Help Daniel and His Mom Save Their Home #eviction, home

My name is John, and I have known Sue for 16 years now, first meeting her at work, and we are good friends now.. Recently, I sat down with her and her son Daniel, and they confided in me about what was happening in her life, and what has been going on with the house they live in, which was originally Sue's parents' house.. I was moved by their story, and wanted to do something to help them, so I told them to write everything down, and that I would help to create a GoFundMe page in order to help them out.. So here is their story, written in Daniel's perspective:

"My mom and I are facing the possibility of losing our home of 17 years due to a legal oversight that we couldn’t foresee. The house is under threat because a lawyer failed to fulfill his duties. He neglected to record essential paperwork, which my grandfather had hired him to handle. We only discovered this mistake five years later, and by then, the statute of limitations had expired, leaving us unable to hold him accountable. As a result, our home now faces a substantial lien of over $378,000 plus interest—an amount we simply cannot afford.

In 2006, when my grandmother (Nana) had to move into a nursing home, my mom and I moved in with my grandfather (Pop-Pop) to care for him. My mom gave up the financial aid she was receiving while renting our apartment to take on this responsibility. I was just 15 and still in high school at the time. Unexpectedly, Pop-Pop passed away only two months after we moved in. My mom was heartbroken, and left to manage all the household expenses alone, including $1,800 a month for property taxes and utilities.

On top of that, there was car insurance, food, gas, other miscellaneous bills, and unexpected house repairs. We even went without heat for an entire winter because the furnace broke down on Christmas Eve. We had to use space heaters, and it was still cold -The electric bill for that month came to $1,100!

A year later, Aunt Margaret moved in with us after losing her own rental room. Despite her limited income due to a long-ago car accident, she contributed what she could. This helped us eventually replace the broken furnace. Nana passed away in 2010, and while it was devastating, we were glad that we had made sure to visit her about twice a week while she was still alive.

In 2011, my mom hired a new lawyer to address the issues caused by the initial attorney. However, this second lawyer failed to resolve the problem, claiming the original attorney was "not responding." My mom then faced mounting expenses as the house continued to deteriorate—new furnace, oil tank, hot water heater, leaking roof, and flooding basement ever since we had moved in. We were on a tight budget, and I did my best to help while working at Subway.

In 2013, my mom hired yet another attorney to try again, but we faced another setback when my uncle, who had the crucial documents, couldn’t locate them. His excuse was that he wasn’t "good with this stuff" (paperwork, etc.). Both the original attorney and my uncle’s mishandling, have left us in this difficult situation.

Fast forward to 2021: My mom was in a severe accident, lost her job, and now lives on Social Security benefits. I have a job too, but it’s not enough to save money after covering our basic needs. With the recent death of my uncle, we’re being pressured to move out by the in-laws. We’re desperate to stay in our home, but if that’s not possible, we need to save for a small mobile home. On Long Island, NY, where the cost of living is high, we need to save enough to move into a mobile home. We’re doing everything we can to save, but time is running out.

Our only other option is to save enough money to pay my in-laws without having to address the lien for now. (If there had been no malpractice and mishandling, and thus no lien on the home, each beneficiary would have received their share.) If I could pay them approxiamately what they would be entiltled to now (I also have to pay my other brother), my mom and I could stay here and then continue to save money while we figure out what to do next.

To be honest, I'm more worried about my mom than myself. When the in-laws first told us we needed to sell the house and move, my mom was so upset and sick to her stomach, that she didn’t eat anything for that whole day. It’s difficult not to feel scared, imagining that we might have to resort to living in an RV or van if we cannot come up with the necessary amount of money. We know we did everything we could to try to fix this mess, while others had dropped the ball.

Anyway, that is our story, and we would be so grateful if anyone would be able to just help us with a small donation, or maybe at least share our story with others who you think might be able to help.. Thank you so much for listening!"

Well that is their story, and I know they would be so thankful for any contribution that would help them keep a roof over their heads, no matter how small it was. I know that they are good people, and very hard-working, and that they are going through this tribulation through no fault of their own. I ask you to please help in any way you can, even if you can just send it to anyone that you think might be able to help, because it really bothers me to see them going through all this..

Thank you and God bless.

John M