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New website helping solve squatter problem in Las Vegas

Posted at 7:23 AM, Aug 03, 2018
and last updated 2018-08-03 10:27:29-04

There could be a new solution to the squatter problem in the Las Vegas valley.

It's a problem that puts people's lives in danger.

The home at 565 Bonita Avenue used to have squatters. Now it is completely changed. Cameras are everywhere and the lock box is bolted to a tree in the front yard.

The contractor responsible for this turn around said squatters came back four times during renovations, but he wasn't giving up.

"Really who's winning is the jobs we create, the neighborhoods we clean up, the nice homes that now the families can come into, and it's also bringing our city back to life," said Nick Marietta, the owner of Southwestern Custom Construction.

This is the first home he's fixed with the help of William Baker, and investor and owner of reportsquatters.com. This is a website where you can anonymously submit troubled homes.

Baker does all the leg-work to see if the owner will sell and then he finds a contractor who would be willing to take it on, even with squatters.

The contractor bought the home on Bonita from the bank for $150,000. He put $75,000 into it and he plans to put it on the market this week for $300,000.

Tracking down the owner of these troubled homes is where the investor really works.

"I'm good at tracking people down. I found my biological parents in six hours and they didn't want to be found," said Baker.

The investor and creator of the website says he'll take a few thousand dollars for his work.

They've just started this system, but they've got a lot of optimism.