With the number of foreclosures continuing to rise in South Florida, squatting has become a growing trend among the area's homeless.

"I had to squat because nobody gave a squat," said 'Mary.'

We're calling her 'Mary' and concealing her identity because she's a squatter. She lost her job and took up residence in this vacant foreclosed house.

"This will afford me a few minutes to be able to breath and be able to regroup and get back out there into the workforce to be the productive part of society," said 'Mary.'

She keeps the place and her belongings in order. We can't reveal the location because she's there without the owner's permission.

Community activist Max Rameau placed Mary in the home through his organization, Take Back the Land.

"Our role is to identify these places and make them available for people who need places to stay, and that's what we do," said Rameau.

He's placed seven such families in foreclosed homes.

In Miami-Dade an estimated 4,800 people are homeless. There are plenty of homes to pick from. In December alone banks filed 6,000 foreclosures.

"If you would take all the homeless people and move them into vacant, foreclosed houses, we could end the homeless problem today in Miami Dade," said Rameau.

Some of these properties don't even have locks on the doors. So it’s easy to get in. Once they're inside, anyone can pay to the utility companies to keep water and lights running.

But is it legal?

"This issue of trespassers and squatters as you call them is against the law. If you go into an unoccupied dwelling that's not your property it's actually a misdemeanor under Florida law," said Richard Gray.

But Rameau says neighbors have to worry about vandals and an eye sore at this home because a family of four squatters was evicted.

"The places that they stay in end up being in much better condition," said Rameau. "For five months this has served for no good to anyone."

'Mary' says in this economy anyone can wind up in her shoes, like another woman she heard about.

"She was an educator; people who know her in Cutler Ridge say this lady was very educated," said 'Mary.' I would tell people not to worry if you see someone move in a house. If they're clean, if they're quiet, if they look like they're respectful, give them a chance."

Like most homeless agencies The Homeless Voice does not recommend that homeless peopleupnew home in a foreclosed house.It isagainst the law and the homeless person will now havenew charge to their criminal history therefore making it harder for them to get a job in the future. We also cannot forget that most homeless people who get arrested for smaller crimesup doing larger amounts of time in the jail based on them not having an address to get court notices and therefore do not show up for court and now getting a new warrant for their arrest.We understand that the man who was doing this only had good intentions but still we can't promote the homeless to trespass and to break the law. Copyright 2009 by NBC6.net.