As the worst of the recent economic crisis begins to pass, layoffs are slowing down, many people are being rehired, and homes are being bought once more.
While any full on economic turnaround will take quite awhile to come to fruition, things are starting to improve.
When the initial crisis hit, and as most people saw firsthand, an impactful aspect was that of the residential real estate market.
Many families lost their financing on their homes, and therefore their residences as well.
While this was tragic enough in and of itself for many families and their friends and neighbors, it also had another surprising pitfall which affected the home security even of those still in their houses.
In many area where there had never once been a problem, people began noticing a strange new phenomenon, squatters! More common in urban and inner city settings, a 'squatter' is anyone who lives in an empty or abandoned building that does not belong to them.
Often, the building was a business that went under long ago, and the owner has failed to maintain the location throughout the years leaving it unoccupied and unmaintained.
This combined with the fact that the building owner probably doesn't live in the same neighborhood, or sometimes even city, creates a prime situation for squatters, who can live undisturbed with a roof over their heads, and sometimes even utilities like water and heat, for many years.
As banks began to reclaim houses across the nation as 'assets,' many were boarded up and left vacant as their original owners were given the boot.
The large number of struggling families and individuals combined with the large number of empty homes lead to a dramatic increase in this practice nationwide.
Unfortunately, the problem with allowing squatters to occupy an area is not only that it decreases the values of the occupied properties, but also neighboring properties.
A large number of 'squatting' individuals infiltrating an area can also increase the amount of crime, and negatively impact home security for those still maintaining a middle class lifestyle in the area.
Even if a vacant property has a home alarm system, there is nobody there to maintain it and it is likely left off while bigwigs in major cities across the country treat it as one of thousands of similar homes they're not quite sure what to do with.
A person that suspects squatters in his or her area should contact authorities immediately to report the situation.
Not only is it hard to see the former homes of beloved friends and neighbors mistreated in this manner, it's simply dangerous for their own home security to have such under the radar individuals wandering around.
Begin by calling the police or visiting the station to fill out an official report, that way should the situation escalate you will have a prior incident to go on, and action can be taken far more quickly to remove the individual or individuals.
Never approach a suspected squatter on your own.
While it may seem cruel to put someone out on the street in such a manner, remember that the person is technically already committing a crime and has no right to occupy the property.
The proper authorities can help direct the individual or individuals to the proper avenues to seek housing assistance from local, state or government programs.