New Hearing Set for Woman, 72, Ordered Evicted in Rent Dispute

Virginia Clapp, the 72-year-old disabled woman who spent Christmas Eve expecting eviction over a $21.99 rent dispute with her landlord, will have a second chance to argue her case.

Last week, Rio Hondo Municipal Court Commissioner William L. Jacobson voided his earlier ruling that would have evicted Clapp by Jan. 12. A Jan. 10 hearing date has been set, and additional information that could aid Clapp’s case may be presented, Jacobson said.

Clapp, who in the days after the eviction ruling was in despair because she had no place to go, said she was gladdened by the judge’s latest ruling. At the minimum, she said, it will allow her more time to try to find a place to move from the Capri Gardens Mobile Home Community, where she has lived for 18 years.

“I don’t know, but I guess there is hope,” she said. “He (the judge) might change his mind.”

Reexamined Ruling

In explaining his latest ruling, Jacobson said he decided to reexamine the case after reading newspaper accounts of the eviction and Clapp’s predicament. From these, Jacobson said, there appeared to be information beneficial to Clapp’s case that did not come out in the hearing in which Clapp represented herself.

“Much of the facts that are important to the case didn’t come out at the time,” he said.

Neither the landlord, Bruce Bender, nor his attorney could be reached for comment on Jacobson’s latest ruling.

The rent dispute involved a $21.99 utility surcharge that Clapp neglected to include with her $175 rent for June. When the original rent notice was delivered to her trailer, the wheelchair-bound Clapp was hospitalized, recuperating from a fall.

From the hospital, Clapp sent Bender a $175 rent check that he refused to accept because it did not include payment for the utilities, according to court filings.

Bender then sent a second letter to Clapp’s home, demanding full payment in three days. When she failed to respond, Bender began eviction proceedings. Clapp said she was still in the hospital when the final notice was delivered to the trailer. She said she would have paid the full amount if an itemized bill had been presented to her.

Bender’s attorney, George L. Liddle Jr., has said previously that the eviction proceedings began because it was the third time in recent years that Clapp refused to pay her utility bill. Moreover, he said that it was unsafe for Clapp to live alone in her trailer, citing repeated falls over the years and the lack of daily supervision.

Clapp’s granddaughter, Lynne Charlton, said Clapp, independent and proud, has rebuffed attempts by her family to move her out of a trailer. Clapp, who seldom leaves her trailer, relies on her Social Security check to pay rent and on Meals on Wheels for food.

Jacobson said he wants to review a section of the state Civil Code that contains specific protections for mobile home residents in eviction proceedings for which Clapp may qualify.

Third-Party Payment

One section of the code states that a third party can make rent payments for the tenant within 30 days of the payment demand. The law, however, also sets limits on the number of times a third party can make up a late payment, and on the number of times the tenant can be late paying rent in a year.

“That’s the reason for the further hearing,” Jacobson said. “We have to find out if she comes under any of those.”

Charlton said the family approached Capri Gardens management in June about paying the rent, but the management refused to discuss it. Previously, Liddle confirmed that the offer was made, but he said it came more than a month after the original demand for payment.

Clapp, who suffers from a speech impediment, had memory lapses in court and could not adequately represent herself at the first hearing, Jacobson said. Clapp said she wants to have an attorney at her second hearing, but she doesn’t know if she can get one.

“I’d like to have one,” Clapp said. “But I don’t know any lawyers down here.”