MEMPHIS, Tenn. — People in a Midtown neighborhood are fed up after they say squatters moved into a five-bedroom house on North Parkway.
Neighbors say the home at 1716 North Parkway had been empty for months after the former owners moved out earlier this year. With the home now in foreclosure, residents say squatters have taken over and they feel there’s nothing being done about it.
“We started paying a little more attention and realized somebody’s squatting in this house,” said Taylor Capocaccia. “The fact that somebody would come and go so easily at a house at one of the busiest intersections in Midtown is kind of shocking.”
Outside, windows and doors are open and clothes are scattered over the front porch.
Neighbors say calls to police are made almost daily but no one’s ever home.
“If they knock on the door and ask who owns this house, and the people say, ‘Yes we do,’ they say, ‘Alright, have a good night,’” Capocaccia said.
Since the home is listed as foreclosed, Capocaccia said there’s no one to kick the new residents out.
Several people we spoke with say the trash on the property has made this once-beautiful home an eyesore. They want the squatters to leave — but not everyone agrees.
“I think the biggest problem is that we have a whole lot of people in the city that don’t have housing,” said neighbor Lucy Waechter Webb. “When I see folks take up residence in a house it’s because they’re trying to be safe. They don’t have a safe place to live and they’re trying to find a place that they can be safe.”
The company foreclosing on the property, BSI Financial Services, said they are aware of the issue and they plan to deal with it within the next 48 hours.