Evicted woman’s son sues landlord: Attorneys say elder abuse claim filed by Marie Hatch, 97, survives after death

The elder abuse claim survives death and Gary Hatch, the evicted woman’s only son, seeks to be named as the successor in the complaint.

Nishimura and Nancy Fineman had taken on his mother’s case for free after her landlord David Kantz gave her a 60-day notice to vacate her home on California Drive where she lived for 66 years.

Hatch allegedly was promised by three generations of the home’s owners that she could rent the Burlingame home near downtown until she died.

Her roommate of 32 years, 85-year-old Georgia Rothrock, also faces eviction from the home and is considering filing her own lawsuit against Kantz, who allegedly inherited the home after a death in the family.

Rothrock must vacate the home by April 17. Hatch’s health allegedly started to deteriorate after she was told to vacate her home in February.

“There is no doubt that the callous eviction of Marie Hatch has caused her death,” Nishimura said the day after Hatch died.

Gary Hatch, 74, still works and provided emotional and financial support for his mother until her death.

She said Kantz lacked a moral compass when he moved to evict Hatch.

“My mother didn’t deserve to be treated like an old piece of furniture that could be thrown away. She really suffered badly after she learned she was being evicted,” Gary Hatch wrote in a statement.

His mother had been promised that she could live in the house for life based upon a decades-old contract with Vivian Kroeze but the estranged husband of Kroeze’s granddaughter, Kantz, started eviction proceedings initially just before the holidays.

Hatch’s story went national and an online campaign generated more than $45,000 to support her before her death.

Hatch and Rothrock, both on fixed incomes, paid $960 a month in rent.

Under California law, elder abuse claims survive the death of an elderly plaintiff.

After being served with eviction papers in February, Hatch suffered from heart palpitations and anxiety attacks and was rushed to the emergency room. Later that month, knowing the landlord’s intended appraisal of the home was looming March 3, Hatch’s mental and physical health deteriorated and she was admitted into the hospital.

She returned home March 3 and died of heart failure while her son held her hands.

“This is one of the most egregious acts of taking advantage of one of our community’s most vulnerable citizens that I have seen in my legal career,” Fineman wrote in a statement.

Neither Kantz nor his attorney Michael Liberty could be reached for comment Tuesday.

bill@smdailyjournal.com

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