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'Nightmare nanny' who squatted in family's home and refused to move out finally agrees to leave
By Lydia Warren and Snejana Farberov and James Nye
Published: 07:11 EST, 30 June 2014 | Updated: 07:29 EST, 30 June 201
A 64-year-old 'nightmare nanny' who stopped working for the California family that hired her and refused to move out is finally ready to leave their home, it has emerged.
Marcella Bracamonte said that Diane Stretton contacted the family's lawyer on Saturday night and said she could be out of their Upland home, near Los Angeles, by July 4.
'I feel like it's a trap,' she said. 'I feel like she knows that I'm going to be gone and that she wants to lock me out of my home.'
Mrs Bracamonte and her husband had hired in March through Craigslist to do chores and watch their young children in return for room and board in their home. Mrs Bracamonte said she had called previous employers to get references and saw no problems.
But they became exasperated after she stopped working within weeks, said she had chronic pulmonary disease, ignored repeated requests to leave, and made them scared for their property and the safety of their children, aged one, four and 11.
The family also said the woman, who had been homeless before she moved in with them, threatened to sue them for wrongful termination and elder abuse.
Police declined to intervene in a civil matter because the employment agreement included giving her a place to live, so the couple launched an eviction process, which they feared could take months.
Police say that once a person establishes residency they must be 'formally evicted' under California law, a process that could lead to a court-ordered 'forcible eviction' carried out by county sheriff's deputies.
The family previously spoke out about their exasperation in the case.
'The first few weeks she was awesome,' said Bracamonte to ABC News about her squatter. 'She would come places with us, help out the kids. She was really great.
'All of a sudden she stopped working, she would stay in her room all day and only come out when food was ready.'
Serious problems began on June 6 when they came to her with what they called a 'last chance letter', which outlined the terms of their initial agreement and threatening her with eviction if she continued to do nothing.
Stretton refused to sign it and said that she would be leaving in 30 days anyway as the stress of the job had become too much for her.
At this point they asked her to leave and served her with legal papers, but Stretton counter-sued and a judge ruled in her favor because the Bracamonte's did not complete a three-day quit notice correctly.
'When I asked her why she wouldn’t sign the letter she said "It’s not legal," and slammed the door in my face,' Bracamonte told ABC News. 'Once she said the word legal, I knew it wasn’t going to be fun.'
Police told the Bracamonte's there was nothing they could do.
'They told me it was now a civil matter,' Bracamonte said, 'and I have to legally evict her,' said Marcella Bracamonte to CBS2.
'So this lady is welcome inside my house, anytime she wants, to eat my food anytime she wants and harass me basically. I’m now a victim in my home and it’s completely legal.'
With the laws against them, the family had few options. Due to the agreement, they were legally obligated to provide her somewhere to stay and could not disrupt her.
On one occasion, the 64-year-old called police for turning up the television too loud.
And as the Bracamonte's discovered, this was not the first time that Stretton - who was homeless before she was hired - has clashed in the courts with families.
She has been involved in 36 lawsuits, ensuring she has made California's Vexatious Litigant list, for abusing the system.
'Anyone who looks at her crooked, she sues,' said Bracamonte.
Documents reveal that she tried to block her two sisters from selling family property after her father 'specifically and expressly omitted Stretton' from his will and even sued her own son, Michael, for property damage and personal injury.
But it also emerged that the woman was homeless before she was hired by the family.
Kimberly Whitcomb, a friend of the rogue nanny, told MailOnline: 'She’s been homeless for about nine years. She was staying in the homeless shelter (Path of Life) in Riverside.
'She was struggling and looking for another place and I said check Craigslist, they always have all kinds of odd stuff on there. She found the nanny job and I encouraged her to go for it.'
Kimberly, who lived in the same apartment block as Stretton's son, Michael, and began collecting her mail for her when he moved to Arizona, even provided a reference for her friend.
'She got an interview with the lady and went out there and saw her. She used me as a personal reference and she had another friend from the shelter as a personal reference,' said Whitcomb.
'I spoke to the woman Marcella, I recommended Diane as a good person, as a nanny and as someone you can trust.
'She's very professional, she's got a master’s degree in something, I think it's biochemistry. But she has health issues, osteoporosis and arthritis.'
Stretton recently lost her spot at the homeless shelter and was living in her car with a suitcase of her possessions, Whitcomb explained.
