Is There Government Grant Help For Senior Citizen Ripped Off By Sons and Landlord?

by Allen P. Schneidt
(West Lafayette, IN, USA)

This is Allen P. Schneidt here with a story about my 72-year-old friend Roy Turner, his wife Betty, his inconsiderate sons and an insensitive landlord.

In July, August, September of 2009, Roy A. Turner Moved into a condemned mobile home in Fountain County, Indiana to help his disabled son recondition the mobile home. Roy and his son were supposed to split the cost of materials to refurbish the home to make it livable for the Winter. Roy's son refused to help, using his dad's meager $782 Social Security check to run up material bills, food, lot rent and mobile home payments.

In August, Roy's son moved back to Lafayette, Indiana; dumping the mobile home, and unpaid bills on his father. I took Roy to Covington Indiana to sign him up for the Community Action Weatherization Program to get help for skirting, insulation, plumbing problems, non-working furnace, broken windows and more non-livable conditions.

The Community Action Program couldn't do any work on it until October of 2009. Roy is 72 years old, lost his wife in July of 2008, and has spent over $3000 using a credit card for materials to get that mobile home in Fountain County, Indiana owned by Richard Haby of Lafayette, Indiana ready to live in the winter months.

I myself put up $1200 of my SSI into helping Roy fix everything we worked on in that mobile dump.

In September, while Roy was in town getting materials, his youngest son and friend broke in damaging the new door locks that I had paid for and installed. A Fountain County Sheriff Report was filed for damages incurred.

In mid-September, a one-bedroom, subsidized apartment became available in West Lafayette, Indiana where I live. An application was filled out and Roy was moved in ASAP, giving up on refurbishing that mobile home, without a working furnace, no underside insulation, no skirting, no pipe insulation.

Roy had replaced almost all plumbing fixtures including a complete back bathroom (with ADA toilet, ADA shower stall) linoleum flooring, carpeting throughout the mobile home. He had bought a useable refrigerator-freezer, replaced broken windows and screens, replaced door-locks and deadbolts, reworked rotted-out flooring in bathrooms and around front entry door, painted over graffiti walls, and much more.


In October, I sat at my computer going through all of Roy's material reciepts, producing a detailed blueprint of the mobile home, and all of the improvements made with a view to presenting it all landlord Richard Haby of Lafayette, Indiana.

I made an appointment to meet at his home. Since Roy was advised from the Tippecanoe County Legal-Aid Attorney not to sign a purchase contract of $1800, Legal-Aid thought that Roy could get reimbursed for all materials and labor he put in on that mobile home.

Meeting with Richard Haby was a waste of time. He wouldn't even reimburse for receipted materials spent or labor. He just said, "I thought Community Action was going to pay for the skirting, furnace replacement and insulation."

In mid-October, a new contract was signed to a family, selling the mobile home for $5500, with no working furnace, no skirting, pipe insulation and other such problems still unfixed from one low-income senior citizen and his caretaker and caregiver, and that would be myself.

I have contacted the Community Action Program in Fountain County, canceling Roy's application.

SUMMARY

Roy's deceased wife was cremated, and still resides with him. His sons and daughters would not even help with burial expenses. His youngest son Billy Turner of Fountain County, Indiana, has been turning both Roy and their Mother in on their Income Taxes, to get a bigger tax return, to launder it through Billy's wife's family.

Billy set up this rotten deal with the landlord Richard Haby, still working against Roy Turner and his wife Betty, (now deceased) not taking care of his parents needs one bit, but rather using his parents as a pawn for him and his wife's family profits.

I will take my own losses in helping with Roy's needs. Roy is working part-time for $5 an hour splitting wood, to pay off this credit card debt. Allen and another friend of ours see to it that Roy Turner has enough food and necessary items to help in his time of need!

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