UPDATE: The City of North Las Vegas issued the following statement on Thursday addressing the situation at La Esperanza apartments:
The City of North Las Vegas' Code Enforcement Division had active cases on the properties located at the La Esperanza Apartments prior to the Channel 13 news report, and we have been trying to work with the owner and management company to gain compliance.
City officials took additional enforcement action this morning to assess the need for additional citations, emergency boarding and securing of vacant buildings and units.
The building owner and property management company failed to comply with the City's requests to secure open and dangerous dwelling units. As a result, Code Enforcement secured 20 dwelling unit windows and 10 dwelling unit doors. Notices of Violation were left with property management for Municipal and Uniform Housing Code Violations. In addition, at least five occupants were removed from vacant dwelling units.
Code Enforcement and the Squatter Task Force will continue to monitor the property and try to work with the property owner to gain compliance.
ORIGINAL STORY
LAS VEGAS (KTNV) -- People living in one North Las Vegas apartment complex say squatters have taken over, damaging their homes.
"I wouldn't rent this to my dog, this is third world living," said Darren Vanier about his apartment complex near Carey Avenue and North 5th Street in North Las Vegas.
Vanier is sick of living in what he calls deplorable conditions.
"You've got sewage backing up, I had to wait four days last year to get my toilet fixed, all urine and feces backed up in my toilet stinking."
There are problems everywhere you look at La Esperanza and people living there say it's caused by squatters and vandals.
"There's a lot of people, squatters that just come, they break in through the vacant apartments," said Uriel Urbaez, who lives in La Esperanza. "We fix up one place and they destroy it."
There are front doors missing door knobs and units missing front doors. There's glass and vandalism everywhere. In other areas, feral cats living in the walls and pieces of metal just hanging.
"They fix up one area, you know and then they mess up another area," Urbaez said.
There's no property management on site, so we reached out and learned, Triumph property management is aware of the problems.
A representative told 13 Action News there is an ongoing problem with squatters and vandals. He said they often call North Las Vegas police to evict the illegal tenants but they are often gone by the time police show up and as soon as one is out another has moved in to a vacant unit.
"They need to put the pressure on, either do something about this place or condemn it," Vanier said.
