Cancer sufferer, 97,to be evicted from home of 66 years ... landlord cashing in on booming million-dollar California property

'Where am I going to go?': Cancer sufferer, 97, is being evicted from the small home she has rented for 66 YEARS so landlord can cash in on booming million-dollar California property prices

 "Marie Hatch, 97 "I don't know where I'm going to go. What I'm going to do. I really don't. [It] keeps me awake at night." - Marie Hatch, 97
Photo: Adele Meadows
Eviction: Marie Hatch, 97, was served with eviction papers this month giving her 60 days to move out of the home in Burlingame, California where she has lived for the past 66 years

 

Photo: CBS

Eviction: Marie Hatch, 97, was served with eviction papers this month giving her 60 days to move out of the home in Burlingame, California where she has lived for the past 66 years 

Photo: CBS

Verbal agreement: Hatch says the home's original owner promised she could live in the house for as long as she wanted

Photo: Goggle Maps
New landlord: But now the husband of that woman's dead grand-daughter has taken ownership of the property and is forcing her out

The community of Burlingame, California is rallying around a 97-year-old cancer patient who faces eviction from the home she has lived in for nearly seven decades.

Marie Hatch, 97, says she first moved into her home 66 years ago when her friend Vivian Kruse owned the cozy cottage. 

Hatch claims Kruse gave her a verbal promise that she could live in the home until she died - a promise that was guaranteed by Kruse's daughter and then granddaughter.

But after Kruse's granddaughter died in 2006, her husband took control of the home and now he is pushing to sell the property.

Hatch and her 85-year-old roommate Georgia Rothrock were served with eviction papers on February 11, giving them 60 days to vacate the property.

The new landlord says the home was bought by his wife's ancestors for just a few thousand dollars. The home's value on Zillow is now estimated at $1.2million or $3,200 in monthly rent. Hatch and Kruse pay a combined $900 in rent each month.

Neither single woman has family they can live with and they fear they will be left homeless since the neighborhood around them has grown exponentially pricier as the Bay Area has become one of the most expensive areas to live in the country.

When asked where she'll go if she's kicked out of the cottage-style home, Hatch told CBS San Francisco: 'I haven’t the slightest idea. I don’t know where I’m going to go. What I’m going to do. I really don’t. Keeps me awake at night.' 

Her roommate added: 'I’ll be out on the bus stop bench surrounded by my boxes of my beloved

Photo: CBS
Nowhere to go: Hatch lives with 85-year-old Georgia Rothrock (pictured) who says she also has no family to go live with or money to afford another apartment in the now expensive community

For his part, new landlord David Kantz says he doesn't take any pleasure with kicking two old ladies to the curb. 

In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Kantz said he inadvertently inherited the property in 2006, when his wife was murdered by her new boyfriend while the couple were going through a divorce.

Now, he says he's duty bound to sell the property for his sons before the trust expires in July.


 Photo:  San Jose Mecury News

Attorney Joe Cotchett is representing the 97-year-old cancer patient who is battling eviction from the Burlingame house where she has lived for 66 years. 

Courtesy: Mail