The neighbors in Parkview noticed a lot of people coming and going from a house on Eleanor Street in an unincorporated portion of DeKalb County.
They assumed they were renters.
They were squatters or by-the-room renters paying someone who did not own the house.
As in Parkview, near I-20 east of downtown Atlanta, several parts of metro Atlanta are witnessing people moving into foreclosed and empty houses and taking over the properties.
“It’s not uncommon,” said Ron McNew, an agent with Prudential Georgia Realty who specializes in foreclosed properties.
McNew said he recently discovered several people were paying “some guy” $300 a month to rent a room in a house near Turner Field that McNew was trying to sell.
“Never did find him,” McNew said of the purported landlord. “People living there believed they were paying rent for real.
“This whole real estate market is inside out. All the old rules don’t apply anymore,” McNew said.
It’s only been in recent weeks that Parkview homeowners realized what had happened to their streets.
A real estate agent trying to sell the about-to-be foreclosed property discovered squatters had taken over the house.
“Nobody really knew what to do,” said Chad Mercer. “They [neighbors] had no idea these guys were renting these places out by the week. They broke in and … changed the locks on 377 Eleanor, cut the grass, [had turned on the] water and [were] illegally getting power.”
Around the corner were three more houses where people had just moved in, neighbors said.
Dee Giarratano said that by then the squatters were “attracting a real bad element, druggies and prostitutes” to their otherwise quiet streets.
Foot and car traffic had picked up and the residents at those houses seemed to change constantly.
“It seems as the economy has gone south there has been a proliferation of undesirable activity,” Giarratano said.
Homeowners called police several times. Patrols were increased but there was little more that could be done to move them out.
Mekka Parish, spokeswoman for the DeKalb Police Department, said the Parkview neighborhood problem was one “we see throughout the community”
To address it, code enforcement officers must first find the owners, Parish said. If and once they are found, the owner must have adequate time to correct the problem before the matter can be taken to court. Then the owners must file a complaint for police to respond.
DeKalb police are still trying to contact the owners of the four properties in the Parkview neighborhood.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s attempts to reach the owners listed on property records for these four houses also were unsuccessful Friday. Calls either went unanswered, went to a fax line or the number had been disconnected.
There is no record of how often people simply move into vacant houses or rent out space in them. The details are anecdotal, coming from neighbors and real estate agents who visit the properties.
Even before he first reported squatters in the house on Eleanor Street, Mercer said he had witnessed squatters taking over houses near properties he was renovating in the Vine City and English Avenue neighborhoods near the Georgia Dome.
“It’s rampant over there,” Mercer said. “And in Reynoldstown, Ormewood Park, Summerhill. Where ever there is a larger degree of foreclosures.”
Steve Ruff and his wife would watch from their front porch the comings and goings at two houses across Liberty Street in DeKalb County.
“I assumed they were renting the rooms out by the week,” he said. “Then you find out they are squatting. This guy broke in and put [new] locks on the doors. The company that owns it is out of Texas.”
Labels: dekalb county, squatters, vacant homes
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Brian Vanderhoff @ 9:12 AM
