BEAUMONT- For a Beaumont homeowner whose north side home has been occupied by one or more squatters, coming home to find someone else living there is a reality.

Neighbors of the home at 5270 Landry Lane originally contacted KFDM because the entire yard of the property was littered with trash. Rev. JD Roberts says he and other neighbors noticed the trash three weeks ago and the piles are steadily growing.

“I thought it was someone who had been evicted and they were putting all this stuff out,” Roberts said. “They usually do that with evictions, but the weird thing was that it wasn’t on the curb. It was in the yard.”

Roberts says his neighbors approached him and told him that a woman who they believed was homeless lived in the house and was taking garbage out to the yard in shopping carts.

“It’s a nuisance in many ways, but at the same time I don’t want to make any judgments about what it is and how it’s going,” Roberts said. “I just know we have to do something about it.”

The house at 5270 Landry Lane is officially owned by Curtis Dixon Jr., but has since passed to his son, John Dixon. John says the property was vacant until about a month ago. He came to mow the lawn and learned that people he believes are homeless had broken in through the back door and started carrying things inside.

Another Landry Lane resident, Melissa Holloway, says she has lived on the streets for 18 years and has never experienced anything like the scene outside Dixon’s home. Holloway was shocked to learn that the woman had occupied the home after a previous altercation in which she had claimed to be the owner.

“Ask for help if you can’t do it alone. But if you know you’ve done something wrong by breaking into another person’s home that doesn’t belong to you, that is, property, then you’re doing something wrong,” Holloway said.

John Dixon says the house was in the process of being sold when the woman started squatting. John’s father has owned the property since the 1980s and John says it’s a shame what has happened to it.

Beaumont Code Enforcement says there are code violations regarding garbage and they have received a complaint about the property. The next step would be for them to do an inspection and notify the owner of any violations found.

According to the building code, the homeowner is responsible for removing the trash if they want to return to compliance. However, there are ways to notify the city of illegal dumping so they can take action.

John Dixon says the property has now been sold and the new owners will soon begin clearing the property.