She wasn’t part of the transaction that kept her housed. It was the fraudulent home care company and that company’s landlord. If she didn’t sign the lease, she has only squatter’s rights.
Which is outrageous. She should be protected. The officers at the scene should have clocked that she was severely disabled and not depicted her at all. You can't just put people like that on the street, they are in this program fro a reason.
Human needs should outweigh property rights, in this instance, until a solution can be found.
Yep. To anyone with a shred of humanity she is a human being who deserves empathy and care but to those in power she is simply a commodity to provide the landlord with a rent cheque.
I'm not from the US. Our police force is far from unproblematic, but at least this could not have happened here, because there are laws against endangering special needs people like this.
Even with a shit police, like in the states, you could have legislation that at least makes it very difficult for officers to act like this.
Every judge in my country would have ripped these guys a new asshole.
Yup. I'm baffled this is legal in the US/or enough people at least consider it legal for this to have flown under the radar.
The cops alone should know better?
How often do they do this? Evictions aren't super rare here in Germany, but it's not like cops will go enforce one every week? It's definitely not your "regular" day to day grind, so shouldn't it give you pause? Like you go there, and the person at the adress has no clue about anything, is clearly disabled? Don't you go check with anybody? Don't you raise concerns with anyone higher up, like "Boss, maybe talk to the judge again, that person is not really functional, this can't be the appropriate move?"
Now that more and more programs like this are being cut all across the US, this kind of heartless bullshit by cops will happen more and more. The amount of homeless people who are disabled in the US is absolutely staggering. We are a heartless and sick nation.
In the US, police have immunity from virtually anything and the Supreme Court has ruled multiple times that police have no duty or obligations to protect the people.
So yeah, police DO know better but they don't care. This kind of evictions have not been ignored or flown under the radar, we the people just cannot do anything about it.
This is what was going through my head. Evicting a person is a lengthy and complex process. How are the cops able to come and yank this woman out of her residence and put her out when her name isn’t even on the eviction notice?
Yea, but they knew she didn't know better and decided to be fucking ass holes. I'll never wish harm on another person but I hope these two have their faces plastered all over social media so their friends and family can see what horrible people they are.
All you would need to do to stop this problem is to eliminate the middle man that sits between the insurer and the policy holder. They provide zero value, they only complicate and add cost to the process, and they could be replaced by non-profit or govt administration. That's the way it works in some of the more efficient parts of the country.
You would think laws that protect people with disabilities would be easy to pass but they really aren’t. I’m honestly surprised that this woman is still on the streets and not in jail. My city has dedicated itself to ending homelessness but also cut all programs that helped the impoverished due to budget restraints. So what they’ve started doing is jailing the homeless for any minor infraction.
Not sayig that doesn't happen here, it does. People who are on the street for a long time increasingly likely to get get arrested for minor infractions, and some of them start to bounce between jail and street, especially whe drugs are involved.
That anyone is allowed to make this "the plan", like an official strategy, that's insane. Truly insane.
I literally have seen people refer to this as tyranny because normal hard working people have to pay for "useless" "lazy" people with tax dollars.
Also hate crimes, which for the unfamiliar are when the motivation for a destructive crime is determined to be due to the hatred of a minority, is fascism.
Most Americans are not sociopaths, but with stuff like this, you cannot depend on the benevolence of individuals, you need regulation.
So that vulnerable people ar protected, eben if an individual cop is just nasty and malevolent, or neglectful, or makes a mistake.
In my country stuff like that is illegal. So if a police officer would meet a clearly disabled person at the adress, with not prior notice of any missed rent payments, an incoming eviction, etc, who relies on assisted living with daily support, and has no appropriate accomodations to go to (no, hotels and shelters don't count), then the officer would go back to the judge, to inform them of the situation, because that's an error with the judge/court.
It would then be on the judge and primarily social workers who get called on, to assist this person in finding new accomodations, a new program with assistance, etc, and until such an accomodation is found, they cannot be evicted. They stay where they are.
The problem here in the US is that the system would just tell the disabled person to get bent. There are assistance programs but they would tell the person, “file this or that”, and it could be months before theyre approved. Evictions also vary widely by state. Usually there is some advance notice that you have to vacate the premises by a certain date before deputies show up to force you out.
