Squatters ousted from home of 74-year-old Groveland woman

Tuolumne County deputies served a restraining order Wednesday to remove four squatters from the home of a Groveland woman who had been a victim of elder abuse, her attorney said.

The Modesto Bee detailed Hannelore Anderson’s troubles with the tenants in a May 15 story. Anderson, 74, befriended the homeless couple and two teenagers in Cameron Park at least a year ago and invited them to live at her home at Groveland’s Pine Mountain Lake golf course, in exchange for $800 monthly rent and help with repairing the home.

Anderson said they never paid her, except for $200, refused to leave and would not return the keys of a vehicle she had let them use. Other people related to the tenants took over a guesthouse on the property last year. A Groveland attorney, with the help of a neighbor, evicted at least seven people from the guesthouse in November, but the adult couple and two teenagers remained.

Anderson said that, early this month, one of the tenants had struck her on the arm and took her bank card to make a payment on the vehicle so it would not be repossessed. Neighbor Richard Fries said the tenants used the woman’s bank account to pay for Internet service, cable television and cellular phone service.

Attorney Joyce Gandelman of the Senior Law Project in Modesto sought an elder abuse restraining order in Tuolumne Superior Court last week. A judge granted the order May 18 and deputies served it Wednesday to oust the tenants.

With the help of the California Highway Patrol earlier this month, Anderson recovered the Honda Pilot she had once loaned to the tenants.

The tenants had been served with a 60-day eviction notice, but immediate kick-out orders are often granted by courts in cases of financial, emotional or physical abuse against a senior or dependent adult. It is done to ensure the older person’s safety.

Fries said the four ousted tenants and their pets drove away Wednesday in a newly acquired vehicle and, in violation of the restraining order, returned later Wednesday to briefly talk with Anderson about a dog left behind.

Anderson said she is glad they have been removed. “I can now do my laundry in my own house,” she said. “Before I could not do my laundry and they would not let me use my kitchen.”

Gandelman said the temporary restraining order will remain in effect until a court hearing in June. A judge will hear testimony from Anderson and any comments from the tenants before ruling on a permanent order.

The Senior Law Project has a contract with Stanislaus County Adult Protective Services to handle kick-out orders for seniors who are exploited by freeloaders in their homes. About 130 kick-out orders were issued in Stanislaus County last year.

This story was originally published May 26, 2016 at 3:55 PM with the headline "Squatters ousted from home of 74-year-old Groveland woman."