Elderly Burien couple say son swindled them out of a home
BURIEN, Wash. -- An elderly Burien couple is claiming their own son took advantage of them, took their money and thew them out of their home.
Josephine and Elmer Hautala are both in their 90s. They've been married for 68 years and have three children. Joe, as she likes to be called, said until just a few years ago, the couple lived a perfect life.
That changed when they had a falling out with their youngest son over their house.
It all began when the couple invited their son to live with them and take care of them.
Court documents show he got them to sign over the deed to the house so he could borrow against it, and it wasn't long before they say he began charging them rent.
The Hautalas claim their son moved them into a cottage in the back, and then tried to force them out all together.
In all, they say they gave him $100,000 in the nine years since he moved in with them.
Now the couple relies on their grandson, Jeffrey, for help.
"It just kills me to see for whatever the reason, money or a strained relationships, to be able to put them through what he has done that's reprehensible to me," Jeffrey said.
The Hautalas' son is now living in their old cottage while he rents out the main house.
As for the Hautalas, they're now deep in dept and living in an assisted-living facility. They've filed a court petition asking a judge to either return the home or grant them its value.
"I don't want to go back, because it's not the what it was," Joe said.
Joe said she misses the old house and the way things used to be, and she's not quite ready to let it all go.
"I have hope," she said. "We have to have hope."
Josephine and Elmer Hautala are both in their 90s. They've been married for 68 years and have three children. Joe, as she likes to be called, said until just a few years ago, the couple lived a perfect life.
That changed when they had a falling out with their youngest son over their house.
It all began when the couple invited their son to live with them and take care of them.
Court documents show he got them to sign over the deed to the house so he could borrow against it, and it wasn't long before they say he began charging them rent.
The Hautalas claim their son moved them into a cottage in the back, and then tried to force them out all together.
In all, they say they gave him $100,000 in the nine years since he moved in with them.
Now the couple relies on their grandson, Jeffrey, for help.
"It just kills me to see for whatever the reason, money or a strained relationships, to be able to put them through what he has done that's reprehensible to me," Jeffrey said.
The Hautalas' son is now living in their old cottage while he rents out the main house.
As for the Hautalas, they're now deep in dept and living in an assisted-living facility. They've filed a court petition asking a judge to either return the home or grant them its value.
"I don't want to go back, because it's not the what it was," Joe said.
Joe said she misses the old house and the way things used to be, and she's not quite ready to let it all go.
"I have hope," she said. "We have to have hope."
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