Vacant Foreclosed Home Hijacking Incidents On The Rise In Los Angeles

In Los Angeles, California, Fox Channel 11 reports:

• Law enforcement officials say that when houses go into foreclosure, well-organized criminals break into the homes and create illegal titles. They set up the utilities in their names and they live there until they are evicted. In other cases, the criminals take over the foreclosed houses and then rent them to unsuspecting victims.



• We approached the people living in one Hollywood Hills home that residents in the neighborhood accused of being squatters. Bank officials say they want them out and law enforcement is also investigating.



• When FOX 11's Gina Silva approached them -- after an ugly confrontation -- they told us they paid $5,000 to rent the house. The man yelling obscenities in the video is rapper, J.O. Felony. His girlfriend told us they rented the house and insisted they are not squatters.



• A lot of innocent people are caught up in these illegal foreclosure scams. Los Angeles city attorneys tell us they prosecute one case a week.

Source: Squatting Cases on the Rise in Los Angeles.