Foreclosed Houses Becoming Favorite Hangout for Some Homeless

Foreclosed Houses Becoming Favorite Hangout for Some Homeless

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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....

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Convenient for whom? Certainly not for the families who've lost everything in the subprime meltdown.

Yes, those who have been foreclosed on must bear the responsibility for not taking into account the reset on their ARMs, but the loan industry is partly to blame as well for not educating buyers on the risks associated with the loans they were selling. Much of the housing boom seems false now in retrospect, fueled by predatory lenders and uninformed or misinformed buyers.

It all amounts to a windfall for homeless people looking for shelter in the winter, though, with some of the foreclosed homes still providing utilities like water and electricity. I was looking for a passage in the Bible this morning dealing with His chosen inhabiting dwellings they didn't build and reaping harvests they did not sow, but I couldn't find it in time to post it here. It certainly applies, as the poor and downtrodden are favored of God.

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