My father passed away unexpectedly in March while on a work trip to a US territory. He was the sole provider for my mother and younger sister, living here in California. He did not have much in the way of savings. In total, there is about $10,000 on hand from savings and donations from friends and relatives.
My mother is 61 years old, has not worked in close to 35 years, did not complete high school, has difficulty walking due to a bad hip, and is slowly losing her vision. She started receiving about $1,500 per month from social security when my father died. My 20-year-old sister lives with her and started working two jobs to help pay for living expenses; she contributes about $1,000 per month. Their monthly expenses total about $3,200. The difference is being taken from the $10,000 savings each month.
My father took out a $50,000 life insurance policy in November. Due to the location of his death, we are not expecting to receive his death certificate until August. We need the death certificate to move the life insurance claim forward. We have also been told by the life insurance company that, with only four months between the start of the policy and the death of the insured, it may take additional time for the policy to be paid out and it may not be paid out at all if their investigation finds any reason to deny coverage.
We were able to have my father's credit card debt forgiven but there are still three vehicle loans: a $28,000 loan for my father's truck, in both of my parent's names; a $7,500 loan for my mother's car, in both names; and a $20,000 loan for my father's motorcycle, in his name only. The truck is worth between $30,000 and $35,000. We intend to use the life insurance payout to pay off the loans for the truck and car and then sell the truck on the private market, making a small profit. Until then, I have taken over the monthly payments on the truck. My brother has taken over the payments on the motorcycle, but we may turn that over to the bank. Our goal for now is to preserve my mother's credit score, which is over 800.
Today my mother was informed that she has 60 days to vacate the house she has been renting for the last 17 years. The owners intend to sell the house. My parents had been planning on trying to buy the house from the owners. This was something they had informally discussed with the owners several years ago when the owners arrived unannounced to check on the place. At the time, the owners were receptive to the idea but it never went any further and nothing was signed. Over the past 17 years, my parents paid over $250,000 in rent on the house. The house is worth $300,000 according to Zillow and last sold for $100,000.
With my father's dubious financial decisions in the last few months of his life, the lack of savings, the timeline for receiving the life insurance payout, and now the impending eviction, our chances of getting a down payment together seem extremely limited. In her current state of grief, my mother can't comprehend the idea of moving out of the house. Aside from that, the market for renting in her area are extremely limited, presumably due to the pandemic driving prices up and reducing availability.
What are our options? Is there anything we can do to delay the eviction? Are there any assistance programs we should be applying for?
Submitted June 22, 2021 at 12:18AM by No-Theme-5732 https://ift.tt/3gHJq6G
