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Denver woman says homeless people walk in and out of neighboring abandoned homes

Posted at 5:55 PM, Dec 19, 2019
and last updated 2019-12-19 21:10:24-05

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DENVER — For a woman living between two abandoned houses near Colfax and Syracuse, life has turned into a nightmare.

"My kids don’t play in the yard anymore. They’re frightened to play in the yard; we’re frightened to sit in the yard," said the woman, who did not wish to be named out of fear of retaliation.

She says homeless people have for the last year been freely walking in and out of the properties.

"Now we have a guy that brought five guys and a couch to move into the property yesterday."

About five years ago, she was homeless and says it has taken time before she was able to move into a home with her children.

"I just played guitar on the street for a long time. And then I got a job at a hot dog stand, and then I got a job at a Subway, and then I moved in with family and I started paying rent. Then somebody lost their job and now I’m a head of household."

Denver7 reached out to the property owner, Zach Sager, who hung up the phone and did not want to comment on neighbors' complaints.

The city of Denver says at the moment, all they can do is continue removing people from the property and boarding up the house if needed. The responsibility falls on the property owner.