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Confusedgirl1, please clarify as your profile says that your Mother lives in Independent Living facility. Did you mean they lived at home?

Did your parents have a Lease on the house? If yes, then the Lease would say how many days the landlord has to give notice to leave the house. Normally a person is entitled to stay the whole Lease term unless the rent wasn't paid or the house had been condemned. A landlord cannot dismiss a tenant without reasonable cause.

I hope your parents are now with you, or at a homeless shelter. How old are your parents and what are their medical conditions, if any?
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There must be a backstory to why your parents were living in a family member's house and why they were forced out. Could you share it? I suspect there are some issues that contribute to this as well as possible solutions.

Generally speaking, and if they were paying rent, they were tenants and entitled to specific notice (i.e., a "notice to quit" - in other words, "leave" or more to the point, "get out")/. There are statutorily specified timelines. Apparently this required notice wasn't given.

W/o doing some statutory research, I don't know what your parents' legal remedies might be. It's too late to sue the relatives, and I don't know what that would accomplish other than perhaps getting a money judgment to compensate for any statutory breach.

However, the bigger problem now is that they're homeless. Where did they live before? What caused them to live in a relative's house? I assume they're getting SS, so they have some nominal funds.

Have you contacted any county or state agencies to ask for emergency assistance? Any homeless shelters (I can't imagine having to find one for parents - that must be a gut wrenching process). Can you move them into your home to stay until they find something else?

Equally perplexing is your profile, which states that you're caring for your parents in IL. So how did they get from iL to the relatives' home?

As I said, there are a lot of unaddressed issues that factor into this situation.
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Confusedgirl1 - I am just as confused since you do not give many details. Did your parents do something outrageous to your siblings that they want to throw them out on the street? Don't you just love families? What about your house? I don't know where you live, but there are shelters, churches, and government assistance to help those without a place to stay. I need more details. How old are your parents? If they are seniors, where is their social security benefits?
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have them live with you.
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Confusedgirl1, I am so sorry about the concern about homeless parents. There are some good suggestions above. Sadly, your situation is more common than most folks care to think seriously about. And "gut wrenching" is a good description. The reality of the situation is to try dealing with one issue at a time for their safety. Depending on their health issues , start there. Shelters are good for bad weather times. Waiting lists and weird folks can be discouraging and a reality for shelters etc. If they have a car, they can sleep in it. Go to a hospital parking lot and sleep in the car there. Think survival and safety. In the meantime, begin with going IN PERson to the social security office and the Food Stamp office, aka, HHS. Those visits will at least get your parents on the list to be helped,, eventually .. A Dr office to assess their health status and establish a baseline record for them..all this is just the beginning. But pertinent to get safe housing.
I didn't read ur bio etc...but it doesn't matter as they can be old posts... And whatever reason causing homelessness doesn't matter in the overall..they are human beings who need help.
Sadly, the system to help ppl are doling out more money for young women and children than for the massive aging population who helped establish things!
But that is another posting..lol
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Confusedgirl1 , Another thought , I would tap into the Visiting Nurses or another Home Healthcare agency. They typically are extremely helpful as my experience. They may can advocate for your parents and guide to some immediate housing suggestions. Their safety is paramount.
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Turtlrunr, I'd just like to share some experience with Visiting Nurses Assn.

They were tops when we first had them for home therapy. We've had 2 nurses who were outstanding - very caring; they went steps farther in offering assistance and advice than we expected. And the therapists were good as well.

That was when VNA was a nonprofit organization. That was back in 2012 and 2013. Since then, it's become a profit organization and the service and standards have drastically changed. Actually, I shouldn't comment on the service as they couldn't even get that far.

Instead of working with a primary care doctor's unqualified staff just to get the script activated and started (there were some delay issues b/c of the timing of the discharge), the lackadaisical staff shoved the responsibility back to me, and also said it wasn't their job (where have I heard that before?) to contact the primary's staff. In addition, one of the 2 doctors in the practice was out of town; it never occurred to them to have the other doctor sign the script, even though both of them had treated my father.

They NEVER followed up. I hired another agency, which was really on the ball, called the primary's office repeatedly until they got the script approved, and we started therapy.

Since then I've heard other complaints about VNA including a comment from a discharge planner that VNA is "pretty much out of the picture for home health care."

That's in SE Michigan; it may be different in other areas, but I suspect the corporate leadership is approaching home care differently than the nonprofit leadership. I haven't done research to determine though if the same people are involved; I was disgusted with the staff's attitude and found better companies.

