LeBron James 'Concerned' by Squatters Near His California Home: Report

California has a squatting problem and now Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is growing "concerned" about alleged squatters who have moved in to a $4.3-million mansion near his home.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, several states updated their rules to allow renters more leniency if they were unable to make their monthly payments. However, in states like California and Washington, this has given rise to unforeseen problems in which squatters stay on property they don't own permanently, and the homeowners lose thousands of dollars in the process.

Unfortunately for James, this is exactly what appears to be happening two doors down from his Beverly Hills property. In September 2020 he purchased the lavish $36.8 million mansion previously owned by the legendary Katharine Hepburn.

He immediately knocked it down, but due to a 2-year legal battle, it took years for him to receive planning permission to begin work on his dream home. In October 2023, the NBA player finally got the green light to begin work on the plot of land

Four months later, the work was completed, but now James has another problem to deal with. Squatters have moved in to a nearby property and are throwing regular parties that have resulted in assaults, fires, and arrests, per The Daily Mail.

Newsweek emailed a spokesperson for James for comment Friday.

According to an article on the Curbed website, residents in the area are stressed about how to handle the situation.

"Cut off their water," one person suggested. "They're possibly Mafia so wouldn't want to try that," another replied. "They are not Mafia," someone else said. "Who said that? Cut the water," comments on a related article read.

"One of the neighbors got in touch with LeBron James' house manager. They were told James was very concerned."

This isn't the first time that James' concern has been shared with the media.

In January, James' house manager, who asked not to be named, told The Daily Mail that he had to keep security guards at the property 24/7 while it was being built.

"I've heard from my security team up there about all the crazy cars, crazy parties at night, how we're not able to get into our property sometimes because they're blocking the street with their cars, and just the nuisance at night with the loud music and people floating out to the streets," he said.

"It's one of the reasons we have security 24/7. Otherwise, there's no need for me to have security there 24/7 because it's just a construction site."

Among the residents of the affluent neighborhood are singer John Legend and model Chrissy Teigen, Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, and Stephen Levinson, the film and television producer behind Entourage and Ballers. Within a half-mile of the house reside billionaires Ron Burkle, Steve Wynn, and Jeff Bezos.

The squatters staying at the Beverly Hills property have claimed they are valid tenants, though the homeowner and property agent deny any rental agreements exist.

Squatters are becoming such a problem that a group of Californians has taken the squatting situation in the state into their own hands and created a business in which you can hire someone to get rid of illegal tenants on your property.

Lando Thomas, one of the business owners behind Southern California-based Squatter Squad, has been removing squatters since 2018. In 2023, though, he decided to team up with a few others and start a branded company that removes unruly and illegal tenants from homeowners' properties.

"Because squatting seems to be on the rise, the courts are backed up from months to years, police can't or won't help, property owners feel helpless and are told taking the squatters to court is the only path to getting their property back," Thomas previously told Newsweek.

"Even the neighbors can be victims because where there's squatters, there's usually bad activities going on such as drug dealing and other crimes."

Alan Chang, the founder and president of Vested Title & Escrow, previously told Newsweek that stories like this have become more common in recent years.

"The pandemic and social media seemed to have triggered a broader awareness of eviction prevention in many metros and there will always be bad actors to take advantage of the system," he said.

00:56U.N. Passes Immediate Gaza Ceasefire Resolution

By Khaleda RahmanSenior News Reporter

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Pro-Palestinian protesters chanted "f*** Joe Biden" outside a star-studded fundraiser headlined by the president and former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton in New York City.

Hundreds of people, angry at Biden's response to Israel's war in Gaza, gathered outside Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan on Thursday, according to videos posted on social media. They demanded a ceasefire in Gaza, and many waved Palestinian flags.

The war, triggered by Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel, has killed more than 32,000 people and wounded 74,000, The Associated Press reported, citing Gaza's Health Ministry. Some 1,200 people were killed in Israel and another 250 people abducted when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7.

Protesters in New York also repeatedly interrupted as The Late Show host Stephen Colbert moderated a conversation with Biden, Obama and Clinton, all seated in armchairs onstage at the iconic venue.

"Shame on you Joe Biden! Shame on you! You are funding genocide in Palestine," one protester yelled, according to a video posted on X, formerly Twitter. "You have blood on your hands!"

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Despite the fundraiser hauling in a record-setting $26 million-plus for his reelection campaign, the protests underscored the electoral challenge Biden faces as he campaigns for a second term against former President Donald Trump.

The protests prompted Biden to reiterate calls for stopping the "the effort that is resulting in significant deaths of innocent civilians, particularly children" in Gaza, according to pool reporters in the room.

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However, he said that Israel "is in a position where its very existence as at stake."

He also said he was working with Arab counties, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and Qatar, who he said are prepared to "fully recognize Israel for the first time."

"But there has to be a post-Gaza plan, and there has to be a train to a two-state solution," Biden added.

Newsweek has contacted the Biden campaign for comment via email.

New York Joe Biden

Protesters took to the streets outside Joe Biden's fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall in New York on Thursday.ALEX KENT/GETTY IMAGESProtesters also disrupted Obama as he was speaking, prompting him to respond: "No, no listen. You can't just talk and not listen. That's what the other side does."

Obama went on to say that Biden has the "moral conviction and clarity" to lead during the war.

"But he's also willing to acknowledge that the world is complicated, and that he's willing to listen to all sides in this debate and every other debate and try to see if we can find common ground," he said. "That's the kind of president I want."

Clinton also used the war to explain why Biden should be reelected.

"Because he genuinely cares about preserving the existence of Israel, which Hamas doesn't, Clinton said. "And he genuinely cares about giving the Palestinians a decent state of self-governance and the support they need for self-determination."

Jewish Voice for Peace, which describes itself as "the largest progressive Jewish anti-Zionist organization in the world," said on X that Palestinian youth, descendants of Holocaust survivors, doctors, and climate activists were among those that disrupted the fundraiser. The group has been contacted for comment via email.

"This action calling for a ceasefire in Gaza represents the views of the majority of Americans. It also speaks for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, Jews, and people of conscience who refuse to sit by while genocide is carried out with our tax dollars, and in our names," the group said in a post.

"The majority of Americans are demanding an end to Israel's genocidal assault on Palestinians in Gaza. President Biden should listen to his own constituents, rather than the leadership of an Israeli government that is indiscriminately bombing the people of Gaza."

Update 3/29/2024, 8:05 a.m. ET: The headline of this article has been updated.