LASD: Claims of squatters taking over burned-out home are false

Authorities are refuting claims made by a construction company executive who posted social media videos alleging that squatters are taking over burned-out homes and vacant lots following the January wildfires.

Luke Melchior of Melchior Construction has uploaded numerous videos to his Instagram on the matter, including one posted on Monday that appears to show a trailer set up on a vacant lot in a wildfire zone. 

“Squatters are overtaking vacant lots that burned down…this guy set up a whole campsite,” Melchior said in the video. “I guess he actually went down to the DMV and listed this [lot] as the address on his driver’s license…and the property owner can’t get them off.” 

“The police even showed up, and they said they couldn’t do anything about it…it has to go to the courts,” Melchior continued.  

He then panned the camera to show that an RV had been set up across the street from the lot that had been allegedly taken over by a squatter. 

“If you’re in Pacific Palisades or Altadena, I’d get some security fencing up right away,” Melchior said in the video, which garnered more than 18,000 likes in 36 hours. “Or you might lose your property to a vagrant.”

On Tuesday, Melchior posted a follow-up video with his recommendations on how to keep squatters off vacant lots in fire zones and enforce trespassing violations. In the video, he said that squatters can go to the DMV and put down the address of a vacant lot with no proof of residency, essentially “tying the hands” of the authorities who could kick them off right away.

“Unfortunately, California has made it really easy for these guys…you don’t even need to have proof of residence to put an address on your driver’s license,” Melchior said. “Once that happens, or say they forge a lease, it ties the hands of the police department, and they are unable to do anything. It has to filter through the court system.”

About two hours later, Melchior uploaded another video in which he said he flagged down a L.A. County Sheriff’s Department deputy patrolling the Altadena fire zone, and the deputy told him that they had been instructed to look out for squatters.

“They are out here [heavily] patrolling, and he said they got an order this morning, along with their regular fire patrol, to be looking around for people who might be squatting,” he said. “And LAPD is doing the same thing — so these posts work.”

Indeed, Melchior’s posts did gain some traction, as one of his videos was featured on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime.”

He also spoke to the Daily Mail, telling the outlet that some residents had asked him for help while he and his crew were working on a property in the Altadena fire zone.

“They informed us that some squatters had moved down the street,” Melchior told the Daily Mail. “They were asking us to basically tell the squatters, ‘Hey, we’re getting ready to demo this property. You gotta get off of it.’ But they wouldn’t leave.”

While Melchior’s videos did appear to show an encampment on a vacant lot in the fire zone, his claims were not immediately verified by law enforcement officials. KTLA reached out to LASD for more information on the claims, and a spokesperson with the Sheriff’s Department’s Altadena station confirmed Wednesday morning that the story of a squatter using a “sneaky DMV trick” to move in, as reported by the Daily Mail, was inaccurate.

“This is all due to a civil dispute…family fighting over property,” the spokesperson said. “There is no squatting problem.”

There will be a town hall meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Altadena library for concerned residents to have their questions answered. Officials will be addressing inquiries surrounding the squatter story, said by LASD to be false.