By Gabrielle Parish

    SHREVEPORT, Louisiana (KTBS) -- Imagine coming back from a relaxing vacation, only to find out someone’s been living in your house while you were gone.

One Shreveport homeowner is now dealing with thousands of dollars in damage -- and a whole lot of frustration.

A homeowner tells us she and her husband returned from their trip this month to find their Highland home had been broken into. There were clear signs someone was living inside.

A light fixture was ripped out and the back door was broken. Most notable was the security system was torn off the wall. All of it adds up to about $7,000 in damages, according to the owner.

Police are calling it a burglary, but the homeowner’s niece believes squatters are to blame for the break-in.

The homeowner didn’t want to be identified, but says the issue is bigger than just one break-in.

“The Shreveport Police Department does have a lot of the items that were collected, and they are investigating it. But the laws are really unclear in Shreveport when it comes to squatters versus homeowners. People are scared,” according to the niece of the homeowner.

Cpl. Chris Bordelon says this case is being treated as a burglary of an inhabited dwelling instead of a violation of the city’s new squatters ordinance. He says the squatters law is designed for vacant properties and does not apply when a house is actively occupied.

So far this year, police say they’ve arrested 20 squatters in the Highland neighborhood alone.

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