Foreclosed Houses Becoming Favorite Hangout for Some Homeless

CLEVELAND — The nation's foreclosure crisis has led to a painful irony for homeless people: On any given night they are outnumbered in some cities by vacant houses. Some street people are taking advantage of the opportunity by becoming squatters.

Foreclosed homes often have an advantage over boarded-up and dilapidated houses abandoned because of rundown conditions: Sometimes the heat, lights and water are still working.

"That's what you call convenient," said James Bertan, 41, an ex- convict and self-described "bando," or someone who lives in abandoned houses.

While no one keeps numbers of below-the-radar homeless finding shelter in properties left vacant by foreclosure, homeless advocates agree the locations—even with utilities cut off—would be inviting to some. There are risks for squatters, including fires from using candles and confrontations with drug dealers, prostitutes, copper thieves or police.

"Many homeless people see the foreclosure crisis as an opportunity to find low-cost housing (FREE!) with some privacy," Brian Davis, director of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, said in the summary of the latest census of homeless sleeping outside in downtown Cleveland.

The census had dropped from 40 to 17 people. Davis, a board member of the National Coalition for the Homeless, cited factors including the availability of shelter in foreclosed homes, aggressive sidewalk and street cleaning and the relocation of a homeless feeding site. He said there are an average 4,000 homeless in Cleveland on any given night. There are an estimated 15,000 single-family homes vacant due to foreclosure in Cleveland and suburban Cuyahoga County.

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While this particular story focuses on Cleveland, it also mentions occurrences in a number of other parts of the country.

Ok.

Just saying Cleveland is the Canada of America.

I have no idea what that means, but leaving aside the obvious intended insult toward Canada for the moment, I can assure you that there are worse places to live in the U.S. than Cleveland. I'm sure the economy is in bad shape but compare it to a city like Detroit where the economy is in bad shape and violent crime is through the roof, and it will seem wonderful in comparison. Just this past week my coworker's 20 yr old nephew (who was a university student) was shot dead in Detroit for no apparent reason, with police calling it an "accidental shooting". I'll take Cleveland over Detroit any day of the week.

I thought it was more of an insult toward Clevland. But I can understand why Canada would be offended to be compared to Cleveland.

Given the state of the Canadian dollar right now, Americans can't afford to sniff at Canada--literally!