MELBOURNE, Fla. – Piles of trash and other sketchy activity have been going on for years at a house on Seneca Drive in Melbourne, where neighbors say squatters moved in.

Florida law says that to kick them off the property, authorities need permission from the homeowner, but in this case, the homeowner’s dead.

News 6 checked the Brevard County Property Appraiser website, and the house is still in the owner’s name.

However, the mortgage lender has begun foreclosure proceedings on the house. A hearing is scheduled for next month.

Neighbor Dewey Shattuck said the whole situation has become a giant mess.

“It’s fairly annoying, disgusting, and there’s a lot of debris in the debris that’s probably illegal – lot of drugs and needles and stuff like that,” he said.

After complaining for a few years, Shattuck said neighbors don’t know what more they can do.

“We’ve been to the sheriff’s office, and they’ve got their hands tied because there’s nobody that’s a property owner that’s there,” he said. “The code enforcement, they’ve already put a judgment against it going on for like two and a half years or so.”

Shattuck said he’s seen several people get arrested at the house.

“They use the street, and they’re trying to get into this other property down the street,” he said. “It’s just annoying as hell.”

Shattuck also pointed out spray-painted plywood on the house that reads, “FU.”

“They don’t care about us,” he said.

When News 6 reporter James Sparvero asked a woman on the property if she’d like to talk about the neighbors’ concerns, she said she wasn’t staying there.

Stick with News 6 and ClickOrlando.com. We will continue to follow up to see how the county will find solutions for neighbors.