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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Business
Rory Evans

They went from rehab and jail to owning a real estate portfolio: ‘You own the hell out of this house!’

Thirteen workers stand and sit in a gutted building.
The Waterbottle Co-op work crew inside a home they are renovating in Baltimore, Maryland, in August. Photograph: Greg Kahn/The Guardian

The Baltimore houses are in rough shape. They might be missing roofs, or even floors. Some have been inhabited by squatters. Rats come in. Cats follow. As David Lidz, founder of the Waterbottle Co-op, which rehabilitates the foreclosed homes, points out, the contents are hard to view dispassionately.

“When a family leaves, most of the time they leave a ton of stuff there,” he says. “You find old photo albums and caps and gowns and baby clothes.”

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