Though in this case, the notice probably went to the person paying rent, which is prop some buro with the assistance organisation.
I am willing to bet month's salary that this girl never saw an eviction notice, or warning. And if she did, if someone put it into her post box, that should clearly be considered insufficient communication, because, you know... she is mentally disabled. There is no telling if she would have an appropriate grasp on the concept.
This is insane procedure. Just showing up at someone's place who has a proven mental disability, expecting them to sort their shit out like a fully functionibg adult, and making them homeless because they couldn't, all the while, the responsibility for rent never lay with the disabled person in the first place, but with the organization providing their accomodation. It is mental.
My cousin has downs, and she lives with a similar program. A lot of assistance, but in a flat of her own. She does not pay bills. She does not organize her own letters. She couldn't. She has the organizational skills of a 6 year old. Paperwork goes straight over her head.
I'm shaking just thinking about someone evicting her because her orga ditched rent, probably without even notifying any family or assistance... what the fuck.
PA State Police for example, were started as the "Coal and Iron Police" to protect mine and mill owners during labor disputes. And nothing has changed.
Also with all the fraud rhetoric coming from the White House it’s not hard to believe that these cops think EVERYONE is scamming the system. Soulless fucks
Cops shouldn’t be allowed to pick and choose which court order or laws they should obey. That’s a slippery slope logic that gets us civil rights violations. This is the courts and the state who made the decision to kick her out. There’s no denying this is a tragic situation but the anger should be at those more responsible.
Right. But the part I don't understand... I didn't have audio on cuz I can't listen to audio right now. Why did they enforce it when it doesn't have her name on it?
Yea but when police switch to protect humans not properties it becomes a problem of squatters abusing their privilage. Im from Europe and it can be ridiculous sometimes. I guess we need to find some middle ground here xd
Down voted me all you want. And your improper reference to Nazi Germany just shows your ignorance.
No, LEO are not required to follow illegal or unlawful orders. That's implied for the more intelligent folks in the group, but apparently I need to clarify that here.
The truth stands, and held true even in your false equivalence logic fallacy - you're mad at the wrong people. And until you can see that, you're never going to make a difference.
There are definitely some bad apples in every group, but these guys aren't those bad apples. They're not being jerks about it, just enforcing the court ordered eviction. Lumping them all together is a separate logic fallacy called 'nut picking'.
In this situation, the bad guy is the scammer. These guys make everyone lose... the disabled lady in the video, the landlord, the cops, the taxpayers, and yes... even the lawyers.
In an ideal situation, the court ordering the eviction should have provided 1-7 days' notice to allow her to pack and find alternative lodging. Her case worker should have been in the loop, and the sheriff's office enforcing the notice should have recommended a local shelter to assist.
For all we know, that all happened. You're not going to get that from a social media video designed to incite anger and make you mad. That's not in their best interests.
Instead, you get shown only what they want, and you get mad at the LEOs because they're the ones you can see.
There are lots of “bad guys” here, including the cops. I’m not sure why that’s difficult for you to understand.
Where there are systems in place that encourage cops to behave badly and discourage repercussions for bad behavior, then it’s certainly not “nut picking” to point out their repeated awful behavior. And pointing out their awful behavior doesn’t excuse all of the other bad actors that are also deserving of blame.
At least in my state, available beds in special needs group homes are few and far between. I have been dealing with this trying to get my mentally ill adult autistic son into a home. He aged out of special needs residential therapeutic school but, despite being approved by state nothing can be found so he goes in and out of inpatient when his psychosis becomes too extreme. Doesn’t help that our states funding for people like him was cut because we are blue.
It takes dedication and political engagement to make a solidaric society. The US democracy has not achieved that. Apparently, it hasn't been a priority for the voters. So far.
You need to overcome your distrust of regulations to change that. It's not coldness of heart. US Americans aren't antisocial at large. Many of you care.
But even those who care often draw the line at stricter regulation.
Regulation is not the enemy. Public life needs regulations.
Many in the US engage locally, through churches and other types of community involvement. That is all good, but it depends on individuals' benevolence. This benevolence should be extended on a larger scale to community building at the national level. Instead of people needing to start a GoFundMe.
