Foreclosure Communities And Home Invasion

By Author: Nick Adama
Total Articles: 197
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Over the past few months, I have been taking more courses on how to survive in the absence of government services or specialized health care during a period of civil unrest caused by a natural disaster or severe economic collapse. One of the more interesting classes, and one which provided a lot of useful information for homeowners, was on how to protect against an invasion of a home by a violent criminal.

The most important concept I learned was that of managing perceptions and the nature of the typical home invader. The type of person robbing a home is often cowardly and hoping to rely on brute force. If he was hardworking, he would have a job. And if he was a master criminal, he would be knocking off a casino, bank, or richer target than the average private residence -- in essence, someone breaking into a home is looking for an easy score.

This is why the first line of defense in protecting against such an event is simply making a property look like it is well prepared. Dummy cameras can be put up that look intimidating to the average criminal but may not be recording anything at all. In addition, it is easy ...
... to purchase or print out a fake sign indicating a property is protected by ADT Security, Brinks, or another security company.

A few signs and dummy cameras may be enough to deter most lazy criminals, who would rather move on to the next house and not risk the possibility of setting off an alarm or being caught on film. This can also be done with abandoned buildings in a community hit hard by foreclosures in order to create the appearance of well-defended properties, which criminals may pass over if they were trying to squat or steal.

But the doors of a house can also be upgraded or defended. Most doors to homes are build of wood but have a hollow core which is easier to kick in. A solid core door with a one-inch deadbolt can make it much more difficult to break in. In addition, door hinges should have at least four holes for screws and it is a good idea to use three-inch screws in the hinges. Most doors come with two-inch screws, and simply upgrading them makes it more difficult to break down a door.

Doorknobs are weak points of many homes, as the knobs are of low quality and can easily be picked or forced through. Most hardware stores have Grade 1 or 2 knobs that are resistant to twisting, prying, lockpicking, and other forced entries. The deadbolt can also be upgraded from a standard model to include beveled casing and a latch mechanism on the bolt to prevent it from slipping under force.

Unfortunately, many people will remember to secure their doors and knobs but have no problem leaving windows open even if they leave to go run errands. This presents a perfect opportunity for invasions, as the screens can be pushed up and the windows forced further open. A simple trick is to use wood dowels to prevent the window from being opened all the way, and homeowners can get into the habit of opening windows no more than six inches or so.

Mini blinds are also a great deterrent of home invasions if they are kept down while the homeowners have left the house. Burglars forcing their way through windows with mini blinds have often found it more difficult to get out of a tangled mass of blinds than to force the window open in the first place. While they are not pretty decorations for a house, they can be a useful security measure.

While there are many methods to secure a home and a community against a drastic deterioration in the quality of life, homeowners should take more precautions against being robbed. Squatters and other non-government criminals are using foreclosed homes as bases for taking advantage of people, and the situation may continue to get even more precarious as foreclosure rates push more people into the streets.
Nick publishes articles giving foreclosure help and news to borrowers who are at risk of losing their properties. His sites describe many different solutions to saving a home, including large sections on how to qualify for a loan modification that will not almost certainly default. Visit his site now to read more about how foreclosure works and why a mortgage modification will benefit you: http://www.foreclosurefish.com/