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Since moving his family to Bushwick, Brooklyn in 2005, Angel Tarrats has developed a lot of neighborhood pride.

"It is amazing how far we have come in the amount of years we have been here," says Tarrats. "It has had some significant improvements - that is, until the neighbors moved in."

Tarrats found out that a halfway house had set up shop in the townhouse next door after his previous neighbor was foreclosed upon. He says there are upwards of 20 people living in this small two-family home, and they are not quiet neighbors.

"It's like 11:30 [p.m.], 12 midnight, sometimes 1 o'clock in the morning - you hear conversations going on back there. People are laughing, talking and smoking like it's 2 o'clock in the afternoon," says Tarrats.

It's not just annoying, but illegal. The building's certificate of occupancy defines the building as a two-family home. There are also safety concerns.

"That house has no sprinkler system, it has no fire protection. These guys smoke a whole lot and that poses a danger," says Tarrats. "Who is to say they won't light that place up? Our houses our attached, our house would go down with it."

NY1 called the Fire Department and when officials visited the illegal shelter they found enough bunk beds for 30 people and no sprinkler system. They ordered the building to be vacated and the Department of Buildings issued a violation for improper use of the two-family home.

Since then, the operator of the halfway house, who declined to comment for this story, installed a sprinkler system. According to Tarrats, there are fewer men living there than before.

He is still angry, though, that his neighbors are running an illegal halfway house next to his home.

"The city should not allow people like this to operate that way," says Tarrats. "And this residence next door is not the only one. I understand that there are several houses like this in this area."

In the next report, NY1 For You will see how many illegal shelters are in Bushwick houses.

If you'd like "NY1 For You" to look into a problem, call our 24-hour helpline at 212-379-3599 or send an email to ny1foryou@ny1.com.