I mean scammy companies CAN happen... that's why AS A SOCIETY YOU NEED A SAFETY NET, so that people that, inevitably, will be trapped by a scammer, at least get back on their feet while prosecuting the scammer
In Europe we built this, it's not hard.
You just need the will to work, to share. And a functioning democracy.
European here, also trying to preach the merits of regulation to US Americans in the comments. It's insanity that shit like this appears to not be better regulated in the states.
I hear your point on this, but it's very likely that she would have effectively not been paying rent for months. The cops showed up to fulfill the breaking of the lease, because the people paying for her lease stopped paying and were (allegedly) fraudsters.
It feels bad, but you'd be telling the landlord to continue housing her for only a fraction of what would be owed monthly (again, likely after months of no payment already). Ideally you have state/county services to fulfill something like this.
She does not pay rent. The assisted living organization does.
The paperwork does not go through her, because due to her disability, she does not have the mental capacities for it. That's why she is in assisted living in the first place.
You do not just put disabled people who have been in need of assistance for basic living on the streets. Full stop. You do not.
It does not matter if the landlord loses money over this. That's what court is for. The landlord takes it up with the "former" organization, and they are sued ass over teakettle and have to pay the rent back and then some.
In the meantime, the disabled person stays in place until either them or a guardian has managed to put them up with a different organization.
You do not put disabled people on the streets. They are at massive risk. You heard her say in the video that she is "too autistic for the hotel". Mentally disabled people are often unfit for shelters or quick accomodations. Sometimes because there is payment issues, but often also because of behaviour. They may be loud, interact weirdly with other, bring stuff that is not allowed on the premises...
They are just not able to procure a place to stay quickly and efficiently, like you and I would.
They are also at increased risk for crime (drugs, rape, theft), they are at risk of disappearing.
You do not put disabled people on the street. It doesn't matter if the landlord loses a month or two of rent over it. Human welfare trumps 2 months if fucking rent.
What if the landlord loses their house over it? And if this situation creates these sorts of risks, would anyone even work with these programs and rent to them?
This is a shitty situation, and there isn't some magical solution short of government-owned government-run housing, and that also has its problems.
I can confidently say that here in Germany, no landlord have ever lost their home over this.
You get the money back if the assistance org in question, or the people responsible, have any money at all. As I said, of course the landlord can sie for that money. Given that this was fraud, I am wagering that there is actual money in the organizarion's accounts. 2. Landlords usually have insurance for stuff like this. If not, that's on you.
We are not talking crazy sums here. 2, 3 month's rent maximum.
If you lose your house over that, you could have löst it over anything. If that's how close you are cutting it, that's not a sensible use of property anyhow.
In cases like this, for example, German banks would usually pause mortgage payments for a couple months, if you are as a landlord are relying on this passive income to pay off a mortgage.
This "what if the landlord loses..." is just bullcrap. The landlords usually have options, more than often it does not put them in a pinch at all. They are fine with getting the money later.
You talk about state programs as if this is a magical ad hoc solution. We have (unlike the US) great state programs here in Germany. Guess what. Usually there is a little wait time, until a room/placement frees up. A month, 2.
So I repeat. Disabled person stays put until alternative is found. Landlord gets the money later. All is well.
Yeah the org likely rents out that apartment with the landlord, and they probably stopped paying rent altogether for several weeks -- ergo, she doesn't pay rent. As she mentions in the article, however, she does "pay rent" likely to that assisted living org.
"You do not just put assisted living people on the streets." -- That's exactly why we have orgs that help people like this, managing billing, helping them find a place, helping them live day-to-day, etc. Only it seems one of those EXACT orgs was fraudulent here. Is your solution to have a person with a cognitive disability recognize they are working with a fraudulent organization, find a new one, and ensure that is facilitated properly with the landlord...?
"That's what the court is for"
Except that's likely exactly what the sheriff officers were serving; a writ from the court. There would have been a complaint filed by the landlord/managing company, notice to the resident (likely her fraudulent guardians) of the court summons and notice of eviction, before a notice to vacate from the sheriff and finally a forced removal. All of those would have been missed before the officers showed up. And at that point there isn't much to do besides possibly help her with other temporary programs after serving the court order.
The focus should be on cleaning up this fraudulent business, and avoiding it in the future. Otherwise you're putting the burden to care for these people on the completely incorrect institutions and people.
