Harper: Surviving Until SSDI
Donation protected
Harper moved to the Sacramento area in 2004, with her mom. They sold their family home in the Bay area and bought a condo with the cash. Harper had long worked for Barnes & Noble, and she dreamed of owning a bookstore of her own. Her plan was, move to a place with fewer existing bookstores, work in a small independent store for a while, to learn more about non-mega-bookstore operations, and then open a store. She'd noticed her mom's cognitive powers declining as well, so a situation where she could bring her mom to work seemed ideal.
She ran the local branch of a small store for a year, but then her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, having declined so much that she could no longer be left alone, and Harper had to leave her job and care for her mom full-time. Through a state program called In Home Health Services, she was able to be paid a very small wage to be her mother's full-time caregiver.
Meanwhile, trouble had developed with the condo. The previous owner had installed skylights that proved to be leaky. In order to buy the condo, Harper had to sign an agreement to hold the condo association harmless for any further leakage of the supposedly-repaired skylights. They were not repaired, however, and have never been. The first winter, she paid $900 in money she'd saved for property taxes to "fix" the skylights, and that was the beginning of a giant sinkhole of inadequate repairs and deferred tax payments, one she could never afford to climb out of once she began her full-time care for her mom.
Harper's mom passed away in late 2010, and so, in addition to the obvious loss, she also lost her state-paid job as caregiver. She had 14 months of unemployment benefits, and then survived on odd jobs and occasional gifts until she was hired by California Caregivers, doing the work she'd done with her own mom and putting in 70-hour weeks. That job continued until this summer. She had been experiencing strange pains in her hands and feet, and by June was so disabled that she went to the ER and was eventually diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. She was forced to leave her job, and has lived since then on a small state temporary disability stipend. She has applied for federal SSDI benefits but has not yet been approved. That may require several re-applications and take a very long time.
At this point, her temporary state benefit has run out, so she has no more income at all. She had thought that she could sell her condo, move to an inexpensive rental place, and live for a while on the proceeds of the sale. She has a considerable back-tax liability on the condo, and in fact, if nothing else happens, it will be seized and auctioned by the county on February 20. Nonetheless, she and her realtor had believed it could be sold for more than the tax liability before then and give her some money to live on. But! the leaky skylights. There's so much water damage (the full extent can't really be known without opening up the ceiling, which she can't afford to do) that it's going to be difficult for her to realize enough on the sale to live on for long, after the taxes and penalties are paid.
She is currently exploring bankruptcy. There's some indication that the tax sale could be deferred longer if she declared bankruptcy, but she is not sure that, as a person with no income and no reliable prospect of any, she would be eligible for the form needed to help her get some time. She'll need to retain a lawyer who's conversant with bankruptcy and real estate issues.
Her realtor, who's been helpful and thinks the condo could possibly be "flipped" by speculators he knows, has recommended that the place be professionally cleaned. She is too disabled to do anything like it herself. She has one estimate of $220 for this service.
And meanwhile, just living incurs expenses. She is close to shutoff of her electricity due to unpaid bills, and there are other utilities piling up too. She'll need gasoline to get around, and she'll need to eat and pay for her medications.
She's looking for another place to live, once she must leave her condo. She'd love to be able to keep her best friend, her dog Frances, but if she can't find housing that accepts dogs, a friend will take Frances in. So, right now she has no idea what housing will cost once she’s forced out of her condo, or when that will happen, but between that time and the time she is hopefully approved for SSDI, she has no way to pay for housing, or any other expense. Any help that you can offer her is very gratefully accepted!
She ran the local branch of a small store for a year, but then her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, having declined so much that she could no longer be left alone, and Harper had to leave her job and care for her mom full-time. Through a state program called In Home Health Services, she was able to be paid a very small wage to be her mother's full-time caregiver.
Meanwhile, trouble had developed with the condo. The previous owner had installed skylights that proved to be leaky. In order to buy the condo, Harper had to sign an agreement to hold the condo association harmless for any further leakage of the supposedly-repaired skylights. They were not repaired, however, and have never been. The first winter, she paid $900 in money she'd saved for property taxes to "fix" the skylights, and that was the beginning of a giant sinkhole of inadequate repairs and deferred tax payments, one she could never afford to climb out of once she began her full-time care for her mom.
Harper's mom passed away in late 2010, and so, in addition to the obvious loss, she also lost her state-paid job as caregiver. She had 14 months of unemployment benefits, and then survived on odd jobs and occasional gifts until she was hired by California Caregivers, doing the work she'd done with her own mom and putting in 70-hour weeks. That job continued until this summer. She had been experiencing strange pains in her hands and feet, and by June was so disabled that she went to the ER and was eventually diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. She was forced to leave her job, and has lived since then on a small state temporary disability stipend. She has applied for federal SSDI benefits but has not yet been approved. That may require several re-applications and take a very long time.
At this point, her temporary state benefit has run out, so she has no more income at all. She had thought that she could sell her condo, move to an inexpensive rental place, and live for a while on the proceeds of the sale. She has a considerable back-tax liability on the condo, and in fact, if nothing else happens, it will be seized and auctioned by the county on February 20. Nonetheless, she and her realtor had believed it could be sold for more than the tax liability before then and give her some money to live on. But! the leaky skylights. There's so much water damage (the full extent can't really be known without opening up the ceiling, which she can't afford to do) that it's going to be difficult for her to realize enough on the sale to live on for long, after the taxes and penalties are paid.
She is currently exploring bankruptcy. There's some indication that the tax sale could be deferred longer if she declared bankruptcy, but she is not sure that, as a person with no income and no reliable prospect of any, she would be eligible for the form needed to help her get some time. She'll need to retain a lawyer who's conversant with bankruptcy and real estate issues.
Her realtor, who's been helpful and thinks the condo could possibly be "flipped" by speculators he knows, has recommended that the place be professionally cleaned. She is too disabled to do anything like it herself. She has one estimate of $220 for this service.
And meanwhile, just living incurs expenses. She is close to shutoff of her electricity due to unpaid bills, and there are other utilities piling up too. She'll need gasoline to get around, and she'll need to eat and pay for her medications.
She's looking for another place to live, once she must leave her condo. She'd love to be able to keep her best friend, her dog Frances, but if she can't find housing that accepts dogs, a friend will take Frances in. So, right now she has no idea what housing will cost once she’s forced out of her condo, or when that will happen, but between that time and the time she is hopefully approved for SSDI, she has no way to pay for housing, or any other expense. Any help that you can offer her is very gratefully accepted!
Organiser
Harper Willson
Organiser
Fair Oaks, CA
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