I'm sharing this not to contradict you, but in case you ever need home care and find that the VNA staff is less than competent, or interested.
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Like I have always said there are two sides to every story, In order to understand your situation we need more details. Why did you sibling throw them out? There is a lot of agencies that can offer aid and assistance. But you need to take charge of the situation if your sibling or family members are not willing to help. There is no need for anyone to be homeless. Homelessness is usually a self-induced situation. Mental illness, drug problems, or other self-induced problems.
My question is why are they homeless, why did the family members kick them out? There is more to this question than meets the eye.
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Skyhigh, I'd like to suggest a homeless situation that isn't usually a self-induced problem: that of homeless veterans, sometimes suffering from war wounds and/or PTSD.

I can't imagine the horror and stress they must face on returning stateside, separated from friends with whom they've bonded during military service, literally dropped back in civilization and forced to fend for themselves.

This doesn't address the OP's question, but I do feel strongly that what many people think could be solved if people had more motivation, or other individual traits, is really a function of governmental issues and often lack of support.

The VA has tried to step up to help the Veterans, while those who were responsible for overseas deployment just continue on in their political careers.
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Garden Artist, I appreciate the info on the Visiting Nurses. Sad that happened to you at such a stressful time. I feel that the System is so difficult to navigate to obtain help. And SkyHigh, labeling the Homeless as mentally ill druggies etc. Is part of the problem. Not all are such as you state. Jesus was homeless. As were the discples. Hopefully she can find someone in social security office or HHS and latch onto them. The elderly population is growing old fast. And we all can't work and have pensions ,as in the past. So ,I try to remember how it really is and help others so, they will try to not get frustrated and receive help. Thanks for listening here!
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You don't give the age of your parents. They need to go to Social Devices in ur area. SS will set them up with temporary housing like a hotel room. Hudd may be able to help them. Churches have discretionary funds. So may be able to help with a hotel room. Call Office of the aging.
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While there is a back story that needs to be known so that they can be helped, this is happening more frequently that people know. Half of seniors are living on less than $1200.00 a mo. If you are in California, there is a housing crisis - affordable housing waitlists are 4 to 10 years and section 8 is just as bad. Homelessness is at a record high. Drive through LA County and you see tents, cardboard homes and encampments. It is very bad. Get them a Case Manager - you will not be able to do this alone. Call the city or community center and ask if they provide case management. If not, call 211 and ask if they have resources they can recommend. Good luck.
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Confusedgirl1, Trying calling your local Government Office for the Aging. THey have emergency lines and provide emergency assistance, direction and advice. WHere are your folks now? First step is safe shelter and medical/ADL needs so you can then work on more permanent housing. Elderly people should not be sleeping in a car or a homeless shelter - it is not safe emotionally, physically/health risks and in terms of exposing a vulnerable class to danger. Whether or not seniors behave in a way to anger and make you want to throw them out, it is not acceptable to throw the elderly out on the street, regardless of behavior in the same way it would be unacceptable to throw a young child out.
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Report to the elder abuse hotline.
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Go get your parents & help take care of them. They wiped your byt for at least 4yrs so you owe them.
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So my parents are 80 and 76
Right now they are living with a family member and have applied for an apartment which we will help pay for
So they will not be on the street but I guess whAt my biggest question is can the relative that kicked them out of his home be reported for elder abuse
I know it is his home but they have lived their for 15 years rent free and is was their home in a sense
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Call ur office of the aging and ask them that question.
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Hi Confusedgirl1, You can also call the Adult Protection Agency - they would know. Also, speak with a social worker - APA can give you a referral. A SW should be able to help you and put you in touch with various agencies, programs and support for your elderly parents. Why did the relative kick them out after 15 years, and did they contribute anything to the household? Not asking because the onus is on your elderly parents, but because that will be asked to develop the relationship and their standing. Good luck and God bless.
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confusedgirl1, there has to be more to this situation then what you are telling us.

It is nice that a relative had offered their home to your parents, but 15 years rent free is quite a long time. Were your parents original intentions was to stay that long? Is the relative selling the house?

As someone else had asked, can your parents stay with you until other housing is found?
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ConfusedGirl, whether your parents have a cause of action against the relatives may in fact depend on the reason for the relative forcing them out. I can understand that this might be a very personal reason which you don't want to share, but whether your parents have recourse have turn on this issue.

If your parents were there for 15 years, w/o paying rent, perhaps the relative just got tired of supporting them?
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I think people should withhold giving quasi-legal advice if they do not have the expertise since it can mislead and misinform people and I don't think we want to do that. Whether or not there is a cause of action will turn on numerous factors, not just the reason for throwing them out. Was there a contract (written or verbal), was there any exchange of money or an agreement for some kind of compensation, did they have any ownership in the house past or present, did they provide any monetary or agreed support, did they receive appropriate notice to quit, etc. As for Confusedgirl1 taking them in, we can't be telling people that they should take someone into their house unless it is established that she has the ability to do so. Relatives already took them in, Hate to think that the relative just dumped two old people out on the street with no place to live. Don't think a jury will look kindly on that behavior. Getting it to a jury will be a long haul and costly. Maybe just focus on keeping them safe and happy in a new place with services.
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