The only son of Marie Hatch, the 97 year old woman who died on March 3rd facing eviction from her home of over 60 years, despite a promised life estate, has filed a motion to continue his mother’s lawsuit against the landlord for elder abuse. Under California law, elder abuse claims survive the death of an elderly plaintiff. Heartbroken over the events leading to his mother’s death, Gary Hatch is seeking to substitute into the case on behalf of his late mother. According to Gary, “My mother didn’t deserve to be treated like an old piece of furniture that could be thrown away. She really suffered badly after she learned she was being evicted.”
Although Marie Hatch had been promised that she could live in the Burlingame, California house for life based upon a decades-old contract with Vivian Kroeze, the estranged spouse of Kroeze’s granddaughter, David Kantz, started eviction proceedings against Hatch in February. He originally threatened her eviction during the holidays last December.
After being served with eviction papers in February, Hatch suffered from heart palpitations and anxiety attacks and was rushed to the emergency room. Later that month, knowing the landlord’s intended appraisal of the home was looming on March 3rd, Hatch’s mental and physical health deteriorated, and she was admitted into the hospital. On March 3rd she returned home and died of heart failure while her son held her hands. Nanci Nishimura, one of Hatch’s lawyers said, “In my view, Marie Hatch died of a broken heart, from a broken promise.” “This is one of the most egregious acts of taking advantage of one of our community’s most vulnerable citizens that I have seen in my legal career,” said Nancy Fineman, another one of Hatch’s lawyers.
