Yucatán Property Invasions: A Growing Crisis

Mérida, Yucatán — Homeowners of houses, apartments, and even residential estates are living in a state of anxiety as cases of illegal occupation and real estate fraud proliferate. These foreign criminal methods are growing in the state. The specter of a reform to the INFONAVIT (Institute of the National Housing Fund for Workers) that would "legitimize" invasion is sounding alarms in a society that has always valued work and property.

By Proyectos Libres. Mérida, Yucatán; August 21, 2025.— The peace so valued by the people of Yucatán is beginning to crumble. Not due to the serene rhythm of provincial life, but because of a silent and voracious threat that undermines the legal security of families: the invasion of properties. This scourge, which seemed foreign to this region, has begun to become evident in the neighborhoods of Mérida and Umán, driven by the shadow of a federal initiative that, through INFONAVIT, seeks to reward the crime with property titles.

The heart of the Yucatecan people, forged in work and effort, beats with indignation. What is the use of having saved every peso, of having shouldered a mortgage that consumes a large part of one's salary, if now any individual without morals can take ownership of what was so costly to build? The potential new law is not perceived as a step towards social justice, but as an invitation to impunity, a clear message to opportunists: invade, because the government will grant you what you did not work for.

Mérida: Invasion is No Longer an Anecdote, It is a Reality

Cases are on the rise. In the exclusive Francisco de Montejo area, police arrested three individuals for illegally entering a home. But the problem is deeper and more complicated. It is estimated that 35 percent of the houses in the Yucatecan capital are unoccupied, making them an attractive target for organized crime, which sees them as easy loot.

The 'Mérida Limpia' program attempts to address the problem by cleaning these lots, but it is not enough. Criminal methods are becoming more sophisticated. Recently, in the Melitón Salazar neighborhood, a young woman received a terrible surprise upon learning that the house she inherited from her aunt was being occupied by strangers. An individual with the surname Vázquez was apparently renting it out fraudulently to two different families, profiting from someone else's property. It is the same modus operandi that affects cities in the center of the country and, like a plague, has already arrived in Yucatán.

Umán: The Hot Zone and the Wall of Discord

Meanwhile, in the Piedra de Agua subdivision in Umán, invaders have begun to appear more frequently, often accompanied by robberies and the removal of window protections. The desperation is such that the conflict has diversified: the construction company Grupo Casitas wants to build a dividing wall, a solution that residents reject because it does not address the root problem: poorly constructed homes that become vulnerable and the feeling of abandonment by the authorities.

The Indignation: The True Face of This Crisis

The true drama is not found in the numbers, but in the face of the young woman crying in front of her late aunt's house, which has been usurped. In the frustration of the father who sees his life's investment crumbling before the slowness of justice. In the fear of the lonely elderly person who fears that any night someone will knock on his door to dispossess him.

Yucatán is at a crossroads. On one hand, there is the urgent need for dignified housing for all, and on the other, the defense of the right to property, a fundamental pillar of any orderly society. The solution cannot, under any circumstances, be to reward illegality. The answer lies in expediting justice, in protecting the legitimate owner, in recovering and putting up for sale that 35 percent of abandoned homes, and in punishing with the full weight of the law those who enrich themselves at the expense of the suffering of others.