Residents in a Westwood neighborhood said a home on the street that attracts a constant stream of intruders and squatters has made living on the street unbearable and dangerous.
Neighbors in the upscale neighborhood, located just off Santa Monica Boulevard near the Westfield Century City mall, said there are constant visitors to a specific home that is owned by a pair of older siblings — a brother and a sister.
The visitors reportedly bring trouble with them and residents have seen public urination, drug activity, intruders climbing over fences and breaking into the home, squatters, possible prostitution and massive piles of garbage outside the property.
Some of the visitors, who seem to arrive at all times of the day, have even harassed residents.
“They’ve been a menace to the neighborhood for the whole time that we’ve lived here,” neighbor Amy Gordon told KTLA’s Chris Wolfe. “But in the past 10-12 months, they are hoarders and they’ve hoarded themselves out of the home and they have been living in their cars.”
Neighbors, who described the property as a “Hell house,” said they fear for their safety.
“It has completely blown up and disrupted everything,” Gordon said. “There’s drug paraphernalia all over the neighborhood. It’s across the street from a school, a family dental building.”
“I called adult protective services to try to get them to help [the siblings],” said neighbor Carrie Livingston. “Sometimes in the winter months, their car is running through the night to provide them with heat.”
Neighbors said they’ve contacted local law enforcement and city leaders for help, but claimed they were told nothing could be done about it. Some residents believe the home poses a health and fire hazard.
Restraining orders have been filed against the siblings and more than 150 signatures were gathered for a petition that was sent to their L.A. city council representative, Katy Yaroslavsky.
Carrie Livingston, who lives next door to the home, said she was forced to spend thousands of dollars to replace a fence on her property that intruders broke while climbing over it.
She said she often finds all kinds of alcohol bottles littered on her property as the intruders tend to stash random items in her bushes.
“We always knew them as the creepy neighbors when we were kids,” said neighbor Graham Livingston. “But it was only in the past few years when things started getting really serious.”
The siblings, however, spoke with KTLA’s Chris Wolfe and said the neighbors who have accused them of being negligent are lying.
They claim that whenever they leave to run house errands, that’s when the intruders would break into their home. They said they’ve reported the criminal activities to police, but have not received help.
They do sometimes sleep in their cars, but claimed that was only done to keep a better eye on possible trespassers. They believe the targeted effort to condemn the house is an infringement on their rights.
Residents, in the meantime, are asking for help from city officials who they believe have the power to condemn the property and take action to clear it.
KTLA has reached out to Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky’s office for comment and is awaiting a response.
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