In 2018 my now ex-husband and I decided to rent-to-own a one-bedroom one-bathroom house in Electric City. I was working full time as a cashier at a gas station. We used his mother's inheritance to put down a large down payment and began making monthly payments.
Then in 2020, I had two major strokes. I couldn't work and went on medical leave. It took a long time for the medical leave checks come, but when they finally did, we were finally able to pay off the house. Everything was signed and notarized.
Things were going well when we were hit with another tragedy. In 2021, my then-husband had a terrible car accident while driving in Wyoming. Between May 2021 to April 2022, I was back and forth to the hospital in Wyoming at least 20 times.
Sold out from under me
On my last trip back, I got home to find a note on my front door from someone claiming to be the new owner of the house. I thought it was a scam. I ignored it — until I got a notice on the door that I was getting evicted. It turned out that the person I had bought the house from had resold it after selling it to me. How can you evict someone who owns their home?
I had to go to court. The judge was outrageous. He wouldn't hear me and didn't care. Even though I knew that I asserted my right to an attorney in eviction court, the judge proceeded anyway. “We can't wait any longer,” he said, and signed the eviction order. In December 2022, I was evicted two days before Christmas.
I was very depressed. It was very hard on me.
Appealing – and winning
On a friend's recommendation, I got in touch with NJP. My NJP attorney listened to everything. We decided to appeal the eviction — and we won. Both attorneys did amazing jobs. I appreciate all their hard work, and I know it wasn't easy. They had to go through all the paperwork, all the receipts and notarized forms for everything, and prove that the house was in my name.
Winning the appeal was a big relief. But it was too late to get my house back – the new owner had already resold it. My NJP attorney negotiated, and we came to a settlement. The owner had to pay $52K. I got the check in November 2024.
I decided to finally do something for myself with the money. I bought myself a brand-new car. The rest of the money is collecting interest.
Now, everything in my life is turning around, slowly but surely. I got a new job as a housekeeper, across the street at the motel.
NJP does great work, and I hope that everyone supports them. I didn't even know about NJP until all this happened. If I had a million dollars, I'd donate it to NJP. I tell everybody about them, just to get the word out there. NJP needs all the support because they help so many people. It's awesome.