Overheard in Twitterland

Hey, that was me, quoted above. And this is a really serious issue. We have a foreclosed house next door owned by Deutsche Bank National Trust, the realtor is a small local shop hired by the bank's agent (a law firm in Philly).
On thursday night we heard someone break in, then saw flash lights upstairs so called the cops. Cops came but, as the would-be squatters wouldn't come to the door, (!!) they left without doing anything. Friday night, same time -- 10:30 -- a Budget rental truck pulled up outside and a bunch of people started trying to move stuff in. Before they were able to get the door open I ran outside and asked to see their realtor credentials (I knew the place had not been sold as I had been speaking to the realtor only two hours previously). An older dude waived a print out from property shark and claimed it was the deed!! Younger dudes told me to go fuck myself. Nice!! I explained that the realtor had asked us to keep an eye on the house, and if he had actually bought it, I apologised in advance but joked he should think himself lucky to have bought a house in a street where people actually give a shit.
Anyway, I was again told to go fuck myself, so I called the cops, who arrived en masse -- three squad cars and two under covers. The under cover guys were bristling for a fight while the uniforms just tooled around on the pavement. I explained to the under covers that the house had not been bought and that the guys were actually breaking in. After checking the older dude's property shark print out the undercover cops declared: "Well he seems pretty legit to me". At which point I told them that the house had been locked up by the US Marshalls Service last week and that anyone who bought the house would have a receipt saying that the lock had been removed. At this point the under cover lost his temper and said "look buddy, dont go telling me about the law, this all seems a bit civil to me. I'm out of here." At this the squatters actually whooped and high fived. All our neighbours had come out by now, including our block president -- who is also president of the police community board. We were all telling the cops that the house had not been sold and that these men were breaking in, but they still seemed disinclined to help. I was meanwhile calling and calling the realtor without any luck -- it was now nearly midnight on a friday after all. In the end the undercovers came back from their cars after calling to the precinct and decided that the would be squatters should leave and bring the deeds to the house down to the precinct in the morning, at which point they would be allowed access to the house. Of course they left never (yet at least) to be seen again.
Surely there must be some sort of procedure the cops could follow to establish whether someone has legal access to a vacant property. And if not we should work together to establish one. Any thoughts?

Posted by: jamesdoran at March 22, 2009 6:04 PM

don't get me wrong, the police did come, and did get the guys to leave, for that much we were grateful. But there were several points where the cops lost interest and were ready to go. And it took two hours to resolve.
But more importantly there seems to be a gap in the police department's perception of what does and does not constitute a crime. Breaking into a house that does not belong to you is a crime. period. But they did not react like it was a crime.
The real problem lies in the fact that this sort of situation is rife with ambiguities -- which is where confidence tricksters and frauds thrive.
I asked myself on Friday night, how would I react if a stranger came up to me as I was opening my front door and said "stop, that house does not belong to you, I am calling the cops."
Pretty absurd right?
But this is something we will see more and more of. There are many vacant properties around at the moment and I assume this group of -- lets face it pretty rubbish -- thugs are not the only ones scoping out houses with chains on the door in an effort to take possession of them.
We now have a process in place with the realtor and the bank's agent to quickly and easily check if anyone with access to the house is legit or not, the cops are aware and we should not have any further problems. If you have a vacant property near you it would be worth contacting the owner and establishing something similar.
I used to own a flat in a victorian house in London and squatters moved into the vacant next door and we thought nothing of it. Until it became a heroin shooting gallery and a brothel and we found a dead guy in the front yard one morning.
Ahh London, the memories

Posted by: jamesdoran at March 23, 2009 4:38 PM

We have a word for you in my country The What
total tosser
I've lived here for the last ten years, four of them in Bed Stuy, you say so much and seem to know so little

Posted by: jamesdoran at March 23, 2009 5:42 PM

How terrifying buckfast, and such a credit to you that you support the rights of thieves and thugs. I dare say you could find me if you put half a mind to it, I write under my own name in any number of well known publications in the city. You are most welcome to come by my office any day to carry out your threat. Or do you prefer to make them under an assumed name on the internet? I certainly hope you are never the victim of a crime, it would be an awful shame for you to have to snitch.

Posted by: jamesdoran at March 23, 2009 9:18 PM

yeah 1929, I lived in a big squat in Mosely, Birmingham for a bit and squatted an old cinema in Islington when I first moved to London. The difference is we moved in to buildings that had been abandoned for years and fixed them up, a movement I totally support. The house next to me is not abandoned it is on the market for sale and the guys breaking in were not crazy anarchists, they were old thieving thugs. There is no comparison

Posted by: jamesdoran at March 23, 2009 9:57 PM

I don't even get why The What comments on this website. If He feels so strongly about his various, often conflicting and generally uninformed, views there is much more he could do than pick pointless arguments with people on the internet.
I was hoping that by explaining this problem on this site that somebody might feel motivated to join forces and come up with an idea for a potential solution. This is about creating a safe and comfortable community to live in, not about staking claims and ownership rights.
Keeping criminals out of our block is something me and many of my neighbors work tirelessly to achieve. The best part is -- it works. We live on a friendly quiet and cool block in the middle of Bed Stuy. Everybody on the block knows one another and gets along. We choose to work together to keep it that way. And just to preempt The What, the majority of people on our block have lived here for many generations and established this community spirit before My wife and me arrived.
But, sadly, as usual, the post just generated a fairly pointless shit fight that led to nothing constructive.
Apologies to all those of you who did have something to add to the discussion, your points of view were well received.
If anybody has any willingness to get together to work out how this problem can be tackled in a constructive way, please contact me via the forum

Posted by: jamesdoran at March 24, 2009 10:23 AM

I appreciate your concern bridges but rough neighborhoods exist precisely because people do nothing to stop thugs from doing as they please.
Our block has a strong, decades old tradition of keeping criminals out, working with the precinct and one another to keep this a good place to live, raise kids and enjoy life.
And you misread my post, the squatters left, they have not returned in five days, the house is now secured and is being watched by patrolling cops. The precinct is in contact with the realtor and will be told when the house is sold.
So we are safer because of this kind of action not less so.

Posted by: jamesdoran at March 24, 2009 9:15 PM