Janis has been living in a nightmare for a year and a half — his house has been taken over by the homeless 0 12

Neither the summoned services nor personal conversations have improved the situation. Locals believe that the only solution may be to hire security, reports the show Degpunktā (TV3).

House No. 9 on Platas Street has been taken over by the homeless. One of the residents on the second floor lets people into the building, and today several noticeably intoxicated men left the premises one after another. According to residents, the code for the entrance door is known to everyone in the area, so there is currently no way to stop the "invasion" of homeless people into the apartment building.

Janis, one of the few legal residents on the second floor, says that for about a year and a half his life has been like a nightmare: "I am thinking of making a new entrance with a separate key for my money. But then the homeless will have an apartment with a lockable door. They broke the toilet in the bathroom — it’s all filthy. They sleep on this concrete."

A neighbor who invites homeless people to his place does not see a problem in what is happening: "I am doing well. Well, guests come to me. That’s your problem. It’s the police's problem."

The last straw for Janis was when an electric scooter, adapted for a person with mobility impairments, was stolen from his room while he was in the hospital. However, petty thefts had occurred before: "I sleep at night and suddenly hear my microwave starting to work. The neighbor climbed in at night, closed the door — and it turned on. I woke up and asked what he was doing."

The fight against the dangerous people who have settled in the house seems endless:

"There at the end is the kitchen, I left the door to the room open. While I was talking to the cleaner, he stole my aftershave cologne. I called the police, but as soon as they left, the neighbor was back here. I had lice, dealt with that — then bedbugs appeared. I dealt with them too. There are also cockroaches in the kitchen."

Riga municipal police have visited this address 15 times in the past year to address issues related to homeless individuals. One of the uninvited residents managed to speak with the journalists of the show.

The man was dozing but woke up: "I had nowhere to go. So I climbed into the entrance and snored like a pig. That’s my mistake. I’m 50 years old, I have problems with work. You can take me wherever you want, I won’t be jailed because I’m 50 years and 8 months old. And I don’t care where you take me. I don’t want to argue with you. But I want to talk like a human."

Such living conditions have also tired the residents of the first floor — the constant unpleasant smell, noise, and people from whom it is better to keep away.

"This smell — they all stink. And we have already caught some viruses. The janitor has been sick with rotavirus twice. We tried to talk to them nicely to leave and find housing. There are abandoned summer houses. There are so many of them here. A whole Baldere — and all homeless," says resident Maria.

Residents believe that the only way to restore order is to hire a security guard who will control who enters the house. The show Degpunktā contacted the management company "Rīgas nami" with a question about how they plan to address the prolonged problem on Platas Street. They began servicing the house on January 1 of this year.

"The power supply to the entrance door has now been completed, so that the code lock can be replaced soon and uncontrolled distribution of codes can be excluded. The locks will be equipped not with codes, but with chip cards, which will ensure controlled access — cards will only be issued to residents," explained Rīgas nami representative Janis Bunte.

Until then, the residents of the three-story house will have to continue fighting the presence of homeless people either on their own or with the involvement of law enforcement. And even after that, there is no guarantee that peace will reign in the house.