Some of you may know me as a longtime Cairn Terrier breeder, under the prefix Rose Croft, others may know me from cat shows and my LaPerms, others of you from Facebook.

In 2010, my husband suddenly died, laying in bed next to me. I then had my work hours cut back so far I could no longer support myself. A friend in the Seattle area invited me, my dog and a few of my cats to share her home. Then during my move from Sonoma, CA to Seattle, WA my U-Haul was stolen with everything I owned in it, except for my travel clothes and animals. It was never recovered. I arrived in Seattle with nothing. I then needed emergency surgery, but between a couple of part-time jobs, I got ahead enough to move to Pendleton, OR to be closer to my daughter and granddaughter.

I moved into the first place that would accept animals. My daughter checked things out for me and the landlords seemed more than agreeable. This is an old Victorian home built in 1910, converted into 4 apartments.

This is what it looked like when I moved in on June 30, 2013.

I have asked and asked the landlords for needed simple repairs and things that are required by law to be fixed: heating, shorts in lighting fixtures, replacing 15 year old smoke detectors and improperly installed CO2 alarms, plumbing overflowing leaving raw sewage in my bathroom and adjoining hallway, and finding out that I was the tenant paying for the electricity use in the common areas. I have also asked them to deal with other tenants not helping maintain the common areas and yards.  

This is how the front looks today.

The other tenants have damaged the building, have their junk on the front porch, entryway, backyard and the basement is full as well.

There have been 9 families through here in 21 months! Mostly from delinquent rent because the landlords do not do credit or background checks. We have had drug dealers and users living here. They do not want to deal with the drug users, in fact they seem to protect them. Their excuse is they have no control over how their tenants act and that they would know I was the one who complained and would retaliate against me.

One of the other tenants moved his unlicensed cars into my driveway blocking my kitchen door and making it impossible to remove the garbage bins. When the tenant refused to speak to me, I contacted my landlords, who then asked the tenant to remove his cars.

10 days later my landlord sent me a letter stating I was being evicted because the other tenants had complained to them about me!!

There are no modest means attorneys in this area and Legal Aid does not have the resources to help me fight this eviction.

I had not been feeling well for sometime, but then on March 30th I was too ill to even eat. My neighbor (not from this building) insisted I go to the hospital. She drove me to our local hospital, who then had me rushed by ambulance to another hospital in Richland, WA, 75 miles away. I was diagnosed with a heart condition that required a pacemaker. I had surgery and was released on April 2nd and came home to my bathroom flooded with raw sewage. It took another 6 days for the pipes to be cleared and there was no offer from my landlords to help with the clean up. Thank God for my wonderful neighbor! My landlord told my daughter I was faking being ill to avoid eviction!

The day after being released from the hospital, my car broke down while getting my prescriptions filled.

Then on April 16th, I was served court eviction papers. I am fighting this in court. All landlord-tenant cases must be handled in civil court in the State of Oregon and the tenant has the burden of proof.

I had to take out a small loan to get my car fixed, I cannot afford an attorney plus even defending myself has its own costs, a printer, paper, ink, gas going to court 35 miles away, PLUS even if I win my case, I can no longer stay here with these vindictive, cold-hearted, do-nothing slumlords!

I need your help to cover these expenses plus getting enough funds to find another place and hiring someone to move me. I am still not allowed to drive or to use my left arm for carrying thing because of the pacemaker surgery.

Can you please help?