Since the advent of the coronavirus, two men in Durango broke their contract with an elderly woman by demanding that she vacate the premises. They sent intimidating emails stating that they will change her locks, and paint her bedroom when it was snowing.
She called the police, who said it was a civil matter, despite the governor’s order. She reached out to both Realtors and their boss; they could not help her. Finally, she hired a lawyer to explain those amendments the owners had signed before closing because their Realtor had not – the sentences that allowed her to stay until she found a place to move.
Searching for two months, she still had not found a place – not only because she is old and has two cats; most people are honoring the stay-home order and social distancing.
The new owners taped another notice on her door. Because she had nowhere else to go, because her community failed her in crisis, she reached out to a friend in another state who said he would help her.
That old woman has lived in Durango for 44 years. She was a professor at FLC, and she did service work in the community for the developmentally disabled.
She is also a writer who has been blogging this story to thousands of followers, some of whom have millions. And, as she told the owner of that real estate company, she’s going to write a book about it.
Pamela YoungDurango
