This isn’t a scene from a Hollywood disaster movie. As law and order breaks down in many major cities, illegal “squatters” are increasingly emboldened to take over homes and refuse to leave.

In Southern California, the problem is so bad that an affluent Beverly Crest mansion was turned into a wild party house with hundreds of rowdy uninvited guests per night. The police aren’t doing much to chase away these poachers, so homeowners are turning to entrepreneur Flash Shelton’s “Squatter Hunter” service.

Shelton found his mother’s house occupied by seven strangers who wouldn’t leave. Police told him the squatters had rights and his case would be tied up in courts for months or even years. He waited until the squatters were out for the day and then lugged their stowaway belongings to the side of the road.

Now his business is helping property owners remove illegal squatters.

We love entrepreneurial businesses like this, but it’s sad that in many major cities, you now have to hire a firm to do the job of the police and the courts.