It is not clear where she will go now that she is leaving the family's home.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz36HG9OAeO
- Diane Stretton, 64, refused to leave the home of Marcella and Ralph Bracamonte in Upland, California after she stopped working for them
- Police have said that because Stretton was invited into the home and has established residency they are unable to do anything
- She has now contacted the couple's lawyers to say she will be leaving the home before July 4
- But the family are scheduled to go on vacation on July 2 and fear that she will now lock them out of their home
By Lydia Warren and Snejana Farberov and James Nye
Published: 07:11 EST, 30 June 2014 | Updated: 07:29 EST, 30 June 201
A 64-year-old 'nightmare nanny' who stopped working for the California family that hired her and refused to move out is finally ready to leave their home, it has emerged.
Marcella Bracamonte said that Diane Stretton contacted the family's lawyer on Saturday night and said she could be out of their Upland home, near Los Angeles, by July 4.
'She would like to move out but because of the hot weather that's going to happen soon,' Mrs Bracamonte told People.
But the mom-of-three doesn't think the battle is over just yet because the family is scheduled to go on vacation on July 2.'I feel like it's a trap,' she said. 'I feel like she knows that I'm going to be gone and that she wants to lock me out of my home.'
Mrs Bracamonte and her husband had hired in March through Craigslist to do chores and watch their young children in return for room and board in their home. Mrs Bracamonte said she had called previous employers to get references and saw no problems.
But they became exasperated after she stopped working within weeks, said she had chronic pulmonary disease, ignored repeated requests to leave, and made them scared for their property and the safety of their children, aged one, four and 11.
The family also said the woman, who had been homeless before she moved in with them, threatened to sue them for wrongful termination and elder abuse.
Police declined to intervene in a civil matter because the employment agreement included giving her a place to live, so the couple launched an eviction process, which they feared could take months.
Police say that once a person establishes residency they must be 'formally evicted' under California law, a process that could lead to a court-ordered 'forcible eviction' carried out by county sheriff's deputies.
The family previously spoke out about their exasperation in the case.
'The first few weeks she was awesome,' said Bracamonte to ABC News about her squatter. 'She would come places with us, help out the kids. She was really great.
'All of a sudden she stopped working, she would stay in her room all day and only come out when food was ready.'
Serious problems began on June 6 when they came to her with what they called a 'last chance letter', which outlined the terms of their initial agreement and threatening her with eviction if she continued to do nothing.
Stretton refused to sign it and said that she would be leaving in 30 days anyway as the stress of the job had become too much for her.
At this point they asked her to leave and served her with legal papers, but Stretton counter-sued and a judge ruled in her favor because the Bracamonte's did not complete a three-day quit notice correctly.
'When I asked her why she wouldn’t sign the letter she said "It’s not legal," and slammed the door in my face,' Bracamonte told ABC News. 'Once she said the word legal, I knew it wasn’t going to be fun.'
Police told the Bracamonte's there was nothing they could do.
'They told me it was now a civil matter,' Bracamonte said, 'and I have to legally evict her,' said Marcella Bracamonte to CBS2.
'So this lady is welcome inside my house, anytime she wants, to eat my food anytime she wants and harass me basically. I’m now a victim in my home and it’s completely legal.'
With the laws against them, the family had few options. Due to the agreement, they were legally obligated to provide her somewhere to stay and could not disrupt her.
On one occasion, the 64-year-old called police for turning up the television too loud.
And as the Bracamonte's discovered, this was not the first time that Stretton - who was homeless before she was hired - has clashed in the courts with families.
She has been involved in 36 lawsuits, ensuring she has made California's Vexatious Litigant list, for abusing the system.
'Anyone who looks at her crooked, she sues,' said Bracamonte.
Documents reveal that she tried to block her two sisters from selling family property after her father 'specifically and expressly omitted Stretton' from his will and even sued her own son, Michael, for property damage and personal injury.
But it also emerged that the woman was homeless before she was hired by the family.
Kimberly Whitcomb, a friend of the rogue nanny, told MailOnline: 'She’s been homeless for about nine years. She was staying in the homeless shelter (Path of Life) in Riverside.
'She was struggling and looking for another place and I said check Craigslist, they always have all kinds of odd stuff on there. She found the nanny job and I encouraged her to go for it.'
Kimberly, who lived in the same apartment block as Stretton's son, Michael, and began collecting her mail for her when he moved to Arizona, even provided a reference for her friend.
'She got an interview with the lady and went out there and saw her. She used me as a personal reference and she had another friend from the shelter as a personal reference,' said Whitcomb.
'I spoke to the woman Marcella, I recommended Diane as a good person, as a nanny and as someone you can trust.
'She's very professional, she's got a master’s degree in something, I think it's biochemistry. But she has health issues, osteoporosis and arthritis.'
Stretton recently lost her spot at the homeless shelter and was living in her car with a suitcase of her possessions, Whitcomb explained.
It is not clear where she will go now that she is leaving the family's home.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz36HG9OAeO