…Harbor Lane Holdings. A company owned by your daughter-in-law’s sister.”
The “buyer” had offered thirty percent less than my house was worth. The contract had a signature that wasn’t mine.
My attorney, Ms. Fields, filed an objection with the county the same day and sent a letter to the title company. The fake contract was cancelled within a week.
Then I called my son, Mark. I told him I’d read the rental agreement and the comment about the basement apartment. I asked him who was living there.
He was quiet. Then he said, “Her sister’s boyfriend. They’re paying us two thousand a month.”
So the plan had been simple. I’d sell my house cheaply to my daughter-in-law’s sister. The money would go into an account Mark controlled. I’d pay $3,500 a month to live in a small bedroom. And the sister’s company would resell my house at full price.
“Did you know about the sale?” I asked.
“I knew she wanted you to sell,” he said. “I didn’t know who the buyer was.”
I didn’t move in. I didn’t sell my house. I hired a cleaning service, a gardener and a neighbor’s teenager to help with the snow. My monthly costs came to less than a third of the “rent” they’d planned to charge me.
Mark visits on Sundays now. He brings the grandchildren and fixes things around the house. Last week he told me his wife’s sister had been arrested for a similar scheme with another elderly woman. I just nodded and poured him more coffee.
