, and there won't be. The job market isn't bad enough yet.

[Nagishkaw 510]

The house next to me went into foreclosure. A woman picked it up dirt cheap from the city and is now using it as a rental for Section 8's. What was once a nice home is now trash.

[Ellie-and-David 38]

Cool. Sounds cheaper than renting.

I might consider it

[sara..... 371]

well some of those people are just so slick!!!!! when we came home from over seas after being gone for four years we were told people were living in our home, so we called the police on our way to our home, sure enough there was a family living in the home the women slammed the door on my mom and locked it when my mom asked why are u in my home, so then her preacher husband came and told her well im purchasing this home, so mom said from WHO i am the owner so tell me who are u paying money to for MY HOME?????

the police came we explained the situation in the end they guy said he just wanted to be caretaker of the house.....police said we could put them in jail and keep their belongings......my mom went to look to see if there was in any damage, then told the police they have small children they have until six tomorrow night at that time if they are not gone lock them up.

our small town has six hundred people these people even convinced our locally owned telephone company that they were purchasing our home and had thousands of work done laying fiber optics lines and a few other things, since we do own the property we had to fight in court not to pay all this #######

so if there is a squatter and not the original owner seems wrong to me to even think about it

just my opinion

sara

Edited April 10, 2009 by estadia

[peejay 327]

My neighborhood is 100% owner or renter occupied. No abandoned properties, and there won't be. The job market isn't bad enough yet.

None of the houses in my neighborhood that are empty have been invaded by squatters. Those that are empty are on the market through a realtor and there are not many. The same situation as it was before the housing market crash. We don't have any derelict houses in our neighborhood because we have deed restrictions and an active neighborhood civic club to enforce it.

However, there are some abandoned (formerly Section 8) apartments near our neighborhood that have squatters living in them with no electricity or running water. The apartments got so decrepit that the city forced them to shut down. I see people crawling through broken windows when I ride my bicycle over there to check it out. There is a fence around the apartments, but they broke through that too. The property is posted, but nobody has kicked them out yet.

As long as they stay out of our neighborhood, I could care less. Unfortunately this same situation in neighborhoods in other parts of Houston are a source of petty theft and burglaries. The city bulldozes these abandoned units down often when homeowners raise enough hell about it. Our civic club is trying to get the city to doze these units near our neighborhood.

[Ban Hammer 14,275]

The house next to me went into foreclosure. A woman picked it up dirt cheap from the city and is now using it as a rental for Section 8's. What was once a nice home is now trash.

and it won't get any better. how much did your property devalue since then?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I'm not too worried. Prices are in free fall where I am but everything up for sale does sell, if a home stays on the market too long it's usually because the seller wants 2006 prices and just isn't realistic. This is still an area people want to live in, good elementary school, relatively lower property taxes (compared to neighboring towns) and half a dozen train stations within a few miles to go to NYC.

[Nagishkaw 510]

The house next to me went into foreclosure. A woman picked it up dirt cheap from the city and is now using it as a rental for Section 8's. What was once a nice home is now trash.

and it won't get any better. how much did your property devalue since then?

Im sure quite a bit, thanks to those igpays who now live there.

[mawilson 2,133]

NYT: Squatters call foreclosures home

Why would they sit in a crouching position with the knees bent at 'home'? It's a bit uncomfortable, isn't it?

Edited April 10, 2009 by mawilson

[Peikko 1,575]

Better than lots of empty housing bringing the 'tone' of the neighbourhood down. Her neighbours didn't know the difference so why should they care as long as the facade remains the same?

Edited April 10, 2009 by Madame Cleo

[Bobby+Umit 161]

Better than lots of empty housing bringing the 'tone' of the neighbourhood down. Her neighbours didn't know the difference so why should they care as long as the facade remains the same?

Because a lot of these "squaters" actually destroy the houses they break into, because they didn't pay for them, that is why it should not be allowed.

Granted, this one is actually getting power/water, but there are houses that don't have this done, and do you think the squatters are being clean inside the house?

There are plenty of stories of people gutting the houses they are squatting in, using the corner of a room as a bathroom, etc...

Overall, that isn't good for the neighbourhood.

I am all for affordable housing, but to break the law, while others are paying for their houses, is not right.

[Peikko 1,575]

Responding to the article as posted.

If they are good enough to squat incognito, it has zip effect on the neighbourhood.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Responding to the article as posted.

Imagine that

[Bobby+Umit 161]

Responding to the article as posted.

If they are good enough to squat incognito, it has zip effect on the neighbourhood.

until the house gets destroyed from within