Foreclosed Homes Are Going to the … Cats?
We’ve all seen the news about all the foreclosures happening all over the country, and, worse, some of us have first-hand experience in our own neighborhood. Homes that were once occupied by our friends, neighbors, perhaps even family, now stand empty. The banks aren’t getting paid, and the properties aren’t getting taken care of. It not only affects those who once lived in these houses, but the neighborhood too, by driving down property values of those homes around foreclosed properties.
Certainly, given all these foreclosures, we’ve also heard about — or have first-hand experience with — the occasional squatters, perhaps a homeless person finding some solace in some nice temporary shelter, or even some kids getting a bit carried away and finding a new party house. But there’s a new kind of squatter in town. These squatters are likely to scare away not only looters and thieves looking for their next empty target but perhaps even those looking for that bargain home to buy.
Who might these squatters be? How about a pack of mountain lions that decided to park themselves in an empty home in Lake Elsinore, California? Perhaps they figured that no one else was using the home, so they would. Maybe their thinking was much more devious: They decided that it was about time that they do something about the ever-encroaching human population that keeps pushing them farther and farther away from their habitat. Whatever the reason, they’re there, and it looks like they’re staying a while. They’re not making payments or even getting nasty phone calls and letters from the creditors, but authorities hope that, once the litter grows up a bit, they might move on.
Don’t be so sure, though. In this economy, even a bunch of cats can figure out when they’re living the high-life — and free of charge to boot.
A mountain lion roams a foreclosed home in California.
