I have been playing the Sims 3 for about a year now and have played various apartment buildings.

Today, I downloaded a custom neighbourhood and moved a family into one of the apartments. A notice came up to say the apartment had been left in a dreadful state by squatters and that I had the option to ignore it or try to fit it. I opted for the latter and ended up in a flat full of rubbish and rats, as were the grounds of the apartment building.

Is this an element of the game that has been modified/added? Or is it an integrated part of the EA game? Just wondering because I'd never seen it before lol.

That's been around since base game. There are a few different scenarios you can get when first moving in, including one where the house is haunted, or recently hit by a meteor, and the squatters one. They come up pretty rarely.

Thanks. It is pretty cool. I like that added element of realism. Some of the houses I've looked at recently have been in a terrible state, including some with rats. Eeew.