Neighbors are relieved that squatters are out of a home in the Village of Polo Ridge.
The home at 718 Santa Fe St. has been the source of anxiety in the neighborhood.
Neighbors had complained in October that a group of squatters was living at the home which is in foreclosure. Shortly after the residents’ complaints to the board, 34-year-old Anisa Ebony Trychta was arrested at the home on a probation violation. A theft charge was later added.
Neighbors were back at Friday’s Community Development District 3 Board of Supervisors meeting and reported the squatters, who were said to include a 10-year-old boy and a teenage girl, are gone.
Things have improved, not only because the squatters are gone. The District has taken over mowing the grass and the outward appearance of the home is better than it was. However, the utilities have been shut off and the ownership of the home remains in limbo.
The house has “bounced around from mortgage company to mortgage company,” according to Matt Armstrong, director of Resident Services.
There is no immediate solution in sight.
“We’re in a situation where we have to follow what the law dictates. It’s unfortunately going to take a long time,” said Supervisor Gail Lazenby. “It’s a long, tedious, difficult process. I have been through it with a couple of properties on my own street.”