Wow, this is almost exactly the setting for the excellent Netflix show Ozark. Buddy!
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Well, she sure doesn’t seem to like doing laundry. Did you see the hand towel in the bathroom?
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Attic Man
The DC Comics movie franchise just keeps getting worse, doesn’t it.
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Sick elderly folk aren’t really known for their legal acumen in the middle of health emergencies. Same reason they’re targeted by fraudsters. Getting power of attorney and overriding his offer to her would be the legally prudent thing to do, but it may well not have been in their minds at the time.
The question I have is who gets the rights to the fact-free horror movie that will inevitably be made and advertised with the tag “based on actual events”.
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Sorry, overlooked the part that the man is infirm. Family sold the home free and clear- good on them then. I’d be thinking “can’t believe that actually worked” with the clause about the basement dweller.
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I was house shopping recently in a small town and I looked at a house that had a similar situation. An elderly and terminally ill woman lived in a room in the basement. Rent was being paid by someone (unclear who) but she had no family and there was no lease in place. She was a friend of the owners’ family, and the sale didn’t specifically require the new owner to allow her to stay, but they were seeking a buyer who would.
I would have let her stay if I ended up buying it of course (I’m not a monster), but I walked away from it for many reasons. The place had a lot of messy complications like that. This sort of thing is common in small towns though. There isn’t much for rental or retirement property in small towns, so neighbors improvise situations like these with each other a lot.
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Right. Which is why it’s wise to get estate and advance medical directives and such sorted out long before that happens, especially if one has significant assets.
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Life imitates Parasite
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And Ozark. Somewhat.
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How do you evict someone not living there legally?
Isn’t this a form of trespass if you have nothing on a lease or otherwise if the owners do not want you there?
If your last party guest refuses to leave must you allow them to live there rent free forever?
Even if housing was part of the employment deal, one just says "Your services are no longer required, please vacate at the end of the month or such as local laws might require for termination.
Speaking in theory here as I don’t know enough details (or the law) and the extent of compassion that may be involved but it just strikes me it should not be this difficult to take possession of one’s own property from someone not even paying to stay.
Looks like one should require a dollar a month nominal rent or something rather than free so there’s a contract.
The house is quite ugly. That area has one of the stupidest real estate markets in the entire world. Lots of tasteless people with tons of ill gotten gains.
You’re misrepresenting the situation. The person living in the house’s basement was allowed to do so rent-free by the owner of the house. They had an agreement. Should he have made a written contract with a defined term of years and escape clauses? Probably. But he didn’t, and we are talking about a person not a piece of garbage that can be thrown out with the trash.
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Stranger in the basement. The Gimp.
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Laws vary from state to state but from what I’ve read Virginia is typical in that, if someone such as a friend, acquaintance or family member has established residence (rent-paying or not) you need to give them 30 days notice in writing, followed by the legal eviction process which usually takes at least a couple months. So I’m guessing that either the family didn’t want to go through that hassle, didn’t have the heart to evict the lady themselves, or they just needed to sell ASAP.
Nothing in the article suggests that the family even asked her to leave, by the way. Even if they did, she’s not doing anything illegal until a judge orders her to leave and she refuses. So you really shouldn’t assume she’s not living there legally.
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"…prompting Dolly to sputter about a “vagabond half-brother.”
I wonder if that was, in a sense, true — her fantasy kink.
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I dunno. Considering thousand sq ft rat traps are selling for 800k with no-inspection clauses where I live that house looks ok to me.
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Also the case here.
We could easily sell our house for enough to pay it off, have enough to pay cash for another one or a condo or just rent a nice apartment and still put some money into the bank. Problem is, none of those things are available.
My kid and her husband are looking right now, unless you get a deposit and a purchase agreement signed as soon as it lists you lose or if you do manage to get an offer on the table, even if you meet the asking price you get out bid.
At least they have a decent apartment while they’re trying.
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Or maybe he was just a compassionate old man who didn’t care about the long-term legal implications, especially since he was close to death. It could just be a case of “this is a person who needs help and it is in my power to provide them with help, so I will.”
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The person is living there against the will of whoever seems to control the property and that, to me, outweighs nebulous prior agreements.
If living space was part of the employment compensation, thern a normal termination of employment would seem to be in order if the new property owner does not wish to retain the housekeeper’s services.
One does not get to keep one’s employee parking spot and office if one is no longer an employee. 
As I said, much depends on local law and just how far people want to go to let someone keep living for free in their house. Seems a bad idea as I will bet they could be legally on the hook if this person injured herself while living there.
People can avoid endless hassles of this sort if they just put things in writing and set out the limits and terms of such generosity.