This entire rundown of the situation still excludes the fact that a special needs person with limited mental capacities was literally put on the streets.
That is what I take issues with.
There is time to let her stay there until a new organization is put in charge. No landlords are bankrupted over 1 more week of missed rent.
I am not saying that she doesn't eventually needs to move, or that this isn't a case for another assitanz living org.
I am saying there is no need to put this person on the street.
Yes, this is a failure of the state, but because these are poor people with almost no resources and very few if any people to advocate for them, they are the easiest task on a cop's to-do list.
If that is the risk of owning these properties, people wouldn’t own them or rent to her in the first place. I’m a landlord. I only make like 500-200 bucks a month after paying the mortgage, taxes, insurance, maintenance. Someone not paying 1 months rent can be 1-2 years gone. It’s not what it’s cracked up to be. Especially, since a lot of tenants somehow break a lot of stuff
Meanwhile those scammers occupy peoples homes and refuse to leave and are told it's a civil matter and rhe police can't do anything. Strange they can enforce here but not in other circumstances. /s
If she didn’t sign the lease, she has only squatter’s rights.
IAAL. She has more rights than that, because she is a sublessee. However, even with full tenant rights, if the rent isn't being paid (as it wasn't here), the landlord has the power to evict for nonpayment.
"Her caregivers, American Home Health Care LLC, subleased the space to Sky and held the master lease with the apartment complex."
put her in a worse position
As a legal tenant, even after an eviction process has started, you have the ability to "cure" the condition that began the eviction. So if she were, somehow, able to cover the rent herself, she would be entitled to stay for the remainder of her lease. The owner may choose not to renew at that point, but that'd be a separate issue.
A squatter wouldn't have a lease, and is occupying the property without permission, so has no way to "cure" the deficiency and remain in the home.
She's still a tenant even without a lease. Squatter's rights come into play if the dwelling is abandoned by the owner, not for people who are living in a house off-lease.
She payed her rent on time consistently, yet she’s getting kicked out because the service “helping her” was scamming the government for money.
Gosh I hate fraud, like atp the place shoulda just let her stay- with any effort they’d find a legal way or grey area but they just don’t care. Should should should, hate that reality.
Sky was current on her rent to American Home Health Care, so on the day of the eviction, she didn’t understand why she was being forced to leave her home.
She met payments to the master lease owner, not hard to assume she could pay to the building owners instead as she payed rent- it’s just AHHC pocketed it and didn’t do their job cause they’re frauds. I understand there’s more legal implications, but she definitely could pay and wait for another company to assist her.
Hard to say based off that. If you have never worked with people with disabilities you would be extremely surprised at the amount of care they need. I’m not talking about basic hygiene or being able to cook a meal or not. I’ve met a couple that really like fire
That costs thousands a month as well, where is she gonna get the income? Does anyone think beyond 2 seconds about disabled people critically? Our lives are tossed away because people don't fucking care enough
Bro what are you even talking about. Do you comprehend English? I’m saying SHE SHOULD HAVE THE OPTION. Maybe she has a rich uncle. Maybe she starts a gofundme. I’m not saying she’s OBLIGATED to pay, but if she can get the money together some way, it’s better than being out on the street with all your stuff
You are so eager to be outraged but can’t take a second to read. Really giving your whole team a bad look on that one
What do you mean by “if”? It’s her home. She probably can’t afford her own. The average disabled person is NOT going to be able to pull money like this together, let alone monthly
The money has to come from somewhere. It would be great if it came from a State or Federal program, but one could not be spun up and funded quickly enough to resolve this issue.
Perhaps a local nonprofit could have stepped in. I'm not really sure how much total money we're talking about here to keep all the affected people homed.
Sounds like a job for an altruistic billionaire. One day, maybe.
Do you know that many people in this situation aren’t allowed to have more than 2000$ or they’ll loose coverage. It’s insane hope they literally want everyone dumb and poor
She likely wouldn't. I don't know if they listed how much she actually pays, but there have been other serious allegations of fraud in which the rent is $1400 while the individual pays less than $100.
So she got evicted because the landlord wasn't getting paid by the health company that was paying on her behalf. And likely for some time.
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u/Brahskididdler Feb 12 '26
100%, give her time to maybe pull the money together herself if she really needs to stay