House Squatter Gets Community Service

A woman who was living without the owner’s permission at a vacant Northridge house was sentenced Thursday to 60 days’ community service, authorities said.

Aisha Lawrence, 24, who pleaded no contest to theft and trespassing, was also ordered by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Randy Rhodes to pay $12,500 restitution for her squatting, said Deputy City Atty. Maureen Rodriguez.

The house in the 18500 block of Labrador Street had been foreclosed, Rodriguez said. Lawrence was caught after an employee of the company that bought the house went there for repairs and found her and another man living there with utilities turned on.

The man, who gave police a false identity, has so far eluded authorities. Neighbors estimated that the couple lived in the house for about 6 1/2 months, Rodriguez said.

The case is among a “recent surge” in “squatter cases” in the Valley, said Rodriguez, who did not know the reason for the increase.

“What these people do is they go around and find properties going into foreclosure, and they go in after the old owners move out and before the new owners take possession,” Rodriguez said. “It’s a crime of opportunity.”