Attorneys for a 97-year-old woman being booted from her Northern California home filed suit Friday to enforce a long-ago promise by the landlord that the woman could live there until she died.
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Lawyers for the prominent firm of Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy said they aim to go to trial within 90 days and keep Marie Hatch, who has lived in her cottage-style home in Burlingame for more than 60 years, from ever having to leave. She eventually moved to Burlingame, where she met Vivian Kroeze, who first extended the offer of lifetime tenancy at 625 California Drive as a gesture of gratitude for Hatch helping Kroeze after her husband died, according to Hatch’s attorneys.
“She just says I can stay here as long as I wanted to”, Hatch explained to CBS Bay Area.
Kroeze and Hatch made an agreement that Hatch would be allowed to live in the home for the rest of her life, an agreement honored by Kroeze’s daughter and granddaughter after her passing.
In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Kantz said he inadvertently inherited the property when his wife was murdered by her boyfriend while the couple were divorcing.
If evicted, Hatch won’t be the only one suddenly without a home – she now shares the house with an 85-year-old roommate.
“We have to fight it mentally, and stay strong”, said Georgia Rothrock, who is Hatch’s roommate.
Fineman says she is not aware of efforts made by Kantz or Liberty to reach out to Hatch or family members.
Krieger said the nonagenarian Hatch, who is battling cancer for a second time, was served a 60-day eviction notice on February 11. “I’m old, I can hardly walk, and I don’t have any money”, she told the Chronicle.
“He’s greedy!” exclaimed Hatch.
In Hatch’s weakened state, friends and relatives say, her impending eviction is not just an order to vacate the property – it’s a death sentence.
Addressing the standoff, the new landlord, David Kantz says the home was bought by his wife’s ancestors for just a few thousand dollars.
“We have come to this unexpected confluence of events, and I am responsible to do the best I can for the beneficiaries – my sons, ” he said. Attorney Joe Cotchett, who has represented victims in the Bernie Madoff scandal and the San Bruno gas pipeline explosion, is representing her pro bono. “I feel bad for the elderly lady, I feel bad for my sons, I feel bad for me”. Her current rent is $900 but the cottage is on the market for $1.2 million.
A gofundme page has already raised more than $45,000 to support her.
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“We will get the oral contract enforced, ” Fineman said. “Fulfilling the promise of being able to live there for life is not charity, it’s the honorable thing to do”.
