Judge Rules Man Dying of Stage 4 Cancer to Be Evicted from His Home
Mervin Haley of Indiana is dying. He’s fighting his final battle against stage four lung cancer, but these days it’s not the only thing on his mind.
After struggling to pay rent while battling cancer, the property management company that owns Mervin’s building took him to court.
He owes $569 according to public records but with January’s rent and late fees, the total is closer to $1,500.
There’s no way Mervin or his family can come up with that money all at once. Denise Haley, Mervin’s ex-wife, tried to make a partial payment but the company wouldn’t allow it.
“They’re still saying he’s 500 something dollars behind,” she told WXIN. “Well then come first of January went to pay it they said they couldn’t accept a partial payment they had to have the full amount.”
In court, the judge ordered that Mervin leave his home by Jan. 21. Denise knows that he can’t handle this kind of a move in his current state.
“Right now can’t eat, drinks very little, can’t walk, talk and there’s no way he can possibly leave this home,” Denise said. “And that was also his last wish to be home as his dying place.”
Denise wrote a letter to the judge, pleading the case that Mervin needs more time.
He doesn’t have much longer to live, and won’t last if they take his home away.
“There’s no way that man can possibly be out of the house by then,” Denise said. “If he goes outside he’s going to get pneumonia and that’s going to end him right there.”
If Denise and Mervin can’t somehow come up with the payment, the leasing manager threatened to have the police remove him.
The company had no comment when contacted by local reporters.
This stress is the last thing a dying man needs, as Denise articulated. “You know, it’s got to be hard on him to be worrying anyway about his life and then worrying about this on top of it,” she said.
There’s a glimmer of hope that Mervin won’t get kicked out of his home. Denise spoke to one of the employees, who said they would talk to corporate about accepting partial payment.
We hope the attention to this story changed the mind of the property management company.
If they accept partial payment, Mervin may have enough time to live out the rest of his days with a roof over his head.
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