Las Vegas Seeing Issues with Squatters
Your neighbors may not really supposed to be living that home next to you. When the housing economy took the huge hit, the perfect storm of empty houses that occurred left plenty of room for squatters to move in. This meant that Las Vegas was an ideal place for lease scams and even people just taking over homes and using them for illegal operations.
Larger Issue is Leasing Scams
One local broker and realtor said that most of the issues in the Las Vegas areas are not largely due to people taking over homes for illegal operations, but rather to carry out leasing scams. The victims of these leasing scams have no ideas that they are living in a home that is not owned by the person who is leasing it out. Another issue is simply people who have lost their home and have nowhere else to go. They simply move from home to home, squatting where they can.
In the last year, Las Vegas Metro Police received 4,458 calls concerning squatters, which is a 24 percent increase over 2014 and a 69 percent increase from 2013 and a 169 percent increase from 2012. Assembly Bill 386, which was designed to shorten the removal process of squatters and make a crime out of housebreaking and unlawful home occupancy, has been investigated 90 times since it went into effect since November and six people have been arrested.
The law is actually good for citizens, as it gives them an outlet if they suspect that someone is squatting in their neighborhood. In the past, real estate agents had no recourse if they found someone squatting, so this is good for everyone all around. The president of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, Scott Beaudry, said that this allows for more of a team approach to the issue, as banks that own the homes can’t possibly keep an eye on every property they own.
By paying attention to your neighborhood and to who comes and goes, you can ensure that you know who lives in your neighborhood and who doesn’t. This can help you to keep squatters from being able to live months and months in your neighborhood without notice and without skipping notice.